evan's ant village log

Day 237

Spending a week at Matt's permaculture homestead was at once refreshing, inspiring, and educational! Matt is a wonderful and generous host and it was an incredible privilege to spend time there, warming our butts on a rocket mass heater, doing yoga together every day, and listening to Matt's sweet record collection.

He wouldn't let us leave without loading us down with gifts: seeds, lard and chicharrones, homebrew, wooly winter gear, and a homemade chili cheese pizza!

Thanks again for everything, Matt!

Check out Matt's youtube channel: http://youtube.com/broaudio

And his website: https://walkerstoves.com

Day 238

We took the ferry into Seattle and visited one of Sharla's old friends. We also got to see some of the touristy sights of the city.

Did you know there's a giant troll that lives under a bridge just outside of downtown? I didn't either, but when I talked to my brother who used to live in Seattle he recommended that we go on a quest to find this troll. Behold, the troll!

Day 239

As we began making our way back east, the temperature dropped, the ground took on the appearance of a winter wonderland, and I noticed this sticker in a public place, proudly expressing the independent spirit of the people of Cascadia.

http://www.cascadianow.org

Aw geez you guys! I'm blushing here....Yoga hasn't been the same without you.

If anyone gets a chance to host these two, jump at it, they just simply make the place better.

Look at a tiny fraction of what I got out of the visit.....Thanks you two, you stay warm now!!

The pleasure was all ours, Matt! Good to see those earthworks holding water!

Day 240

We were planning our trip around picking up Jesse from the airport, but he postponed his flight and told us to go on without him, so we headed labwards a day ahead of schedule. We stopped off at Mike Oehler's on the way.

It was great to visit with Mike again, and remembering that I'd spotted some chaga mushroom on his birch trees in a previous visit, this time we gathered some with Mike's permission. We smashed up the chaga into pieces and then ground it into a coarse powder with a hand-cranked coffee grinder.

Chaga is said to have medicinal properties that help to prevent cancer and support your immune system, and while we intend to make tinctures in the future for increased potency, for now the tea is quite tasty. Mike tried some too, but confessed he much prefers tea brewed from strawberry leaf.

Day 241

On the way back to the labs from Mike's place is a roadside truck stop and gift shop with a trout aquarium. They've also got a little place to sit and crayon-rub reliefs of wildlife and such. Whenever we're passing through I like to stop, say hello to the trout, and do some trout-rubbing.

Day 242

It's great to be back at the labs! Look at that 12ft tall hugelberm with snow on it!

Paul, Jocelyn, Fred, and I did a podcast talking about all the stuff that's happened at the labs this year. It took like 3 hours but we covered a lot of ground. Jocelyn is an awesome multi-tasker and managed to prepare a delicious dinner even while participating in the podcast.

Afterwards we gave Fred a ride to the bus station. He's off on an adventure to faraway magical lands, like Hawaii. We'll miss you Fred! See you next spring!

If y'all haven't seen Fred's thread yet, do yourself a favor and check it out, it's got tons of awesome pictures and info!

Fred's thread: https://permies.com/t/47311/labs/Fred-photos-Wheaton-Labs

Day 243

Kai has been taking care of the ducks while we've been gallivanting all over the northwest. Thanks Kai! You're the best! It's only been a few weeks but the ducks look so different; Gigantor and Rocky both have green heads now! Looking good, guys!

Kai has also been hard at work building a skiddable shed for storing milled lumber up at the lab. Look at that sweet joinery!

It was gently raining while I helped Kai install a shake roof on his shed. Moving around up there was a bit slippery, but it was cool to see our roofing efforts have such an immediate effect on creating dry space below.

Day 244

Jocelyn cooked up Sir Chops' ribs for dinner! And sausages! And a veggie stir fry, and kraut, and fruit salad, and stuffed sweet potatoes, and chips and salsa and guac, and biscuits, and compote! What a feast! Thank you thank you thank you Jocelyn!

Paul, Jocelyn, Kai, Sharla, and I all played penny poker after dinner. I think I just about broke even, but Sharla won a few cents. Paul totally had a (edit: *straight*) flush that one hand or I would have done better than breaking even... grumble grumble...

The new permaculture playing cards look sweeet!

It's pronounced "STRAIGHT FLUSH BITCHES!"

I wish to take this moment to thank Evan for raising me over and over while I was holding a straight flush.