Adventures In Homesteading (Day 76-92)
Hello Everyone!
Missing Hive, Web2 is not worth it, An intense storm, Finishing the earthen bridge & So many flowers!
Alright, I finally managed to slip away to the writing tent early enough in the day... that I can mayhaps get some long overdue writing done. Having been missing the Hive community so much... sure has not helped let me forget about how much I have been slacking... not just with the writing but also with the engagement.
Many weeks ago I was actually on track to stay on schedule with my writing routine... but the day that I was going to make the entry was the day that my back started giving me problems. Long story short, I wound up not being able to walk (let alone climb up to the writing tent platform) because after one or two steps... my legs would give out and I would fall down if I was not ready for it by leaning on something.
Still tending to my usual duties was quite challenging... but somehow I managed to hobble around with the aid of a stout walking stick and get everything done each day. The most arduous of those tasks were definitely helping my elder dog walk around... and shuffling the five gallon water carbois from the water tent to the outdoor table where I have a ceramic dispenser setup for them.
That was all quite some time back and the days have really stacked up since then... so bear with me because per usual I have been getting a good bit of stuff done. Even while I was laid up in bed I spent much of my time making lists for projects, drawing out ideas... and generally making good use of my time.
At one point weeks ago I was doing an experiment of using a legacy web2 platform (where of course all my friends and family are) and whoa two things were painfully obvious to me the whole time. The first thing was that Hive is light years ahead as far as 'worthy experiences' go... and wow did I miss having said worthy experiences! Then the second thing that I realized was that I had (yet again) become massively addicted to that web2 platform... and it was time to dial it back... which has turned out to be way harder than I thought that it would be.
Needless to say, most of my absence (on wonderful Web3) has been due to the logistics of my scenario... along with just how spread out that I am here with my current camping setup. It is super rare that the timing with the insane heat, the dogs being settled down, the time of day (or night) being right... and me having the energy... or headspace to climb up to my 'digital nest in the woods' (where the cellular repeater is) to keep up with everything.
Along with the insane heat it has been super dry out... and the limestone dust coming off the road does so in voluminous billows... that have coated everything in the woods below it for thirty-odd meters with a fine dust. Last night just as I was drifting off to sleep it did finally rain a small amount... which should help with the dust... but before that it had not rained for close to twenty days.
Later on a big thunderstorm came roaring in and although it did not bring much in the way of rain... it sure brought with it lots of thunder, lighting and heat lightning to boot. I gotta admit that waking up to the whole tent being lit up 'brighter than the sun' repeatedly as the thunder snarled and seemed to whip crack through the valley... was fear instilling to say the least.
It all reinforced my thinking that if for some reason I wind up wintering here... that I need to get off the north and west facing knob here... and find somewhere on the property that is less exposed. To put it bluntly, being in that storm last night felt (like every storm here before it) that I was 'in the storm' and this time it really sank in... just how sketchy things can get without a solid shelter.
Anyways, I finally got the earthen bridge done that crosses the big gulch... and sans putting in the drains (from the root cellar) it could not be more of an improvement as far as traversing the gulch goes. Depending on whether it rains or not a lot over the coming days... I might actually fill in the drain area on the uphill side... because it needs a bit of a ramp created there to make the transition smoother.
I wound up using one of the two longest cedar poles that I had to anchor the 'floating' edge of the earthen bridge in place... and to tie all the posts on that side together. Given that I was wanting to avoid using any fasteners on that project... I used various sized cedar stakes (that I made from branches and logs) to anchor everything in place.
The only casualty of that entire project... is that I left the wagon sitting at the work site for too long full of that loam layer that I cut into 'sod' plugs to top the bridge with. Thankfully most of the loam plugs were still good... but the tarp had fallen in... and the wagon had gathered a bunch of rain water in it... that soaked the bottom plugs.
All the weight in the wagon along with it being parked on uneven ground... buried in leaves to its axles for over a month... resulted in one of my non-inflatable tires getting malformed. Due to how the wagon was sitting (and that wheel probably resting on a buried stump) my 'foolproof' tires have shown that they cannot quite distribute the load the way that inflatable tires can.
In other news, there have been a lot of flowers popping up of late... and although I have tried to get as many pictures of them as I can... I still keep seeing ones that I have not seen before. Over the coming days there is supposed to be a good bit of rain as well as more storms blowing in... and I am really looking forward to seeing what kinds of mushrooms pop up now that the nights are growing cooler.
Well, I think that is all the words that I have in me for this entry... which is 'good timing' because the sun is beginning to crest over the trees... and the tent is already getting noticeably warmer. I hope that everyone is doing well. Ta ta for now. Love seeing the comments!
So glad to hear from you, Jacob! Was getting a little concerned.
Yeah! The timing has been tricky. Been scribbling in a notebook a lot to get my writing fix.
Having turned, over the last few months, into a daily blogger the difficulties are now known to me more. When you consider you impressive amount of posting we can cut you some slack. :)
That is pretty cool that you have started doing it daily. I miss being able to do it so much!
Thanks for the slack! I sure need it.
Have been absent, yet very busy, this last week. Planning on going more for the vlog than blog to make it less time consuming yet may be following myself with that one.
I am so happy to see you posting again, I check every day. The bridge looks like an engineer built it, lol. It does look good. Have you got any passion fruit yet or is it too early for them? have you been able to get to the post office?
There are some passion fruit but they are not ripe yet. I have yet to get to the post office. Gonna try to do it when I do my monthly supply run.
Will you look at my Hive account, I tried to stake tokens and it wants me to send them to someone, did they change something or am I doing something wrong? It used to say stake now it says send.
Even with the back pain and your health, you are still able to fulfil purpose and staying quite resources.
I admire that
Thanks!
It sounds like life is quite the mixed bag for you lately. So sorry about your back issues, I hope those clear up soon. And I love seeing all of the colors and images. Passion flowers are so beautiful, down right psychedelic! They are just starting to bloom here too but the mare tends to eat them before I can grab a picture :)
When you say web2 platforms are you talking about some sort of social media? I totally know what you mean about trying out other platforms and realizing how great HIVE is. I plan to write about this soon but I have yet to find another place that is well suited for the kind of info that I want to share and actually is rewarded. I tried out Medium for 6 or so months but, will probably retire from that, it is just so mainstream and leaning politically in a way I don't feel comfy with. I just want to talk about plants and crafts!
Hope you are doing well!!