evan's ant village log

Day 100

I spent my hundredth day mostly observing, interacting, and reflecting. I dabbled a bit with fence building, played barefoot in the mud in the bottom of my half-finished pond, sat and watched the plants growing in my garden, and hung out with my lovely friends and neighbors. A good day.

Life at Wheaton Labs is so dynamic and constantly evolving. It's unlike anywhere else I've ever lived. This has been an amazing experience so far, and I'm so glad I decided to come out here.

Thanks everyone who made this possible, thank you everyone who's been supportive, and thank you all for coming along for the ride.

I hope y'all are enjoying reading this log as much as I'm enjoying making it. There are very few things I try to do daily, and this being one of them has been a totally new and extremely valuable experience. Much love and permawell wishes to all y'all!

Day 101

Worked on building a couple hugels down at basecamp. Paul wants one of them to be a frost trap for one of his devious plots.

The dirt for covering the wood was dug out of the mines of Arrakis, and it was all I could do to avoid being consumed by the giant spice worms that live there.

Day 102

Spent most of the day in Missoula, where we visited Free Cycles, took a Bike Well class, and did a bit of volunteering work. Bob is awesome, and he sent us home with matching bikes! Thanks Bob!

Oh, I dare say we may be enjoying it more!! Thanks a bunch :)

I hope y'all are enjoying reading this log as much as I'm enjoying making it.

Your log is AWESOME, Evan. I'm enjoying it alot, and I'm glad you like making it and don't feel it a burden.

And it's great you finally got some other ants there so that maybe a community can emerge. Best wishes to all of you!

Day 103

Most of the day I worked on building those hugel berms at basecamp. They need to be 8' tall, but the dirt keeps sloughing off and it's taking longer than I was expecting.

Jocelyn invited us to dessert this evening. Thanks Jocelyn! It was a delicious rhubarb saskatoon crisp made by Carol-Anne! Mmmmhmm! Thanks Carol-Anne! Carol-Anne is awesome and if you haven't seen it already, you should check out her beautifully poetic thread about her experience here in antville: https://permies.com/t/48167/labs/Life-Ant-Village-POV

Day 104

Finally finished those hugel berms at basecamp, and as soon as I was done Brian had me start on another. There's a certain art to getting dirt to stay on top of a steep berm, and I think I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of it.

My friend Baxter sent me 100' of 7' tall deer fence! Thanks Baxter! This should definitely come in handy, either as perimeter fencing or perhaps if I cut it in half lengthwise to make 200' of 3.5' tall fence it could go a long way towards interior duck paddock fencing.

evan l pierce wrote:Finally finished those hugel berms at basecamp, and as soon as I was done Brian had me start on another. There's a certain art to getting dirt to stay on top of a steep berm, and I think I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of it.

I'd love to hear more about that. You've seen the hugels here, and they aren't as steep as it seems they could be.

Sunflower Deeproot - Chapter 3

Sunny's dreams were filled with bees and shining trees and a moon so big and full it took up half the sky. Just as the first light of dawn shone through the windows and fell upon his gently rising and falling chest, Sunny was startled awake by a loud knocking on his door. More of a pounding. A hammering really. A hammering like angry thunder. A lesser door would have been obliterated by such insistent and forceful blows.

Fortunately, the door, like the rest of Sunny's earth-sheltered home, was quite sturdily built, and it held firm. Sunny pulled himself from the chair in which he had slept and crept over to the window. He pulled aside the translucent curtain in hopes of sneaking a peek, and found himself looking straight into the gray eyes and black-bearded face of the most massive and fierce-looking person he'd ever seen.

"Sanctuary." a booming voice declared from beneath the tangle of beard. It was not a question, nor was it a demand, but along with the look of desperation in the eyes of it's speaker, it was a strong appeal to Sunny's sense of decency and hospitality. Sunny just stared, dumbfounded, and neither moved nor breathed until the statement was repeated. "Sanctuary."

Part of Sunny wanted very strongly to quietly step away from the window and retreat into his relatively more defensible cellar, but another part, inexplicable as it was, wanted to help this wayward traveler. Sunny stepped back from the window, and set about unlocking the door.

No sooner was the door unlocked than the stranger pushed it open and entered, ducking through the doorway, tracking in mud, and hastily locking the door behind him.

While Sunny watched, the stranger peered out the window, getting down low and looking up toward the sky. Apparently confident that he'd lost his pursuers, he turned to Sunny and bared his teeth in what might have been a smile. It did little to reassure his host.

"Umm..." Sunny attempted, only to have his hand grasped firmly by the giant stranger and his arm shaken relentlessly.

"Bjärn. I am Bjärn Völtzhammer. I thank you for your house."

"Um..."

"I am come from the north. You are Holbytla, yes?"

"Uh... my friends call me Sunny, short for Sunflower."

"The Holbytlan are told of in our stories. A short people, but I was not expecting one as short as you."

"Uh... Thanks? What, um, what are you? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I am a Pïking! Well... I was a Pïking. Now my own people hunt me like a filthy Pïrate. Betrayal..."

"A pie king? Pie rat? Pie? You mean like the baked good?" Sunny's stomach rumbled at the idea. All this excitement before breakfast, not to mention this talk of pie, was making him hungry.

"Pïking. Not baked good. Frozen, like Pïkrete. Like strong ice."

Sunny had no idea what to make of that, and his mind was on his cupboard anyway. "Say, Biyawn, I'm-"

"Bjärn. I am Bjärn."

"Beeyarn, I'm about to fix up something for breakfast. And-"

"I cook."

With that, Bjärn let himself into the kitchen, where he pulled a live rabbit out of one of the pockets of his fur coat. In one swift motion he bashed the rabbit's head on the counter, instantly breaking its neck, and then slit its throat with a knife that seemed to come from nowhere. The rabbit's blood drained into a bowl, and then Bjärn peeled off its skin as easily as one might remove a sock.

Sunny stood watching, horrified and intrigued, as Bjärn efficiently disemboweled, de-boned, sliced, and diced the rabbit, then setting the flesh aside, lit the stove, set a skillet, oiled it, and began rummaging through cupboards and spice racks, pulling out onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Within minutes, the smell of sizzling meat was wafting into Sunny's nostrils, and Bjärn was in the process of brain-tanning the hide while the rabbit cooked.

Over the most delicious breakfast he had eaten in months, Sunny asked many questions about Bjärn and the Pïkings. The story of his betrayal and exile was never shared, and it seemed to cause him much discomfort whenever the subject tended in that direction, but Bjärn delighted in telling his host about the volcanic island that was his homeland, and the great inland sea upon which his people sailed and around which they tended their ancient forests.

While the two shared a morning smoke of Sunny's favorite pipeweed, he was beginning to feel as though this strange northlander, rather than seeking sanctuary, had carried it with him.

Day 105

Cut and limbed some little trees for fencing, and started laying out Sir Chops' next paddock, which doesn't have a name just yet. Of course, it will need a proper name before he can move into it.

Ernie and Erica are here to help with Allerton Abbey, and we all had a delicious chili dinner down at basecamp. There was salad, and lemonade, and watermelon, and horchata! Mmmm... horchata... Thanks Carol-Anne, Estar, and Jocelyn, for such an awesome meal!

Day 106

With Josh's help, and with Brian's screw gun and James' chainsaw, Siesta now has all the rafters on. Thanks guys! Next step is to throw the side walls up, then to cob over all the gaps before laying on the plastic so that there's no mice habitat in my walls.