The Chronicles of Commander Clay

Nancy Reading wrote:Thanks for the walkabout Clay! The Cooper cabin is a really nice space and the greenhouse is passively doing it's thing well. Looks like the bark park is nearly ready for four footed visitors too!

My three legged doggo finds that he too would enjoy the completed bark park

I dub today “Bookend Wins in the Kitchen!”

Out of the gate after morning meeting, I helped Alex get set up bucking the logs we’d hauled down - he did a mighty fine job!

Once he was underway, I got right to work putting the sink back together, starting with the strainer basket. This went in without a hitch, so then I attached the replacement p trap, which also went shockingly well. I finished by fitting the tailpiece into the cleanout then attaching it to the strainer basket.
Expecting the worst, I plugged the drain and let the sink fill a bit - but the worst never came!!
After 3 days of battling, the sink is now in working order without a single drip.
Praise the maker!

After that success, I joined Alex in front of the library and tried the manual hydraulic splitter on the logs he’d been cutting to length. This worked a treat! Highly recommend. Was safer and less taxing than a maul or sledge and wedges.

Once Alex was done, I let him take over so he could have the joy of seeing this task through to completion. I took the job of straightening up some of the stacked cordwood which had shifted forward - away from the wall, threatening to fall - as it dried.

Once all the logs were split to a reasonable size, Alex and I hauled those to a mostly-empty firewood rack and stacked them up. We put away about half a face cord from sections of a few dead trees. Probably another half still up by the tent pad, maybe a goal for later this week.

We cleaned up, ate lunch, then got back in the groove.

The second half of the day was mostly on junk pole fence. We walked around base camp inspecting and discussing the existing paddock fence, seeking out areas for learning and improvement.
We decided to focus our efforts on the sections bordering Complexity Trail, between the yurt and Lizard’s Leap.
It was slow going, the fence was in various states of disrepair from a variety of construction techniques.
We tightened up a hundred feet or so, then came across a section of fence too mangled to quickly repair.
Instead, we completely dismantled that and staged the junk poles for use when rebuilding.

At this point, my toes were freezing despite being in waterproof boots and wool socks with neoprene sleeves (Hot Sockees) so I made the executive decision that Alex absolutely needed to learn the intricacies of the Batch Box Rocket Heater in The Shop while we put away and organized the tools

This saw us through the end of the day, though it wasn’t until we made it back to the Fisher Price house that my feet actually warmed up. Being able to put my feet directly on the mass of the heater - still warm from a firing hours earlier - was quite the blessing.

I started rice and beans for dinner then joined Alex and Paul for The Man Who Planted Trees in Paul Theatre. This is an incredible work of art following the true story of reforestation by a humble yet driven man in the first half of the 20th century.
Absolutely worth the half hour watch! I’ll be watching it again.

When that (sadly) came to a close, I popped back into the kitchen for my second win of the day - dinner!
To accompany rice and beans, I cooked the best Mexican style ground beef I’ve ever attempted. I didn’t measure but simply tossed the spices together (smoked paprika, chipotle, cumin, garlic, onion, salt) so I’m afraid I’ll never be able to match this exquisite blend. I cooked it down to crumbly, chorizo-esque perfection and served it over rice and black beans, with salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

I’m now lounging on the couch, writing this to you, monitoring the crackling RMH. Resting comfortably from a long day.

To accompany rice and beans, I cooked the best Mexican style ground beef I’ve ever attempted. I didn’t measure but simply tossed the spices together (smoked paprika, chipotle, cumin, garlic, onion, salt) so I’m afraid I’ll never be able to match this exquisite blend. I cooked it down to crumbly, chorizo-esque perfection and served it over rice and black beans, with salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

There is a secret ingredient that you skimmed over during your post - timing this for the end of a day of, productive work! nice to make some progress

Another long day and a late night, but a good one and well worth it!

Today we started off by warming up the tractor to go fetch the remainder of the logs from behind Lizard Leap.
As an aside, this area needs a name - it’s a C-shaped dell bordered by Volcano Road and Lizard Leap - how does Critical Cove (alluding Roy Bhaskar’s Critical Realism) sound to you all?

The tractor proved to be an exercise in patience. It was cold out so it definitely took some coaxing to start.
Next, the chain on the tire had become loose and crooked, taking nearly a half hour to straighten and tighten up.
I drove it to the front of the shop, only to have the chain slip nearly completely off. And while I was working to fix it, the tractor died.
It wouldn’t start, so I gave it a minute, and tried to work the chain back on with Alex.
Finally I was able to fire it up again, but this joy was short lived.
Before I could get to the love shack, it had died again.
It started up quickly though, and I thought I was on my way… 20 yards later, the engine yet again cut out.

At this point, fearing operator error, I hustled back to the house to consult The Duke for any wisdom he had.
The consensus was - there was likely accumulation of snow or ice or both, near the “operator is in the seat” sensor. After fiddling with this (a big white pinball-paddle-looking switch on the “drivers” side of the tractor under the seat) and giving the tractor some more time to warm up, we had no more issues for the remainder of the day!

Alex bucked and we both loaded logs into the bucket, I drove the tractor back to the library, dumped, and repeated the exercise until all the cut wood was down. Ready to be split.

With the tractor working well and a winter storm rolling in this weekend, I didn’t want to waste the opportunity. I cleared some piled up snow for better access to Volcano Road, the berm shed, and the shop, then finally put it back in Arrakis.

This process nearly drained the tank, which was about a quarter full when we started.
After talking with Paul, we decided it would be best to get diesel, ensure the tractor was full, and prep fuel cans - just in case.

After lunch, we headed up to The Lab to snag the cans, which gave us an opportunity to visit and inspect The Willow Candy Warehouse. An awesome and stout structure, I took some video which might be used in a kickstarter someday. If you want to see that, go vote on https://permies.com/t/273181/Willow-Feeder-movie !!

Once we got back, I fueled up the tractor while Alex filled some buckets with sand for traction on ice, which is expected sometime tomorrow afternoon.
After that, we kept inspecting and working on the Junk Pole Fence around base camp.
This took us through nearly to the end of the day, at which point Alex confirmed the battery packs were charged and ready in case we lose power while I drove into town to fill the empty diesel cans.

I put in a little after-hours work once I wrapped up dinner - I REALLY wanted to finish repairing the sink… if you’ll recall, the entire reason we went under there was to asses and fix the point-source water heater which had been acting up.
While fixing was beyond our time and focus, the replacement arrived this afternoon.
I unboxed, assembled, and brought this online - confirming we’d have hot water on tap for morning tea.
Thankfully, I can rest easy, knowing the sink is entirely better now than when I arrived.

While this was heating up, I started the RMH and realized we could use some more kindling. I spent a bit of time to restock the wood shelf in the entryway of the Fisher Price House, which had become virtually empty thanks to my BB attempt.

Finally, tomorrow is a holiday here at WL!!
I spent some time decorating and tidying to surprise the community when they wake up.
Here’s a sneak peek of the decorations - a slice of Pie to the first person who responds with the correct Half-Assed Holiday!!

Another great update, Clay! Enjoy the holiday.

https://permies.com/w/175964/Pina-colada-day-assed-Holiday ?

Complete with a link. Nicely done Christopher!!
Pie for you :)