Every day seems like a vast improvement over the last. Today I expanded my tent platform, raised and reinforced the billboard tarp over it, and put the 8-person tent Liz and I bought last year up on it. It’s actually something you could spend a decent amount of time in now.
I also got tired of not being able to find tools, parts, and things not to mention looking at the massive pile of disordered stuff under the main tarp. It took me several hours but I finally got it looking reasonable. I moved the 4-person tent I’d been sleeping in under the main tarp and loaded it up with well-sorted tools and other hardware odds and ends. I then used the other half of the main tarp to set up a kitchen and table, which I’m cooking myself some potatoes and onions on right now.
The chipper I bought didn’t come with a draw-string bag that’s supposed to go over where the mulch comes out to catch it. I tried putting a bucket under it but it just blasted in and right out. I called grocery stores and feed stores looking for burlap bags, but no luck. Finally it was up to my own ingenuity so I took some billboard scraps and sewed it into a simple bag with some old twine I found in a tree from when we were here last fall. Then I punched a bunch of holes in it and wove a bungee cord around the opening end to hold it on to the chipper chute. It works great.
Chipping takes a bit longer than I’d hoped. Mainly because I have to trim a lot of the branches off some of the wood and it doesn’t chew the stuff up super fast either, especially the bigger stuff, but it works. I’ve started putting the mulch down on the paths, mainly right in front of my tent so far, but once I make some more mulch I’ll do the main path.
Yesterday I spent the entire day clearing out the driveway so that the gravel people’s dump trucks could get down it and lay the gravel. They needed it 12’ wide by 12’ tall. The way the road was before was very closed in and it had a good feel to it. That also made it very time consuming to clear out and now it’s not nearly as cozy feeling. I suppose it’ll grow back or we could plant some shrubs and vines along the sides to make it feel nicer. Anyway, there’s plenty of fuel for the wood chipper now.
The gravel guys should be out here early next week and that’ll be first big improvement I feel like. Although, just having the camp site set up and reasonably comfortable has been big. My next task is get the composting toilet built. I’ve sunk one of the four cedar trunks that’ll be the frame.
I took a shower at our family friends’ house down the road yesterday. It was the first time in 6 days and I really needed it after clearing the driveway. It was almost 80 degrees outside and since I was sweating all the sawdust, bark, and dirt just stuck to me. Before that I wasn’t too bad. I think the ideal temperature for working outside is in the low 60’s. Once you get your heart rate up it feels perfect and I don’t sweat very much.
So, yeah, my next big project after the composting toilet is the solar shower because it’ll make life a lot happier. I’m going to get some straw bales and build a small greenhouse type thing around one of the black 55-gallon drums and then fill it with water I haul in from a pumping station in town. I’m thinking I can extend the greenhouse part a little and the water in the tank will mediate the temperature at night and keep it warmer in there for whatever warm-weather plants I might want to grow in there.
Tomorrow I’m off to meet up with my mom and step-dad in Oklahoma, which is just about half way from their place in Texas. I’m swapping my little civic for Gary’s truck. That’ll make things a lot easier, I won’t have to take as many trips with the little trailer and I can finally start on the garden with some loads of compost.
By the way, I also got a PO Box in town today. You can find it on the Contact Us page, but it's PO Box 876 Fulton, MO 65251.
