Nine's Bootcamp Experience (BRK)

Is that because she sings Shout about the lab

#104

Started working on the Bad Boy Buggy today, and continued working on the toilet enclosure for Cooper Cabin.

As I mulled over my notes this morning, I realized why I'd done the exterior paneling on the enclosure a certain way. I filled Erica in so we were both on the same page and went forward from there. She finished up the handwashing sink for the classroom and it's so lovely. Such a tactile dream. You'll see.

After I got my bearings, I started working on the door for the enclosure. I was going to do a lap joint and make it kinda fancy, but my brain just wasn't on board with that today. The brad nails we have for the nailer in the shop were too short, and it was kinda just one thing after another. So after laying it all out, they got screwed together. I was then able to start laying out the herringbone pattern to see what angle I would be able to get and how it looked. Then I tried to cut one of the pieces for the pattern. The chop saw splintered it into a million pieces, which went flying everywhere. I was wearing all my PPE, but it definitely shook me a bit. Oookay, so I tried our new, little circular saw instead. Nope. Band saw? Yep. Band saw worked really well for this. Awesome. I was able to get all the pieces cut out for one of the sections on the door. When Dez's team started filing into the shop, I realized it was close to being the end of the day, but I hadn't finished nailing all the pieces in for that section. I kept at it until I was done, then cleaned up.

Today was a tough brain day for me, and seemingly for everyone else around here. Must be the weather. It was sunny and humid this morning, then went back to being heavy and wet this evening. Sky can't make up its mind I guess.

Hope y'all had a better day than we did.

#105

Chris and I worked on getting the rafter support beam in place today. Got the posts chiseled, the beam notched, and it eventually went into place with a bit of persuasion. It's even level. 😎

While Chris was finishing up the notching, I started prepping cuts for the wall framing that attaches to that log wall. Got the bottom plate in and one of the wall studs nailed up.

Then we worked on making a flat surface for the door frame to attach to. Got that sorted, and I was able to get a support stud, the king, and jack installed before we had to call it a day.

#106

Gardening this morning! Found a couple more nasturtium babies. Chris thinks they look like dinosaur footprints, so I'll go with that instead of bear paws. Kyle doesn't think they look like bear paws /at all/. haha! Transplanted two of the apple seedlings. Cut a bunch of grass and a few salsify. Put down a bunch of sawdust on the paths to make it easier/softer to walk on and help hold more moisture/block more grass. Planted some tomato seeds from a random mix I found. The note in the jar said some were possibly old seeds, so I put quite a few in each area. Fingers crossed they mostly all sprout. I'd love a plethora of tomato plants. My potatoes are all mostly growing. Garlic is coming up all over. Fava beans are happy. Some of the peas are sprouting. Wild strawberries are sending runners all over the place. Can't wait to start munching on them! Brassica kids are all still growing. Some much faster than others. I'll hopefully figure out which ones are which and harvest the tasty ones (beets) later this year.

After planting, I worked on the toilet enclosure this afternoon. Got the door finished! I think it looks quite lovely. It's probably the nicest looking thing I've gotten to build (by myself) since I got here. I need to trim down the exterior paneling boards then plane them a bit to make them friendly to sit on. That might not get done until Monday.. Next week I'll work on getting the framing finished, run the electrical, put the siding up in the room, get the toilet and sink in there and plumbed, then insulate and put up the exterior siding if we get enough of it made soon. After that.. who knows..

Tomorrow is Game Cams though. If I'm able to get that done early enough, I'll be able to hop back to the enclosure and get those boards cut and planed.

#107

Game Cam checks today. If you wanna see a cute, fluffer butt, head on over to the Wildlife thread! There are also a couple deer playing tag around Zack's Pond. Fun games!

After I got done processing all of that, the pressure in my ears that's been building the past couple weeks got to be too much to ignore, so I've spent the rest of the afternoon doing my best to alleviate some of that. It hasn't gotten much better, so I'll probably go find an urgent care office that's open tomorrow and see if they can take a gander in there and help it go away. Right now the world is muted, and as peaceful as it is, I doubt the folks I work with daily will find it endearing for me to continually ask them to repeat themselves. Though it reminds me of stories I was told of when I was a wee kiddo and went deaf for a while. One time, my stepmom walked up behind me and banged two pots together. I didn't flinch. It was about then she realized I needed to go get help. I'd rather not get to that point at this stage in life, so I'll go get help before it gets that bad.

In other, more uplifting news, today was like a holi-birfday! My Fokin hoe arrived! Now I get to find a good handle and put it together, then I can put the other one back in the Library for other folks to use. Also, with some of the BRK money I was able to order tools, tools to take care of my tools, and other whatnot. So far, I finally got a replacement for my cordless drill. New work boots that actually fit my feet. The media mod for my GoPro so I can take long videos again; the wind noise was killing me to edit out if the video was any substantial length. Ordered Chris a carpenter's hatchet, a sheath, and sharpening puck. Ordered a couple splitting wedges. Got some leather needles and was Finally able to finish repairing the hatchet sheath I started on back when I was in the Tipi. All the leather needles I had at the time were weaaak and readily snapped. I sat down just now and had it stitched back up in less than five minutes. Awesome. I ordered extras in case these weren't up to it, but the one was plenty. I'll donate a few of the extras to the sewing box for the other Boots. I also got some neats foot oil and beeswax for leather care - the sheaths and my new work boots will need oiling/waxing. Ordered some lenses to try out for my phone camera to see if I can get some cool macro shots of the flowers/critters/etc. around here for y'all. AND, I got Joseph Lofthouse's book, Landrace Gardening. I can't really decide which item I'm most excited about! Sitting here writing it all out gets me a little misty-eyed. Y'all have been so encouraging and supportive. I can't adequately express my thanks. But, thank you so much.