M Ljin

I’ve thought before that if there is a way to do this, a testimonial quote is probably the way—but in no way is that photographic evidence.  

I also find many aspects of certain parts of PEP to be unworkable in consideration my standards of internet privacy—pictures of faces, posting medical information on the web (!), etc. It makes me wonder if there could be a way of submitting privately such that only real otises could see.

I always found that steel guitar strings a few weeks old seemed to sound better—less metallic, like the wood can show through more. Eventually they do lose volume—I’ll try boiling though!

It actually seems as if nails and barbed wire are a rather similar type of iron—both quite flexible. So maybe needs no fancy heating at all?

Something I noticed today… I was making stewed sunchokes and noticed as the liquid coalesced into a sort of syrup! It was rich in flavor and rather sweet.

After all this maple sap in various stages of evaporation, do I need even more sugar??

I do think the stewing was what released it.

Eating stewed jerusalem artichokes & maple syrup! (It finally thawed enough to dig them up)

Dennis Barrow wrote:

M Ljin wrote:One option would be a tipi. That could be rather useful for being able to move around the valley based on which foods are available when—moving up to the hills when the acorns are dropping, back down to dig parsnips, etc.

I made tipi's when I got out of high school.  Around 25 of them.  Sold them locally in Montana.

My mother was the first female licensed outfitter in the state and had a backpacking business into the Bob Marshall Wilderness.  Base camp was a 21 foot diameter tipi I made her.

After she quit that business, (insurance go to high, they found out grizzly bears frequented her camps) we used the tipi for hunting camps and just camping for almost 30 years.  It finally fell apart.

Thank you for sharing! What were your materials? Waxed canvas? Skins?

I have been wondering as of late if barbed wire could be turned into nails.

I know putting them in fire can harden them. I know how to sharpen the end too. I even know how to flatten them into a thin strip if need be. But creating a head might be a little more difficult…

I realized yesterday that—it was March 16, and I was listening to the album March 16-20, 1992 by Uncle Tupelo. I’ve been listening again and again through the month.

I also noticed how much the bouzouki adds to this album—such a unique sound to it.

I’m thinking of three things, any one of which could (possibly) fit within this price range…

One option would be a tipi. That could be rather useful for being able to move around the valley based on which foods are available when—moving up to the hills when the acorns are dropping, back down to dig parsnips, etc.

Second option would be compost, of good quality, as much as I can get!

Third is to find or commission some large, sturdy clay jars (silos?) that can store enough seeds/beans/etc. in a rodent-proof environment to last the winter and as long as is needed.  This seems like maybe the most important thing to do…

There is a need for some way to attach strings at the lower end. There are multiple ways to do this:

1. Have some form of tailpiece where the strings attach, which is similar to banjos, mandolins and violin family. In this case you could make a very simple bridge:



2. A spike goes all the way along/through the instrument, narrowing at the tip, such that strings can be looped around—early banjos and citoles have this sort of string attachment, and so does my homemade gourd instrument. This seems like the easiest in my opinion.

On ekonting, this goes over the gourd and is secured in place by the skin—the bridge straddles this papyrus stick. In my instrument and in banjos, the spike is attached separately to the neck and passes under the skin/sound board.

Their bridges are also quite simple, and look very much like their namesake.

I do not know why this style of string attachment is not more used! It seems very secure as far as I have seen.

3. Have a bridge that is firmly attached, like guitar and ukulele, and the strings are tied or pegged to that. This will be the most familiar to you.

4. Some invention I don’t know about, whether you make it up yourself or I just don’t know about it!