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

BRK #342

Is it Monday already? Two new Boots started with us, and they're in this group photo with our special guests, Katt and Company.



Once again, thanks to Katt and her family for spending more of their summer with us, whether in preparing and then sharing meals with us, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Boots, or in evening tabletop game sessions. See you soon...!

Meanwhile, it was also a day when praying mantises were turning up all over the place. I caught two snapshots of them today. This first one is over at Allerton Abbey on the Lab. Doing a little chop n' drop by the Truly Passive Greenhouse, and here's the mantis that persuaded me to hold off on cutting down another specimen of my nemesis: prickly lettuce. It wasn't moving day yet, little buddy.



This other one was back at Basecamp. We were tooling around with the manual hay baler, and this guy was pushing back. Based on the size difference between that work glove and that mantis, it looks to me like a check he couldn't cash.



Speaking of the manual baler, well we were messing around with some knapweed today. We will have a second shift of tinkering with it, and are attempting to make a legit, well-formed bale made exclusively with knapweed.





Finally: a big thanks to fellow Boot Shai for a gift of a Tintin comics box set. I remember reading these as a kid, borrowing them from the library. Now I have a complete set to reacquaint myself with them. I really appreciate this, man. Thank you, Shai!!!



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

TinTin! My girls got into them after hearing a BBC-produced audiobook, and we still say "snowy!" in a bad British accent all winter long! What an absolutely lovely gift!

BRK #343

Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!

Today was the hottest day of the year yet around here: 105 degrees F. While we were outside working in it (we garden in the afternoons right now), I still didn't feel so bad. Two secrets:

- At the day's hottest temperatures, the humidity was a mere 15%. This is astonishingly different from the east coast, where I came from. Over there, you walk outside in 85 degree weather and the humidity is like someone dropping a hot, wet, wool blanket on you and you are forced to walk around with it all day. Here in Montana, if you enter the shade, it feels like 10+ degrees cooler, and then a breeze comes along and it's lovely.
- I use a homemade electrolyte powder mixed into my water, called "snake bite juice." It tastes like salty water, and I drink it throughout the day. A rounded teaspoon or less in a typical water bottle is more than enough to help you through a shift. There are four ingredients:
    1. 1 cup of Potassium Chloride.
    2. 1 cup of Baking Soda.
    3. 1/2 cup of epsom salt.
    4. 1/2 cup table salt.

It's the cheapest Gatorade I've ever had, and it's imminently effective.

Meanwhile... Ryan and I worked up at the Lab today. He was adding panels to the east side of the Swede-ified Sauna (which really is a remarkable place). Here's the before and after of his work, for which he earned a BB. He added panels until our supply was exhausted.





After he used up all the panels, Ryan and I visited the solar-powered sawmill and set to work.





I also paid a visit to the Lab's pump house, which protects all the well equipment. The other Boots are doing an excellent job in moving this project forward. We'll be making some smooth cob tomorrow morning and then using it to seal the outside of the structure.



Finally: we wrapped-up our day by gardening at Basecamp. It was sweltering outside, but we retreated to the shade or into the Library when we needed a break. We're harvesting a few things to use as cover crop this autumn - which is like, right around the corner. Here are some walking onions.



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

BRK #344

We all had a wager going at this morning's meeting to see who could guess today's high temperature... And we all over-bid! Lowest temperature was guessed to be a high of 103, and it only reached 102 at Basecamp. We stink at guessing.

Meanwhile, the first half of the day was dominated by cob-making and construction of the Lab pump house. I was on the cob team, so here's the clay and sand being blended in a barrel with water:



We then add straw to increase bulk and structure:



Here's our finished batch of cob loaded into the back of Toots (our transport van).



Finally: Ryan, Liam and Dez all worked together to complete 95% of the cobbing required for the above-ground walls of the pump house. This project is rocketing forward.



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

BRK #345

This week is a kind of slow-roaster. Temps reached 103 degrees F today at Basecamp, so that's three days in a row over 100. During the last hour of the work day, we came indoors to do some threshing and seed-sorting. Liam was catching some video of the process, so maybe we'll be able to show that soon.

Prior to that, however, it really wasn't too hot. Plus, the breeze moved the air around and it felt quite nice outside. And hey, it still is the summer so this is to be expected. No need for complaints (especially from those who aren't so fond of winter weather). Ryan and I were once again at the sawmill today. We want paneling, plus Ryan is working on some BBs related to dimensional woodworking and he's looking to pick up a couple while he's here. It wasn't too long before we encountered some problems, unfortunately.

The saw seemed to keep binding while we were making our vertical cuts. Our first remedy attempt was to add wedges between the sawn planks and the remainder of the log. We thought this would reduce the binding.



Once the board was complete, we realized that the path of the blade was all over the place...! Totally unacceptable.



After attempting a few more fixes and inspections, there was no change and so we resolved to replace the blade. Fortunately we had two spare blades available, still fresh from the saw company.



That seemed to sort things out just right...! After a few more passes, we had the log cleared on one side, ready to make some planks.



Here's an action shot of Ryan operating the sawmill.



Tomorrow we'll have a full complement of finished panels from this log, and will be ready to load in - and hopefully begin sawing - another.

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