!!!!!!!!!!!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

This finger's gonna be ugly for a while, but it's otherwise okay.
...9 fingers still counts as a "win"...Take 2 beers and call me in the morning;

BRK #140

Back at it, Sunday morning. For nest labor I had a good laugh today. I was all set to assemble the small wooden box for the bowl lids in the FPH kitchen, then during the dry fit, I noticed that One of the walls has its support on... the outside of the box.



Oh well! Can't backtrack on that one. The good news is that once in the kitchen cabinet, no one's the wiser.



Also took a ride up to the Lab with the tractor today, in preparation for firewood harvesting. The view up there seems to be always wonderful this time of year.





Checked-in on Pearl (the cat over by Allerton Abbey) and since Fred's out until February-ish it may be a good idea to bring him back to Basecamp to ensure he has food.

The hugel berms I'd been responsible for last season, Cricket Hill and Swamp Castle, are holdin' it down just fine, as it happens.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #141

It's a pretty exciting week, with two half-assed holidays on the way. We're in the thick of wintry weather too, which always seems to make things interesting.

Turkeys... There's been a rafter of turkeys wandering through Basecamp for the past several months. Despite several attempts to scare them away for the duration, they still want to stick around. It's amusing to walk around the corner of the Red Cabin, for example, and you hear a CROO-CROO! and a rustling of feathers, then some massive brown bird is coursing back up the hill with frantically-beating wings.



Meanwhile, off-season plans continue. For example, Paul has invested in a 16-foot trailer for storing RMH gear. Boots are tasked with designing and then fabricating the shelf units inside it. After a little guidance from Paul over the weekend, I've been tinkering with a few ideas. Here are today's sketches.



For reference, this is the inside of the actual trailer: effectively 16 feet long, 7 feet wide, 7 feet tall. The painter's tape on the floor lays out the draft plan. Consider this another "before" photo, and I'll post the "after" version here once it's done.



Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #142

Another brief post today. We're prepping for tomorrow's Wooden Spoon Day at Wheaton Labs. checking our tools, sharpening blades, fantasizing about carving a spork... You know. Just a typical Tuesday.

Here's Daniel, Grey, and Caleb inspecting and sharpening all our spoon carving knives and tools.



Caleb and I went out to the Lab today, and I became stuck in the snow...! Sorry, Doug! Fortunately, Caleb took over and worked the wheels out of the mess, and I pushed the truck a little. Anyhow, here's what the snow looked like after Caleb was done with it.



Last night I worked with the electronics kit and completed a few more projects. At #40, it seems like I'm approaching the point where I don't really know how it all works anymore. I find myself thinking, Just put the pieces in place, turn on the switch, and watch the blinking lights...

Although I attempt to puzzle out the flow of electricity, the lack of documentation - particularly with their integrated circuits - leaves me guessing in many instances. In my superimposed diagram below, I strongly suspect that most of it is incorrect, and that I'm not quite grasping things fully as much as I'm just enjoying sticking the pieces together. But at least this project had some neat-o flashing lights that let me know I have the connections correct...!



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:BRK #142

... fantasizing about carving a spork...

...

A spork looks interesting, but I don't think it's useful. I always need my spoon and fork at the same time. Don't you?