Random Notes

I have a list forming on the top of my page of morning meeting notes of things to blog about. It's getting longer than I'd like for it to be, so here, I will take care of that list.

Chicken Meeting
On the 11th, the interns had an official meeting to discuss chicken duties. We had all been so psyched about getting the hens that we never really designated who was responsible for them. They are pretty easy to tend to, but the meeting helped to clarify who specifically was in charge. We decided that most tasks can be completed by the first person to notice they need doing (like letting the chickens out in the morning, giving them fresh food and water, etc.) Whoever is in charge of morning meetings gets to make sure that the chickens are let into their tractor in the morning and whoever is on dish duty gets to make sure they are tucked away at night with food and water. Whoever has office duty on the weekend is in charge, and gets to clean the coop. Every Monday, after our morning meeting, we will move the coop/tractor. (We actually forgot yesterday - not habit yet. We moved it today.)

Class Switching
There have been quite a few weekend and non-NBI classes coming in. It's odd to see the unfamiliar faces. There are still some core class members sticking around to finish up their requirements for their certificates in sustainable building and design. It's a truly unique social situation - developing great friendships with all the NBI kids, but also trying to be as friendly and open as possible with people that are only staying for a weekend or so.

Also, interns do quite a bit to prepare for classes. There was a major class switch after the core class ended, with some extremely rushed cleaning of the studio. We have to pay close attention to which classes are starting soon, find out the needs of the instructors and get everything ready.

Mower Vs. Weed-whacker
When given the option, use the mower. The weed-whacker is two-cycle, which means that the oil and gas are mixed, and both are being burnt in the process. The mower is four-cycle, which means that the oil and gas are in separate tanks, the oil being cycled and reused. Not as much pollution from burning oil.

Frame-raising with NBI

I think the date on my last post was off. I had started writing it on Wednesday, but it was finished on Thursday. So pretend like Thursday was the last entry.

Friday was another day of landscaping. Nothing highly remarkable, except that I don't believe that weed-whacking the cracks of a paved parking lot is a worthy way to spend time.

I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen with Heidi lately. A few of the NBI boys and I hung out with her late on Friday to help her prepare for yesterday's dinner - serving about 75 people (board members, families and people coming for a slideshow presentation.) We get a lot of prep work done so that yesterday could go as smoothly as possible for her. (I also helped her during the day on Friday. Not just landscaping.)

Yesterday, I went with the NBI class (Natural Building Intensive, as a reminder) to raise the timber-frame that they had been preparing all week. The NBI class will be here for a total of 13 weeks - we'll be leaving around the same time. Their class project is a jam-type studio/garage for a family in Warren. Lots of pictures!


Chelsea Green Publishing Company is making/supporting a documentary about the class and their project.

When we got out to the site, the concrete foundation had just set. The timbers were marked, cut and waiting on us. (If you look beside Dan and the scaffolding, you'll see some orange pipes under a sawhorse - those are the connections for the radiant heating. We had to be careful not to knock them. If one of those tubes busts below the concrete, there's just about no way to fix it. I don't like this about radiant.)

The class preparing to set up the first bent. They had connected all the pieces, pegged them into place and were receiving some last minute safety instruction reminders.

First bent up.

There are two levels of concrete - one side is about two inches shorter than the other. The lower level is the garage. The upper level is the studio. They were treated differently when it came to protecting the beams from water.

The studio area, which will have more protection from natural elements, has flashing attached to the bottom of each post. We found as we raised the posts that the flashing needed some extra nails to keep from crumpling. (Here, Nick repairs crumpled flashing.)

The area in the garage needed more protection, so an entire two-by went under it. Theoretically, this will keep the post from absorbing moisture from the concrete, which would cause warping.

When we set up the second bent, we noticed that the middle post wasn't quite flush with the ground, but decided that it was just a settling issue. Nobody payed much attention to it.

However, when it came time to put the first beam up (attaching the first three bents), we could not get the pieces to fit.

We worked on it for about half an hour before we figured out that one of the side posts from the second bent was about an inch too tall. So it all had to come back down.



Josh, the instructor, sawed the bottom portion off. It was thin, but enough to make a difference. A good reminder why it's important to measure twice. (At least it wasn't too short.)

When we tried the second time, , after the trimming, the piece fit perfectly.

Around noon, the excavator came to the site to help get the heavy timbers onto the posts.
This was much easier than using a bobcat.

The operator was a little concerned about reaching his crane so far away from the machine with such a heavy log, so students stood in his bucket (opposite the crane) to provide some counterweight.

The brothers (good guys) and the first tractor-raised beam.

The second beam, going up.
Skip, one of the instructors, helping to line up the second beam. (For the record, the mortise is the hole, the tenon is the peg.)

The second set of beams was a little trickier to set up. The connection between the two beams had to be set at a certain angle that didn't work very well with the angle that the brace needed. There was a lot of teamwork required for this one, as well as strong leadership.

After a while, however, the group got on a roll, leading themselves and working together well.

So good, in fact, that the instructors sat back and watched. I sat with them for a while - it was just the class working. The instructors were watching and yelling every once in a while for a student to watch their fingers, but mostly chuckling as the students figured out how to piece the building by themselves.

They jumped in where instruction was needed.

The last beam was a snug fit. It needed some "convincing" with the giant mallet. There was much rejoicing once complete.

And picture-taking with the finished frame.

The finished frame.

At the end of the day, the instructors presented the class with a cooler of beer, joined together and sang. It was a smooth, good day.

What a Nice Day for an Outing!

Yesterday was a glorious day. The Interns, David, Robert Riversong (a local and teacher at Yestermorrow) and I drove out to Vergennes, on Lake Champlain to pick up two large logs (red oak, I believe) from a kind older woman named Mary. The plan is to cut these logs into boards, store them for a few years, and have about $1000 worth of wood.

But, first, we had to get the logs out of Mary's yard.

We used a pee-vee to roll the logs up to the trailor.

We wrapped a chain around the log and used a come-along to pull it up. It needed some help on the ramp (we had rollers underneath it, but after a while, the log was being lifted off of them and scraping on the ramp.) We used bars to lift and scooch the logs along.

Once both logs were on the trailer, we stuck shimmies underneath them so we could pull them over the mountain back to campus without them rolling.

After picking up our logs, we went to the Lake Champlain Merritime Museum. The museum had everything lake-related, with many buildings to walk between - each having its own focus.

Some of my favorite exhibits were items that were excavated from Lake Champlain's bottom.

The picture in the bottom right corner is the drawer right after excavation, before being cleaned. The items are what came out of the drawer.

Kendall and I spoke to one of the fellows in the lab who was in charge of cleaning found items. I was impressed by the ability to revert items back to their original stage. The picture above shows two pieces of wood, both waterlogged, one before treatment and the other after. The difference is amazing.

They also pulled up giant anchors. Taller than Karie.

Kendal and I wished we were scuba divers.
Karie is a way better at pretending to be a scuba diver.

There was a very large, very cool tent full of different boats that were donated to the museum. Each one had a label and description, some describing awesome details. I've never been a boat enthusiast before, but I really loved some of these paddle-boats.

And the bigger boats. I got to go on both of these boats.

The boat in the front is a replica of a war ship from the revolutionary war. Forty men, plus war supplies would go on the boat. The boat is small. It must have been hellish.

The one in the back, a replica of a shipping boat, travels around Lake Champlain (see map below to see how big the lake is) giving tours. The fellow who led me around lives on the boat all year.

The boats are no longer used for commerce on this lake, although it's a perfect opportunity.

Some boats used horses to paddle. Karie, ignoring the "wait for museum staff to operate" sign, pushed the floor in front of her, which made several gears turn and spun the paddle in front of Kendal. Interesting mechanics, cool exhibit.
I learned a bit about pulleys.
The more times the rope went through the pulley, the easier it was to lift the blocks.

This replicated how cargo could be lifted onto ships. By pulling one of the ropes to the side, the post would lift and move to that side. The middle rope would raise and lower the cargo. Simple, but fun to see in action.

The blacksmithing room was impressive. There was a strong Revolutionary war focus to the museum. At the time, blacksmiths would have been incredibly valuable for making tools.

If they had to make their own iron, they went through a LOT of material.

Karie tried out the pump, with success. This pump makes me want to research pumps that are used in very dry countries for irrigation. I'm wondering how similar the mechanisms are.

Today was less fun. There's a board meeting this morning, so all interns were doing grunt duty to clean up the campus. I was back on mowing and weed-whacking. It was very warm (ha! Really, only in the 70's) and pretty humid (nothing compared to all my friends in the south, I'm sure) and overcast. The weed-whacker was not working appropriately. I was feeling pretty negatively about the day, but then Stephanie asked me to help her plant some fruit trees. After getting my hands dirty and planting and apricot tree, I felt much better. I am amazed at the power of gardening to make people feel better - relaxed and rejuvinated.

Lawnmowing, Maple Creamie and Stupid Bugs.

Today was dedicated to grass and weed cutting, but involved a few other fun tidbits.

I woke up really early and served breakfast to the students. (It was cold breakfast, so not a big deal at all, but somebody had to make the coffee and unlock the building.)

I weed-whacked all around the building and gardens and trails. This took the majority of the day.

Around lunchtime, Heidi called me into the kitchen to help finish preparing lunch. We have a lot of students around now so she needed an extra set of hands - the core class has 19, the NBI has 10 and there's a weeklong Carpentry for Women class of 3 (these numbers might not be accurate.)

Dave, who is in charge of the interns and hasn't been introduced in this blog yet, received a complaint from the last person who drove the van for a field trip - said it was shaky when stopping. Dave wanted to check out the problem for himself, but needed a full van, so all the interns (except Kendall - she was already working on a roof) hopped in and went for a ride.

There was nothing wrong with the van.

I worked late today mowing the lawn. I used a riding lawn mower, which I've never done before. I was really jerky on it at first and left a few patches of tall grass behind, but I got used to it and now the lawn looks so much nicer. As we were playing hacky-sack after dinner, a few people commented on how much nicer it was to play in short grass. Makes my work feel appreciated.

Stephanie went on a town run and brought back maple creamies for some of us. (We ordered them in advance.) I've never heard of creamies before, but it's the same as softserve ice cream. Maple flavored though! It's from a local place that I always sit next to when I go into Waitsfield to use the phone - I've eyed it before but just have never acted. I have spent very little money up here. This creamie was totally worth the money, and may have to become a weekly occurance.

Tim (1) and I were talking at dinner today about how the weeks are better than the weekends here. Granted, weekends allow sleeping in and staying up late, but the sun wakes me up in my tent early every morning anyway, so sleeping in doesn't really happen. This weekend went by really slowly - lots of sitting around, reading and talking to people, but nothing compared to a busy day of good work. It just feels better to have something productive to do, which isn't always how I feel. I think the atmosphere here just encourages and inspires people to do something. Days go by so fast during the week. I was just antsy all weekend.

There are tiny bugs that bite here. My arms and legs are covered in bugbites. I haven't been this bitten since my childhood, for sure. I am incredibly itchy, but trying very hard not to scratch.

I'm not carrying my camera around as much as I used to. I need to fix this.

Today, I learned:

• how to garden the no-til way, using a broadfork to aerate without totally disturbing the micro-bioregion below the surface.
• how to mix and fill the weed-whacker's fuel.
  
• the importance of ear protection.
• how to acquire raw milk.
• a lot about my surroundings and the people who started some interesting movements.

First Full Day

It's been a very long, busy day. Again, I am exhausted, but happy.

Since it's Memorial Day, nobody actually had to work (except the teachers in charge of the three week class that just came in.) However, interns did, but not rigorously. So it was a nice, relaxed day of work and orientation. Tomorrow will be a normal work day.

I was assigned a morning job. For now, I'm on trash/recycling/reclaimable/compost/energy monitoring duty. Nothing too unfamiliar (except this is the first time I've ever been in a state that pays back for bottles.) Morning duties change every week.

I spent most of my work-time today in the garden with Stephanie, and intern. I planted chamomile, onions, kale and weed-whacked. (And learned to change the string on a weed-whacker.)

I spent a good portion of the morning getting oriented. Tim gave me a tour of the building (which has the weirdest layout ever, but fits an amazing number of rooms in it), showed me my morning routine and introduced me to all the other interns. (Both male interns are named Tim, so I'll distinguish between the two if necessary. In this case, it is not entirely necessary.) Stephanie gave me the tour of the gardens. I walked around the campus by myself and took pictures.

All the other interns are really nice. Apparently, there are only five at the moment, although I'm still the "mystic seventh." Another intern is coming later this month, I believe. After lunch, all six of us hacky-sacked. (I stink at hacky-sacking, but enjoyed the company thoroughly.) Kendall, Carrie and I went into town today to get an appropriate alarm clock, as well as kill some time and get to know the neighborhood a little better.

I'm pretty sure I like it here. The place is beautiful. The weather is weird though. It's warm, but there's a breeze coming from the north, so it's cold. I have no idea what to wear. I'm dressing in layers, for sure. I had energy all day, but am now ridiculously tired. Even though there was nothing particularly strenuous, I've been on the move all day. I think this summer will be a summer of intense sleep.

The internet here is insanely slow, and picture loading is taking forever, and I am tired. This means, you will see pictures later. I'm taking lots though!