Stephen B. Thomas

Christopher Weeks wrote:I was wondering how you glued them to a new tree branch after moving.

Hahaha! I confess that while I do like bugs, I don't like them that much.

I at least say, "Sorry, y'all. It's moving day." But that's the extent of it, really.

Regarding hornets vs yellowjackets: I really haven't noted the different colour of the bugs, but I have moved a couple different types of nests. Most common around here are the ones whose hexagonal-shaped combs - like cells in a beehive - are open to the air. I've moved a few round paper wasps nests (for hornets, I presume) in my time, but they're less frequent (with the exception of those who want to move into my tent).

Christopher Weeks wrote:Stephen, are yours underground? How do you move them?

We did have one underground - and that was the largest one I'd seen, to date. We ended up moving it in the winter, when there was snow and the threat of being stung was gone. It was larger in diameter than a softball.

Most of the time, they're under eaves of roofs, or within the folds of a tarp that's bunched-up over a pile of wood or something. Those are the ones I can move while we're in-season and the bugs are active.

How I Move Them:
You need a claw tool, a jar, and a piece of wood or the jar's lid or something to keep things inside. You'll want to do this in the morning or whatever's the coolest part of the day for you.
I set the jar near the nest, use the claw grabber at the furthest distance I can manage, gently grab the nest with the claw, then drop it in the jar. I put down the claw as quickly as I can and cover the jar with the cardboard, so nobody escapes while I carry it. Then I walk a decent distance from any of our buildings, usually to the foot of a bunch of shrubbery or whatever, and "pour" the nest onto the ground. Then I run away.

I do think a mild winter has something to do with it. Our winter was book-ended with big snows, but apart from a late frost it was much shorter, and with less precipitation, than typical. We then had a very, very rainy June, and I think the abundance of water in those infrequently-moist locations may also have something to do with it.

I've relocated several nests this year already. One tried to set up shop in my tent, and I let them know I wasn't interested in a roommate (though this has happened in past years, as well). [EDIT: This was also the first year I've seen a yellow jacket nest in a Little Free Library in Missoula...!]

One bit of info I wanted to pass along on this subject is that these extended claw-grabber tools are invaluable for folks who wish to move nests instead of destroy them. It reduced my personal anxiety factor considerably. If you relocate nests, do it early in the morning while it's still relatively cool and the "murder flies" are more sluggish.

It seems best to move them out before the extremely dry times of the year, as they become protective (AKA aggressive) when there's less water around. Good luck to you all...!

Daniel Schmidt wrote:Are you still targeting the first Sunday of the month? Are spots still available?

Yep! Esteban and I were just chatting today about the logistics of the August cohort, which is scheduled to arrive 2nd August.

If you've not seen it yet, here's a link to the Bootcamp info page. If you're willing to take the plunge, the steps you ought to follow are listed there.

Here are a couple more wooden coaster examples. I used hi-res scans of public domain artwork for the designs.



I'm also experimenting with public domain comics from the 1940s and '50s. There are lots of very cool black and white images that show up nicely when burned into wood. Photos of those will show up soon.

BEL #839

More work over at the acre today. I've decided I'm going to try a roundwood timber roof frame for the Willow Feeder (AKA "Poo With A View"). At this stage, I'm collecting materials. Fortunately, I have a large lumber yard, approximately an acre in size.

I tried out the paring ladder I built last week. It's too small for larger pieces to fit at a practical position (like what I was working with today), and when trying to finish peeling the ends of the logs, the paring ladder proved to be too large for what my limited brain could conceive as a practical position. Of course, now I'm thinking I could flip the paring ladder forwards and wedge my work pieces in-between the ladder steps, holding the work piece still while I peeled. But when I wrapped today, I was convinced I ought to build a sawhorse up there to help with these medium-sized jobs.

But I did peel some supports for the roof today. One of my additional goals is to build up berms alongside the road, so all my de-limbing and peeling scraps are piled up where I hope to eventually line the berms.



By the time I called it quits today, I'd finished 3 ten-footers that will dry and then be put to use as tenon logs. They'll poke into a green log later, then I'll come up with something to cover the roof frame with.



I'm currently storing all the unused bits of the trees I'd felled, including the stumps, over at the Willow Feeder. It takes a lot of work to fell and then cut-to-size all the wood I'm working with, so by making do with using these scraps I hope to both keep a tidy place as well as reduce my workload, even if just a little bit.



I think this is the first "selfie" I've taken in a few years. I really just wanted to show off the drawknife I'm using over there right now. The blade's a bit shorter than most, and has a gentle curve to it. Touch-ups with a sharpening stone are easy to do.



I think Friday - the next day I'm over there - I'll build a sawhorse and then maybe add corner supports to the frame of the Willow Feeder, so I feel more secure about adding wall boards and the roof frame. There are some 2x4 dimensional lumber bits I can use for that purpose. ...Looks like I ought to add a speed square to the tools I'm using up there.

Maybe I'll show progress shots of the acre's building projects at the end of every month.

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

I like dried/dehydrated stuff. If you have a solar dehydrator, dice or slice your peppers and have a go at drying them over a few days and see how well they turn out.

Here at Wheaton Labs, we also have screens that we suspend near the ceiling so they're out of the way, and dry foods up there where the warm air collects. Both the outdoor and indoor methods work very well in our climate.

Jay Angler wrote:Sigh... The problem in my mind is that many of the back legs of dragons I've seen just don't appeal to me. To my mind, they look tacked on and ugly.

But I do see her point. My dragon could move mostly like a snake. But do people think it would look more "finished" if it had another pair of legs?

I think it looks quite like a "Chinese dragon" when it has arms and no hind legs. You might want to give the tail more of a fluke-like or flared-out end to it, lending it a sense of being able to swim or fly. If you have the sense that the dragon is a "flyer," note that wings aren't necessarily required to provide that impression to the viewer. But a tail fluke is useful in both cases, like a rudder or tail fin to help direct the animal in water or atmosphere.

I also find that when hind legs are added to a fantastical animal, then ensure that they're either:
- touching the ground and placed in a way that gives the impression of standing in a stable posture, or
- "tucked in" or "dragging behind" because the animal is in flight or swimming.

I think posture of the legs to lend the idea of their function can go a long way. Land animals usually have hind legs, while "swimmers" and "flyers" can get away with a more snake-like appearance.

Good luck! I think the head is pretty great.

Coydon Wallham wrote:For my Willow Feeder, [...] They had a pallet full of dozens of "slip sheets", the top and bottom sheets from when they get pallets of the roofing shipped to them.

Man, that pallet shed looks great! Nice work!

I'd have to lobby pretty aggressively in order to have a metal roof accepted, but I know it's been approved in the past. Building stuff at the Lab has a different set of criteria than that built at Basecamp. In any case, I ought to check in at Home ReSource or whatever it's called in Missoula and see if they have any of those panels available. Chances are that's where I'll be able to find these kinds of materials, at least in the short term.

...There's really nothing that beats the sound of rain falling on a metal roof, though, I must say.

Derek Thille wrote: The bread looks tasty...looks like I may need to make an excuse to get back before you tire of this....

I think I have that bread recipe dialed-in, and it's unlikely I'll be stopping anytime soon. The rest of the team seems pretty happy with what I've been able to make. I just want to add that in the cooler months, I'll be making bread bowls for Soupy Tuesday evening meals.

BEL #838

I'm starting construction (and repairs, incidentally) over at the acre I'm stewarding. Earlier this week I replaced a board used in the frame for the under-construction Willow Feeder over there, and started thinking of what to do about the roof. I have a lot of timber to work with over there, it's just a matter of felling it and shaping it to the size I want to use.

Meanwhile, I decided to do some bushcraft tool-making today. I started with a small project: build a paring ladder. I brought out my frame saw and hatchet for the task:

This collapsible frame saw was a Xmas gift from Paul several years ago. Thanks once again, man...!



If I recall correctly, I brought a naked hatchet head to Wheaton Labs back in '22. To build up her BBs, Alexandra added a hatchet handle to the head, as well as fashioned a leather sheath cover for it. Thank you...!



I felled two trees on the acre, and then cut them to 8-foot lengths. There were a few scraps I hung on to for the rungs.



The first step was to lash an A-frame together. I have a box full of paracord scraps, and used these to lash two of the 8-footers together.



To help the rungs stay in place, I made shallow notches on the backs of the rungs, then lashed them on to the A-frame with a few additional wraps for good measure.



The paring ladder will be useful for peeling logs (there's still time before it becomes a tougher task in the heat) and smoothing out boards and shakes. ...Yes! I intend to make a shake roof of some kind for the Willow Feeder out there. We'll see if I stick with this, and how the project moves along.

Additionally: at Basecamp, I've been baking bread twice a week for about a month and a half (using the wonderfully-versatile poly-dough recipe). The rest of the Boot Team seems to appreciate my efforts...! Here's two savory loaves: rosemary and thyme.



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