Refreshed After Vacation

I took a week-long vacation to visit Boston for a cousin's wedding, family and friend visiting and general relaxing and escaping from the day-to-day. The time off was appreciated and wonderful, but I was very excited to get back to Yestermorrow.

And now I'm back. I've been back for a couple of very busy days.

There are two new interns - Anna and Ashley (male.) Tim (1) and Kendall are no longer interns. Kendall is gone and Tim is playing the role of resident builder. The new interns are nice - haven't gotten to know either extremely well, but am comfortable. The chickens grew quite a bit while I was gone. I almost couldn't tell which one was Betty Davis.

There is a push to get a building site (on campus) ready for a fabric-cement cabin. I don't know much detail about the actual structure - it will be built by several classes, I believe - but I have been helping a bit with getting the site prepared. Yestermorrow now has a giant brush pile that will be the source of an epic bonfire. We're also moving a building that a class constructed to it's site, which involves some tree-cutting. Perhaps I will write more about that this weekend.

I have been working closely with Dave, overseer of interns and grounds committee. This morning, we walked around campus identifying tasks that needed to be done. I am now in charge of making sure they get done, directing work-traders when available. The list is long and random. Today, I worked on getting some of those smaller tasks done.

I look like an unhappy tree hugger in this picture. I am marking potential camp-sites. I have identified several tent-sites and one excellent platform site. I am hoping to head up the building of the platform.

The tree house needed massive cleaning. The pine needles were getting clogged in the cracks of the walkway, which can lead to rotting. While clearing them out with a pocketknife was a slow process, it was fairly easy and relaxing. I worked clearing the pine needles for a while, but then turned the assignment over to a work-trader so I could work on projects that required a little more skill or knowledge of the campus.

I thought I had gotten a before picture, but apparently, I did not. This ladder had a broken rung that needed replaced. Upon further inspection, I saw that the rung above the broken one had some rot issues happening. (These rungs are old - the tree is obviously growing around the rungs.) I spent the later part of my day repairing the two rungs using hardwood that had been cleared out of the concrete structure's site. The poplar rung (white) and the rung below it were my new additions. I'm actually extremely proud of myself for being able to do this without any guidance (other than what kind of wood to use.)

Anna, Ashley and I all went to visit the NBI project today. Last time I saw it, timbers had just been raised:

Today, it looks like this:

They started strawbaling today. It was a very exciting time.

In the picture above, Mike and Bryce re-tie bales. I apparently don't know the name of this mechanism, but it's very tight and precise. When I straw-baled for the studio that I worked on last summer, we used twine, tightening it by twisting it around a stick, then shoving the peg into the bale. Different approaches to the same problem.

The class notched out a corner of that bale and set it upright against a window frame. The notched corner fit the post.

Normally, bales are not placed vertically, but for lining the windows, it is appropriate.

The last two evenings for me have been lecture evenings. Yesterday was one of the Summer Lecture Series, which are free every Wednesday. Deva, the NBI instructor, spoke to us about natural building compared to green building. The room was packed.

Tonight, I sat in on the NBI's lecture on moisture content and heat flow in an earthen (primarily strawbale) structure. Took lots of notes (click to expand):



I am completely exhausted, but feel great. I've been running all day (I had breakfast duty this morning) but am very proud of what I'm doing. I've said it before, but I love being independent with projects - I love having the know-how to take on a project by myself. I feel confident with this list of things to do.

I start my Invisible Structures course tomorrow.

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.

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.

Lazy Weekend Update

Yesterday, I spent my morning helping to deconstruct "The Cube." The Cube is a demonstration/example tool for classes trying to play with different natural building techniques. The most recent class was working with different plaster applications.


We took down all the straw bales and the pins holding them in place. Then we took the walls apart, but in a way where they were still whole and could be stacked. Now, the quansit hut is empty and ready for the timberframing class next week.

I was also on kitchen duty in the evening - cooked dinner for about 30 people. (The core class came back from their field trip and there's a weekend class, in addition to the Natural Building Intensive.) Delicious eggplant wraps.

I am being trained in every area of the school, which I really like. I feel like it makes me a more knowledgeable, valuable player at Yestermorrow. And I'm enjoying myself.

Kitchen/Garden Intern Today

There are two types of interns here. The Tims, Kendall and Karie are design/build interns. Stephanie is a kitchen/garden intern. I float between the two, which is why I've been in the gardens and the woodshop. I really like it this way - I feel like I get the best of both worlds. I get to understand everything that's happening among the interns.

I spent the majority of the day in the herb garden beside the kitchen. I weeded, which took many hours, and planted lots of new herbs.
This is the main portion of the herb garden. The before.
And the after. This picture (and the next couple) were taken right before the sun set, so sorry about the darkness.

I labeled a lot of the herbs on the nearby rocks. This is Stephanie's method.

But in some instances, it made more sense to label with sticks.

I talked to Heidi, the kitchen manager, a bit today. As part of the kitchen/garden duties, I will start doing kitchen duty occasionally. (Most of the time, there is a full staff that takes care of kitchen duty, but sometimes they need another person.) On Friday, I'll be serving dinner. Saturday and Sunday, I am in charge of lunch cleanup. Monday, I serve breakfast. I'm somewhat thrilled by this. The kitchen here is wonderful- most of the food is local and/or organic. There's normally 20-30 people eating, and the food is normally prepared by one or two people, with someone on dish duty. The food is excellent quality. Heidi likes to make sure that everyone is taken care of, so I have eaten the food a couple times. (If you help in the kitchen, you get to eat the food. Good rule.)

So to elaborate on yesterday's post, here are the drawers for the router table:
I drilled all the holes using a drill press. The ones on the left are quarter inch. Those on the right are half inch. I also cut a hole and hooked the dust sucking hose (apparently, I don't know the technical name) to the back. (Tim built this cabinet. There will be a router mounted underneath so people can move the wood on the stationary bit. I've only used a handheld router in the past.)

The tractor for the coop is almost done. It has all kinds of cutouts that represent chicken parts. A little odd, and a little awesome.

You can see Tim 2 standing next to the ramp. The door there connects to a door cut out on the side of the coop.

The side door is on the right of the building, in this picture. There's a panel that can be taken out.

The door is beautiful. It has two windows on it. One is large, held by the egg-latch. The other is much smaller, for winter ventilation. I'm a little worried, because these chickens aren't going to have much sunlight unless they are in the tractor. They will be horribly depressed during the winter, but warm.

The NBI class is getting to be more friendly. Today, all the interns and the class played hacky-sack for about an hour and a half after dinner. The teachers of the class pushed back their lecture time so that we could all play longer. (Everyone from the class was out there. An impressively large group of people.)

It's been a good day. A long day, but a good one.

More of a Reminder than a Post

I'm tired today. I don't even have pictures for you guys. What an un-fun post this will be!

I worked on the chicken coop some more today, primarily painting and fine-tuning the roof. I also used a drill press to make storage for router bits. I also vacuumed the van so it's ready for the current class (Natural Building Intensive)'s field trip tomorrow. I also had kitchen duty, which earned me the right to eat Heidi's cooking. Good stuff.

I think I'm going to promise to offer details on all this tomorrow and head towards bed. It's been another long, tiring day.