Esteban Ademovski

B.E.L. Post # 296

This morning we started off with the whole crew heading over to the Abbey. Sam and Erik worked on the wing wall while Dan and I tackled the Abbey store door. We took the door off its hinges, laid it down, and trimmed the bottom since it was dragging on the cob flooring. Once we finished, we rehung it, and it was sitting much better.

Sam and Erik had already removed a few logs from the wing wall, so we brought one of them back to base camp. It measured 98 inches and will be debarked this coming Monday for the wing wall.

After lunch, Erik and I were paired up to get the front of the classroom and shop door area cleaned up. We processed all the remaining wood, then swept and raked up any woody bits left scattered around.

Afterward, we headed over to the lab for a trail cam run, swapping out all the batteries and SD cards. We also brought another log back to base camp for the wing wall.

Another productive day, getting a few things cleaned up around the Abbey while continuing to make progress on the wing wall.

B.E.L. Post # 295

This morning I was paired up with Jesse, and we decided to continue with puddle patrol.

I picked up where Erik and I had left off the day before, extending my little trench another 8 feet until I connected it to the original starting point where Erik had started his. Jesse continued working on the section Erik had left off the previous day.

Once I made the connection, I grabbed about 10 pails of soil and built up a little mound along the trench on the downhill side of the drive. With all the different vehicles driving over it, the soil should gradually compact over time, helping prevent any runoff from making its way toward the road.

Around 10 o'clock, Jesse switched off for an hour to get some practice operating the tractor, while I switched over and spent some time working on the boot sit spot.

After lunch, we got back together and continued on puddle patrol, pushing the work even further along.

Around 3 o'clock, we headed over to the lab. Jesse watered two of the apple trees by Cooper Cabin using the drip jugs, while I continued cutting down the leftover stumps from the trees we had previously felled, getting them as low to the ground as possible.

Another good day working alongside Jesse, making a little more progress on puddle patrol and getting a few things taken care of around the lab.

Coydon Wallham wrote:You planning to put the saddle cuts in the seat log or the feet logs?

I'm planning to put the saddle cuts onto the feet logs, just as I seen from a few examples around basecamp ...

B.E.L. Post # 294

This morning Erik and I were paired up for some puddle patrol around basecamp. I was working from near the end of the junkpole fencing along the drive towards the red cabin, making my way towards the point where Erik had started. The goal was to get our trench connected and eventually have it continue towards far Arrakis. Little by little, we’re making progress.

After that, we spent some time filling up the water cistern by the library before breaking for lunch.

In the afternoon, Erik and I were still paired together, so we headed over to the Abbey to work on the wing-wall. The house jacks were set in place, the cob had been removed, and the debris was staged neatly out of the way and protected from the elements, ready for the next step. It felt good to get things prepared and leave the area ready for the work ahead.

Afterwards, we went outside the tipi gate and cut some leftover stumps down to ground level before making our way back to basecamp.

Another day of staying busy, working alongside good people, and chipping away at the many projects around the lab. One task at a time!

B.E.L. Post # 293

This morning I was paired up with Jesse, who was running point. We spent the first half of the day doing some trail building and maintenance, and I have to say, it was a nice change of pace for me. I really enjoyed it.

Jesse was working on the trail along a steep slope while I collected gravel in the black metal buckets to use for the paths. Once I had collected enough, I joined her with my little hand hoe and helped out with the trail work.

Towards the last hour of the morning shift, we switched things up and headed over to the shop to light up the RMH and do some chainsaw maintenance.

After lunch, Jesse and I were paired up again, but this time I was running point. I decided to keep working on the boot sit spot.

I had Jesse and Sepper peel some logs that we'll be using for steps, following Jesse's suggestion from earlier that morning. Meanwhile, I worked on peeling a five-foot log that will become the bench seat.

Once I finished peeling it, I planed the top to make it nice and flat, then staged it over at the boot sit spot. The next step will be cutting the saddle notches so everything fits together properly.

After that, I spent some time processing woody bits for the Fisher Price House and cleaning up the classroom where we'd been debarking the logs. I also helped out my fellow boots whenever they needed an extra hand.

All in all, it was a good day. I enjoyed getting out on the trails this morning, and it was nice to make some more progress on the boot sit spot in the afternoon. Slowly but surely, it's starting to come together!

B.E.L. Post # 292

This morning, I was paired up with Sam, who was leading point on fixing the hand hydrant closest to the library.

This was the same issue Stephen and I had worked on nearly a year ago. The bolt on the hydrant assembly had stripped the brass pin and sheared off a piece, so when you turned the handle to open or close the hydrant, it wasn't properly connected anymore.

We drilled out another divot in the brass pin, and Stephen showed us how to use the tap and die set. There was also a bolt on either side of the assembly, and one of them had sheared off. It looked like it had been there for years. Sam took it over to the drill press and drilled straight through the broken bolt.

In the second half of the day, I was leading point, with Jesse working alongside me.

I had her clear out the trail that runs alongside my boot sit spot garden bed and around to the back of it, while I cleaned up the area outside the classroom and shop doors.

After that, I spread some cover crop seeds, including yellow clover, around the roundwood bench site I've been working on. Hopefully, it'll help get some more ground cover established around the area.

Once we finished up, Jesse and I headed over to the lab to do some cleanup. While we were there, I brought back a five-foot log for my bench project.

Little by little, I'm making progress on the boot sit spot, and it's nice to see the area slowly coming together. There's still more to do, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

B.E.L. Post # 291

This morning I woke up around 7:30 and I'm still getting used to it being dark outside at that time. Nonetheless, I took another morning walk with my little doggo before heading into the cleaning blitz.  As expected, everything went smoothly.

Afterward, I continued working on my boot sit spot, bringing in more soil, filling things in, and leveling everything out. I also laid the bench supports on top of the gravel I'd placed earlier. Tomorrow, I'll cut the saddle notches so I can lay the bench piece across the supports.

Later on, Sam and I headed over to the lab, where we harvested two trees and bucked them to length for the house paddock. Once we finished, we hauled the wood back to basecamp.

After that, I spent a little more time playing with my doggo and had some great conversations with my fellow boots. It was also a little bittersweet knowing that Leo and Stevie will be leaving tomorrow. It has been a real pleasure getting to know both of them and working alongside them. I'm grateful to have had the chance to share this experience with them, and they'll definitely be missed around here.

B.E.L. Post # 290

Slept in a little this morning, and once I got up, I took my little doggo for a walk.

Afterwards, I spent some time working on my boots' sit spot. It was nice seeing that the yellow clover I planted on the little mini berm is growing, looking nice and green and growy!

I continued leveling out the area where I'll be putting the roundwood bench. Once I had the area leveled, I headed down to the shop and made a couple of little boxes out of scrap wood. Each one is two feet long, a foot wide, and three and a half inches deep.

I measured out a four-foot span for the length of the bench and filled both boxes with gravel, leveling it out to make a nice, solid foundation. Tomorrow, I'll set the two supporting logs on top of the gravel after notching them to fit the bench piece that will sit across them.

Once that's taken care of, I'll plant some more seeds around the area and keep working on turning this little spot into a nice place to sit and enjoy the surroundings.

Afterwards, I did my usual reading and journaling and just took it easy for the rest of the day. It was nice having a slower day and seeing some of the little things I planted starting to grow.

Yesterday 2026/10/23

I was paired up with Sam, who was leading point, and we headed behind the house to the dead-standing tree that Stevie had felled a while back. We continued bucking it to length, and once we were done, we loaded the rounds onto the back of Trob and staged them in front of the classroom bay doors.

Shortly after that, the new suppers for the Abbey arrived. Sam greeted them and got them settled in until Stephen returned from the lab.

Once everything was taken care of, Sam and I headed over to my boot sit spot project and spent some time working on it before lunch.

After lunch, I took over as point person and had Dan paired up with me. I continued working on the boot sit spot while Dan worked on attaching a new round to the kindling cracker.

Around three o'clock, we headed over to the lab and continued harvesting trees for the fencing project back at basecamp. We bucked the trees to the lengths needed for the fencing at the house.

All in all, it was a good day of making progress on my sit spot while also getting more wood processed for the projects around basecamp.

B.E.L. Post # 289

This morning I started out working with Leo, Stevie, and Jesse on the house paddock. Leo has been running point on this project for quite a while, and both he and Stevie are pretty seasoned when it comes to building rock jacks and junk pole fencing. I was really interested in learning their methods and seeing how they do things.

They've pretty much got the whole process down to a science, from the right diameter for each piece to how everything gets fastened together. It was great getting to see how particular they are about each component and learning their standards for putting everything together.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was over at the Abbey harvesting trees to the diameters and lengths needed for the project. Once they finished, they hauled everything back to base camp and staged the different pieces next to the house paddock.

After lunch, we switched roles. Our team headed over to the Abbey to harvest more trees, cutting them to the specifications needed for the rock jacks and junk pole fencing. Once we finished, we hauled everything back to base camp and staged it alongside the house paddock.

It was a good day of learning, and I'm looking forward to putting some of those techniques into practice as we continue working on the project.