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

BRK #338

A Friday Eve, and an enjoyable one at that.

To start off the day, Shai, Dez, and I were adding more wood to the walls in the Lab's Pump House. Dez also visited the site in the evening to chip away at the project even more. Things are definitely moving along.

Here are a couple action shots of Shai and Dez takin' care of business.





In the afternoon, we were gardening at Basecamp. While chopping-and-dropping, I ended up pulling a potato plant out by accident. These three tiny spuds still had plenty more growing to do, but I think I'll shred them and then fry them as a consolation.



Finally: thanks to Katt & family for joining Shai and me for board games this evening...! We played Sushi Go! and a game I designed, which I call The Mountaineer's Deck. Both seemed to be a big hit with the group. Playing games with a full table of six players is a rare luxury, and I'm grateful for these special guests.



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

BRK #339

I feel so spoiled: board games two evenings in a row...! Tonight, Castle Panic and Sushi Go! hit the table, and fun was had by all. We've stayed up waaaaay too late playing games. At least tomorrow is a day off.

Today we finished the assembly of the yurt, "battening down the hatches" for the coming cold season. I think it's an interesting building, for sure. I have old friends living in yurts in Vermont, and today's experience brought back memories of the times I'd visited them in the distant(?) past.

Here's the team in my attempt at a panoramic photo:



Here's a before-during-after triptych:







I think, when the weather turns colder, I'll stay in the yurt a few nights just to try it out and see how it works as a domicile for the cold season. Perhaps upgrading from my tent to a yurt may be in order, if it's possible to fare better in the cold with one. Personally I shudder at the thought of abandoning the tent, but we'll see...



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

BRK #340

Oh please, pleeeeease be a big pumpkin soon.



Today was a day to wander around Missoula, and enjoy being on my feet. For instance, there was this interesting new construction of power poles. I've never seen rectangular, "stylish" power poles. Now, here they are.



Outside one of the cafe' bakeries I visited today, I practiced tying more knots. Today's topic was hitches, and I made my way through a few of them and can recall them fairly well. I hope I can continue learning more knots, a few at a time.

First is the plainly-named "round turn and two half-hitches." The round turn is basically the looping of the rope round the pole. You hold it in place and prevent it from slipping with the half-hitches next to one another.



This is a "fisherman's bend." I'm not fond of this one on its own, and to me it seems like it's not done unless you add a half-hitch to the end of it.



If you need to have a tight hold on a pole while the load is hanging laterally (AKA in-line with the pole), the "rolling hitch" is okay. When I tested it, it seems like you need to have a tight hold on both ends.



The "taut line hitch" is a perpendicular rolling hitch. I don't think I did this one well.



Finally: this is the funnest and most interesting knot from today. The "halter hitch" locks a rope in place, then holds it there with a slip knot. The knot can be undone by releasing the slipknot, even if there's a lot of pulling pressure from the load-bearing end. Imagine having a horse tied with its halter on a hitching post, and how convenient it would be to release the animal from its hitching post with one hand. It's a fun knot to make and then undo.



It might be worth considering having a Half-Assed Holiday based on knotting rope and putting things together with cordage and knotted rope. We shall see.

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

rectangular, "stylish" power poles

Notice that they are laminated structures which give greater directional strength than non engineered structural wood.  Something you do when framing around doors and windows.  Beside the line end use pictured I have also seen them where a line goes around a corner.  

BRK #341

Easing back into work on a Sunday. I hung up a number of rugs on a clothesline today and sprayed them with water, only to have the clothesline fasteners slip out, dropping the saturated rugs on the dirt. Fixed the fasteners, which will (hopefully) hold with more staying power, and sprayed-down the rugs once again. Two rinses ought to be enough to extrude some of that trampled-in dirt.

Meanwhile, the pumpkin is taking shape...



I stitched almost three of the four sides to the second hand-stitched zokin. It's slow-going, and simply part of the process of becoming better at it. The other two of this set of four will be made with the sewing machine, which is approximately a thousand times faster and neater than my hand-stitching. It's not quite as satisfying, though.



Finally: I'm impressed with the pathway Dez carved into the hillside. It leads from the back of the library - near the cats' dining spot - to near the entryway of the new yurt. I like how he incorporated the striated levels of the rockface to become steps, and then added a dry-stack/gravel landing at the bottom.



That's all for now. Back to work tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!