evan's ant village log

evan l pierce wrote:Jacob and Shannon dropped by and put on a very informative and interesting honey bee workshop. Jacob replaced the painted boxes with nice fresh unpainted ones, and harvested a little bit of honey. Seeing the inside of a hive like that was really neat! I'm looking forward to keeping a couple hives of my own one of these days.

It was a warm and somewhat smoky day, so even though the whole replacing the boxes endeavour could have been pretty stressful on the bees, only a couple folks got stung and now the bees have less toxins in their environment. Plus I got to wear a bee suit! Thanks Jacob and Shannon! Check out http://www.wustnerbrothers.com

Actually, Wustner Brothers is Jacob's father and brother, I think. Jacob has his own bee company now, Sapphire Apiaries. Thank you for all that you've done for wheaton labs bees, Jacob!

evan l pierce wrote:My garden is looking mighty fine...

It sure is Evan! The last 3 photos really show how all the work adds up over time. Visible progress!

Seems I'm like the heat- and water-stressed plants in my yard: I always feel down this time of year, until it starts raining again. But your photos are a daily lift to my spirits. They make me want to go out and do some chop-n-drop or something--heat stroke be damned. Thanks so much.

Day 148

Lots of helicopters have been flying over carrying water or something to fight the fires I guess. The air is nice and clear here, so I suppose they're getting it under control. Hooray for not burning to death.

Before Paul decided to change gears and try a different way to get water up here, I was moving those piles of dirt I pulled out and removing trees in order to get the excavator down and ready to dig another dozen feet deeper. It's too bad the search for water has been fruitless so far, but Paul is hella determined and I'm sure he's got another plan up his sleeve. We'll have water up on the labs one way or another, come hell or... high water...

Day 149

Rained most of the day. And under the cover of tarps my lumber stayed dry and my walls started coming together. Josh helped me with holding and attaching the shoring, and we got maybe half the sidewalls done in just a few hours. Thanks for the help, Josh!

Keeping my ducklings in a brooding box of sorts overnight means that the hay and straw bedding I give them gets mucked up pretty fast. Fortunately this stuff makes fantastic mulch for my garden. Thanks ducklings!

I'm curious what you're using for water, for drinking and washing.

Day 150

Another glorious day in ant village!

Chris helped me sift some dirt for cob-making this morning. Thanks Chris! I was stomping cob and my ducks were free-ranging, and I kept catching glimpses of Josh's free-range bunny hanging out in Lewisylvania, and I can't help but think that it's awesome to be alive. And not just alive, but living in ant village and daily crafting poetry in seed and soil. Thank you Paul Wheaton for giving me this piece of space-time in which my vision can flourish!

I'm building a house! For hobbitses! It has some walls, and most of a roof, and I'm gonna bury it in dry dirt before winter! How cool is that!?

Your house is really coming along! Go Evan!

I love seeing the giant sunflowers blooming! I am glad to see the seeds I sent you doing so well.

Day 151

It rained off and on all day, and I didn't make much progress on any of my projects. I just hung out with my critters, read a bit, and stayed dry mostly.

Chris brought some books, and I was particularly enjoying reading Sepp Holzer's Permaculture. Lots of good ideas in there. Thanks for enriching the laboratory library, Chris!

Sir Chops is finally warming up to me. He used to not even let me get close, but now he comes right up for scratches. What a good pig!

Day 152

Did a bit more roof cobbing, then got back to work on building the duck hollow. I think the ducks will appreciate having a nice warm place to spend cold winter nights. And I'm sure Fred will appreciate having smelly me and my noisy ducks out of the Abbey.

Dianne, one of the newest ants, gave me a jar of some preserves of some sort! I haven't opened it yet, but it sure looks delicious! Thanks Dianne! What an awesome neighbor! Check out her sweet website where you can get your hands on some Steampunk Arts, Crafts, and Jewelry: http://sisterearthcreations.com/

There's a tomato plant coming up in my garden. It's almost certainly too late to get any fruit off of it, but that's not stopping it from trying to grow. Who knows, maybe I'll even dig it out, put it in a pot, and try to keep it going through winter inside my nice warm house, maybe.