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

BRK #226

Heavy news to report today. All five of the kittens somehow didn't live through the night. We have no idea what may have caused this, though of course there are plenty of theories. Wesley and I buried the kitties here at Basecamp at the start of the afternoon.

In the morning, things were proceeding as planned. The team was wrapping up it's first-edition laundry racks for the Solarium. Caleb executed some legit joinery with his dovetailed, fastener-free joints. Here's a closeup of them in this photo.



Wesley re-worked his pulleys, and now has two cords used to raise and lower the rack. Here it's pictured at its fully-raised position. It contains a lot of green wood, so it's best that it stays up higher in an effort to dry quicker. We'll sand it down and maybe dress up the end supports once it's ready. As always, it's artisan's choice, so ultimately Wesley will determine any future aesthetic touches that add more character.



Meanwhile, I was Moto Jeff's assistant today. Here he is, battling it out with the wiring in the Solarium.



In the afternoon, things were somber but we finished some tasks and crossed paths with two SEPPers, David and Charlene. Here they are with Wesley and Moto Jeff, helping us collect larger-diameter branches from a recent brush pile. We hope to use some of these for next week's Half-Assed Holiday: Roundwood Furniture Day.



I caught a few snapshots while driving around on the tractor this afternoon. We may wander as far off as the Dances With Pigs Meadow in our search for lumber trees and dead-standing firewood.





This evening after our shift was done, I spent a little more time than usual with Black Spark, the hard-workin' mama of the kitties. ...I'll always wonder.

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

BRK #227

An end to, "a slobberknocker of a week." Well, the Boot week anyway.

Snow was coming down until maybe 2:30 or so this afternoon, leaving about 3 inches or so at Basecamp. Up at the Lab - where I was working the first half of the day - there was that much snow before noon when I wrapped up there for the day.

For those of you who don't know, in the late Summer of last year there was an annoying mass of yellowjackets or wasps or whatever defending their territory, This is completely normal in most cases, however this particular group of yellowjackets took up residence underneath the floorboards of the front porch of Cooper Cabin. As the cooler weather arrived, I resolved to relocate them so they bother us less, and vice versa.

Today was the day - or so I hoped...! I arrived at Cooper with a smattering of tools I thought would be helpful. However, shortly into my efforts, I realized that the floorboards were slightly overdue for replacement. Clue #1 was when I went to remove this board, and it tore-out instead of flexed.



So I resolved to search for the nest, but also replace the boards I removed during my search. To sum it up: I removed three boards, swept out any remaining rotted wood from the opening, dusted it with diatomaceous earth, then screwed the new floorboards into place. Not bad for the first half of the day, especially since I wasn't expecting to do a demo job at the start of it.







Did I find the nest? Oh, of course not. However the porch is looking much nicer, I'd say. I'll be on the lookout for that nest next week, three boards to the right. The warm weather is coming, and I'd rather catch those yellowjackets unawares...

The second half of the day was dominated by pre-planning and design work for next week's Roundwood Furniture Day. This is another Half-Assed Holiday that makes its debut this season, but that hasn't stopped us from having grand plans. Paul is looking for two roundwood kitchen chairs, so we watched some videos, chit-chatted on some of the design fundamentals, and then Reid furnished our bill of materials and cut list. Wesley and I did some cutting and prep for the supports, while the rest of the team was out in Sherwood Forest on the lookout for a few green logs. Here's what Wesley and I finished up with in terms of preparations.



It may not look like much now, but it's all going according to plan and the team's interest in this project is definitely piqued. We're all looking forward to that evening's Lumberjack Dinner, as well...!

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

If you're using green and dry wood, you may want to wait to harvest the green wood until the day of the project.  Those sticks seem to dry pretty fast.  Maybe they'll be ok for a few days but I'm not sure.  Or you could keep them soaking in water or packed in very damp sawdust until you use them.

BRK #228

A Nest Labor Sunday, with one less hour.  I'll keep this one brief.

My main task in terms of Nest Labor Projects is the Paddock entrance, by the front door of the Fisher Price House. Last weekend didn't seem so productive, so I attempted to make up for that today. I finished the entire first course of the lattice above the gate, and the easier segments of the second course.





Another task I had involved shoveling alongside the patio, between the Library and the FPH. While there, I noticed some lovely buds! Not sure what plant they are, though we'll find out soon enough - provided today's weather is a peek at what's to come.



Finally: over the weekend, a few more books arrived! Thanks to Judson Carroll's knot-tying intro video I saw last week, I was reminded about how much fun - and how useful - they are. I found a couple instructional books to help guide me when the video instructions aren't available. The third book is more of a fun read, but there's a lot of useful truth in it. Plus, it makes me chuckle.



I might add that the reason I am able to find myself some new, hard-to-find titles is because of the BRK contributions I'd received as part of my 200th post milestone. Thanks to those who pledged and gave! Your contributions are appreciated.

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

Mike Haasl wrote:If you're using green and dry wood, you may want to wait to harvest the green wood until the day of the project.  Those sticks seem to dry pretty fast.  Maybe they'll be ok for a few days but I'm not sure.  Or you could keep them soaking in water or packed in very damp sawdust until you use them.

I think we're keeping them indoors, out of the sun. Provided that the weather holds out like it did today, it'll actually be much colder indoors until Wednesday, when we make the chairs. Hopefully that will be sufficient...!