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

BRK #356

Some good work being done today at the Lab, and some excellent developments at the Allerton Abbey hugel berms.

One of the pins for the treads on the excavator continues to loosen itself. We attempted to put things back together today with some ratchet straps, but weren't completely successful.



From the inside of the tread. I marked it with permanent marker so we could easily find it. We're hoping to weld some washers to this pin once it's in place so it doesn't loosen itself again.



Dez and Liam plot their next move.



Meanwhile, in the afternoon, I enjoyed being surrounded by busy bees. Apparently, they adore sunchokes in bloom, even more than I do.



And wonder of wonders... Cherry tomatoes...! Grown from seed...! In Montana...! Remarkably delicious, orange orbs.



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

BRK #357

This Tuesday was an enjoyable one, ending with a real "gully-washer" as we sat down for Taco Tuesday dinner. The hail that was forecast hadn't materialized, so maybe we'd been spared the worst of it. Skies are still cloudy today.

Speaking of which: the moon is nearly full right now. When the clouds are out of the way, the walk up to the tent at night is lovely.



The first half of Tuesday was spent "battening down the hatches" a bit more. There were a few odds and ends that we wanted to have stored prior to any foul weather or persistent precipitation, and it looks like we made it just in time.

For example, here's our first attempt at a hay bale made entirely from knapweed. Our conversation today went kind of like this.

KNAPWEED BALE: I'll just sit right here, and blend in with the locals. No one will ever notice me...!

ME: ...



Meanwhile, we also dismantled our massive "wedding tent" that was set up for events. Here are Liam and Shai, securing the poles for the canopy and definitely not hiding a body in there.



In the afternoon, we tended the garden at Basecamp. While visiting my kale snack bar during a break, I found another pumpkin! So far, we've effectively doubled our pumpkin harvest this year...!



Finally: the massive rainstorm earlier this evening produced copious amounts of runoff. I'm relieved to see that our drainage efforts seem to be working. Water is running all the way to the sand pit in Far Arrakis, and there are fewer pools in places undesired.



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

BRK #358

The brief-yet-intense storm that passed through Tuesday evening did a number on this place.

I caught a snapshot of the small lake that forms on the road leading to Cooper Cabin. We'll figure out a way to address this for the long term, while using this photo as a reference.



In the afternoon, I spent some time shoring-up our various sunchoke plants at Allerton Abbey. Several were blown over, and we want them to stay healthy and growing at least until harvest season. These buffers may help for the next month or two.







... you get the picture.

Finally: I noticed this tiny, extremely-late-season pumpkin plant earlier today. Here's to hoping something comes of it before November comes along and squashes it.



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

BRK #359

Our first task this morning was to repair two panels of a junkpole fence that were knocked-down on Tuesday evening.



Here's the team setting to work with the repairs: Dez, Liam, and Shai. We used tools ranging from an air-powered nailgun to the Log Wizard: a rotating planer blade affixed to a chainsaw that allows rounded gouges to be cut into poles, allowing better fits between roundwood poles and posts. The Wizard turned out to be very useful today.



Shai and I teamed-up on one panel. Here's the framework, rebuilt nearly from scratch.



Here's one panel complete, and the other well on the way.



The final panel was installed and we cleaned up the site just a bit prior to lunch time.



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