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

 
pollinator
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Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
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BRK #200
(a new milestone!!!)

Longer day than usual today, punctuated with pie. Huckleberry pie. Believe the hype.



However... It all started up at the Lab today, where I met with an auto repair technician. We want our 1973 Kenworth dump truck running, though it's not been tried in about two years.



He spent the majority of the time recording serial numbers, looking for various filters (pictured below are two fuel filters, a coolant filter, and the little red thing that looks like the barrel of a fire extinguisher is actually starter fluid), and tut-tutting at the batteries. We were both, however, very impressed with the engine itself.







Traveled up to the Lab once again this afternoon to collect more firewood. The wood racks we had built earlier this week were dropped off at Cooper Cabin. We drove Doug up the Pond Road as far as we could and then Grey, Reid, and I took out a bunch of dead standing wood. There were a few logs left there from our previous foray, so we loaded those into the back of Doug as well.



We delivered everything to the Gregorian Woodshed, right next to the Tipi. No one's living in there this winter, so it's simply taking a snooze.



Across the "street" at the Woodshed, I spent some time observing its construction. We'll be adding shingles like these to the Pump House when we make it to that phase, and then again when we build another woodshed that follows Paul's design.



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!
 
Stephen B. Thomas
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BRK #201

Hope you're enjoying your Friday.

Spent a bit of time indoors today, but most of it outside. Once the sun is up, the temperature noticeably rises. There's an electric blue in the sky when the clouds are absent. I'm sure I could just hike around for days, not say a word, and be completely satisfied.

This morning, I set about creating some prototype garden labels. Boots will add these to the various plants on their hugels so that even passersby will know what's growing. We're looking for some permanent and/ore resilient labels for the garden this time around.



Once that task was done, I was addressing some vehicle maintenance issues. Checked on all the batteries and will busy myself eventually in looking where and how to add brake fluid to Judy (our big red truck).



In the afternoon, Moto Jeff and I were stationed at the Gregorian Woodshed up at the Lab, splitting the remainder of the wood up there. The rest of the team arrived with more dead-standing wood in tow, and there was a flurry of activity: woodchips flying in the air as the tok-tok-tok of axes splitting logs was carried on the breeze.

This woodshed will be filled before our first planting, mark my words.



Finally: next week's Half-Assed Holiday, Cat House Day, is a big deal. Grey shared his current iteration of the design with the rest of the team before we closed-out our day, and there was some lively discussion. It will be an ambitious project, but then again so will making lasagna...!



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!
 
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Congratulations on your exceeding 200 BRK posts!  

Keep it up!  I really find your posts to be super enlightening and give a really good insight into Wheaton Labs.  
 
Stephen B. Thomas
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Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
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S Rogers wrote:Congratulations on your exceeding 200 BRK posts!



Thanks for the well-wishing and the kind words, S Rogers...!  As long as I'm here, I'll do my best to post something worthwhile every day. Your feedback and encouragement is appreciated.
 
Stephen B. Thomas
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Location: Wheaton Labs, Montana, USA
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BRK #202

Saturday is here, and a few errands were run today. Doug needed a refuel, and while we were in town we dropped off some recyclables. Thanks to the rest of the team who helped load up Doug with most of the material at the close of the day yesterday.



As a thank-you for his hard work, today I picked up new wiper blades and a battery-terminal cleaning kit for Doug.

The sun was shining with a vengeance today, and I wasn't the only person to take advantage of this. While walking along the river in downtown Missoula, I spied a couple outdoor adventurers: a kayak-er and an angler.





The river was rushing quickly today, and the view was spectacular. It's a treasure to have such a vibrant waterway right in the middle of town.



And I received a special delivery from my Czechen pen-pal today! It's my birthday month, so she sent me a Czech desk calendar and a nice happy birthday wish card. We've been trading photographs for the past several years, and with these calendars I've seen Czechen countryside cottages (some of them true dream homes for scrubs like me), and now towers, mansions, and bridges. Ahoj!



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and I hope you make the most of your weekend...!
 
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