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Carla’s Niche
Avalon Journal
Copyright © 2006 L/L Research
May 1, 2005
LoneBear's Log
Had a LOT of rain over the last week, so we weren’t able to get much done.
Rebuilding the Sugar Shack porch.
Not the Best Condition
We intended to screen in the Sugar Shack porch, so there was a cool, bug-free place to sit in the evenings, but discovered pretty quick that most of the wood had rotted out. We pulled and replaced all the support posts, and built supporting walls under them so they would be sturdy.
The corner here has the new corner post, but you can see that there isn’t much left of the floor trussing (which was made of tree limbs).
After getting the support posts up, we installed some pressure-treated framing, then stapled metal screen to the outside.
Shack Gets a Screen Door
None of the windows in the Sugar Shack open, so it gets hot and muggy in there pretty quick. We installed a screen door on the front to aid ventilation. Surprisingly, it actually fit the frame.
The light-colored spots on the siding are sealant foam. We used that expanding foam to fill in the many holes from animals digging, and people using the shack for target practice.
We then added a door frame, which was a neat trick because the dimensions would be different every time we measured it, and nothing is straight or level, after 50 years of settling. Did our best to get it square, and added a screen door to the back.
K. and Hotaru are finishing up the last piece of screen.
Since we moved the location of the back stairs to the other side of the porch, we’ll have to build a new staircase up to the deck. The old one didn’t survive being removed.
May 2, 2005
LoneBear's Log
Plow
We went over the tractor implements in detail, greased and fixed up anything questionable, and obtained all the missing odds and ends to make it work—then hooked up the plow for a test run.
First thing we discovered is that the plow needs stabilizer arms on the hitch, or else it moves to the left, and jams into the tire!
Started Plowing Field
We plowed a small section of the main field, just to see what it would “turn up.” Quite surprisingly, the dirt is reasonable; a lot of rock, but small rocks. The only real problem was that we found some buried stumps which the plow would ram into and get stuck, requiring us to hammer and crowbar them plow free.
We did learn a few things about plowing:
- Keep the plow level, or it dives into the ground too far and gets stuck.
- Don’t try to turn with the plow in the ground.
- If the plow jumps out of the ground, stop immediately—hit something that needs investigation.
- ALWAYS plow in the SAME direction. The plows turn dirt over one way only, and if you double-back, it flips the dirt the other way.
- Don’t plow where you just plowed. The wheels fall into the furrows, which throws the plow off level. I suppose the plow could be re-adjusted to work like this, but it is better just to run parallel.
We didn’t do the best plowing job this run, but it was mainly a “figure it out” run. Now we know how to use the equipment, and what’s under the soil. The biggest problem is the grass roots—they make a layer about 6 inches thick, which peels up like carpet. Hoping the discs will break this up some.
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
Got up, got packed & out the L/L door shortly past 10:30 AM. Not great but not bad, either. I made it all the way to Avalon without a carsick cat this time. Yay! Mocha’s antibiotics are clearing up her sinus infection.
Bear met me at the top of the hill and kindly carried us with all our groceries down to the Shack. Funny feeling in the Shack today, as though she’s mad I left or something. Someone has slept here in my absence. It must have been cold. The bed has been made differently, and the firewood has been plundered but not replaced. Definitely need to post the camp rules.
Bear squirted spray foam insulation into all the outer holes in the Shack’s walls. This seems to have annoyed a resident woodpecker. The place does feel more snug, though.
We walked out into the future field site to look at and talk about the guys’ plowing attempt. (Chuckle) All the farmers in the area would be rolling, I’m sure, but they (we) learned a lot.
There is a fruit tree, an old-fashioned round pear, probably Asian, right in the middle of the field which will need to be relocated. I’d like to prune it and try to start the cuttings, in case the relocation doesn’t agree with the tree.
This afternoon, K screwed down a second layer of flooring in the Shed while Bear examined the porch for the coming screen. I cleaned the Shack again. (Sigh) Once it was back in order, I put away all the canned goods. It required some rearranging, but worked out nicely in the end.
Later, the guys set out on a materials run to Lowe’s. I finished up inside and went in search of something to trim the overgrowth around the flowerbed. Found some hedge pruners, which did the trick. Only got about half done before the guys returned, but now at least the lilies and daffodils aren’t being overtaken by the yard.
We started the screening project. Found out just how rotten the porch floor is, as well as how out of square the walls are. It turned out the roof was being held up—barely—by one lonely, rotted post. The others had all rotted out so badly they were merely balanced in place.
We jacked up the roof and got one of the walls framed. My job now is to tack screen to the frame. Soon I should be able to let my cats out to play on the porch, and we will get some nice airflow through the Shack.
Brrr! It’s getting cold in here (the Shack). I think I’ll be crawling into my sleeping bag early, just for the warmth.
Shawnee is prowling. I’m certain she knows this place better than I do. She actually came out and said “hello” to K tonight after the hammering stopped.
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
Whew! The temperature dropped down to around 40 degrees last night. Poor K. He brought back a respiratory infection from his last trip to Michigan. He must have had a rough night.
I had breakfast, tidied up, and set to tacking up the screen. It was much warmer outside in the sun. Learned not to use the first three feet of any roll of aluminum screen … the darned stuff is just too warped to lie flat. So, after a couple of false starts which necessitated pulling the staples back out, I got the first three panels of screen attached to the creek side of the porch.
Bear arrived around 11:30. He’s got K’s respiratory gunk. It cannot help things that we are sitting right in the heart of allergy central. Kentucky and Tennessee cities occupy four of the country’s top five worst places for allergies this spring. I’ll load up on vitamin C and elderberry juice and give my body the tools it needs to fight off illness.
Finally decided to check on K around 12:30 … he was okay, just miserable. Going to be a slow day.
Again, the roof prompted mental gymnastics. It sagged in the middle so badly, we had a dickens of a time. The support timbers beneath the floor were so bad we only had one or two places to put the jack. None-the-less, we got the second wall framed and were working on the door when Carla arrived with friends to film the place.
Sure enough, the pace this afternoon was slower. The guys just didn’t have enough vital energy to work. I encouraged them to rest while I marked the studs inside for railings, and began tacking more screen.
Carla’s film crew wanted to film a channeling, so I set aside my staple gun to sit with her for the session. It would have been a very pleasant break, if I hadn’t had so much water just beforehand.
By 6:00 PM, Carla and the film crew got the footage they wanted, I finished the screen, and the guys finished the door. It was a good day, all in all, sickness notwithstanding. I’ll pack up my cats and head back to Louisville. There’s bookkeeping to catch up on, and I need to pack for my trip to MN for Mother’s Day weekend.
Avalon Journal
Carla
May 4, 2005
The road to Avalon was blocked for half an hour on I-71 coming to La Grange, Kentucky, by an accident, so it took Lee R., Mark H and me a good bit of time to make the drive up to Avalon with all of their camera and sound equipment. It was my first trip down Avalon Hill in my Outback, and I was a bit concerned, but all went well. We rolled into the dooryard with an agenda. Mark wanted to get establishing shots of the car arriving. He jumped out of the car and shot my front wheels coming in, and then I backed up and he shot the rear wheels coming in. By this time our sick, weary Bear was out trying to help us, as he had not been briefed on The Agenda and knew nothing about shooting wheels arriving: he just thought I could not find a good parking place. Being ill, he emphatically did not wish to be filmed, so after he and we had met and he had decently retired from the scene, Mark shot Hotaru welcoming me to Avalon. Continuity!
By this time, I had spent a day and a half already talking to Mark and Lee about the Law of One material, various of the issues which that material suggests and some of the terms the material uses, and I wondered just what they could find to ask me this time! After some walking about, they agreed with me that their best place to set up was the corner of the Sumai site, so that we could get a good look at the creek over both my shoulders, as the creek bends just where we chose to settle for the day’s work. The weather was spectacular in the way of Kentucky around Derby time, golden light spilling over the wildflowers and making the fast-flowing creek sparkle and shimmer among its green and brown banks and creek stones. While the men were setting up, I sang for Avalon, remembering my promise always to sing when I am there. It was a special moment, with the sifting sun and gently plashing water for an accompaniment. I chose the lovely old choir tune:
Oh taste and see how gracious the Lord is! Blessed is the man who trusteth in Him.
At last the crew was ready to film, and we interviewed on, of all things, magic and the occult until the two were satisfied. Then I fetched Hotaru while they readied themselves to shoot a channeling session from the Q’uo group. She and I had set up the old cabin wicker set for the interview and session, and we sat together on the love seat with her hand on mine to keep me firmly in my body and off we went, after I did the work to tune myself for contact and to challenge the contact before accepting it, which I do in the name of Jesus the Christ.
It was definitely not our best session, as the gentlemen had not chosen questions beforehand but rather seemed to be asking whatever came into their minds. I have little hope that much of that session is salvageable, but by golly, we did it. Given that Mark’s Mother was taken to the hospital in a state of collapse that morning, I thought it remarkable that they filmed at all, but this project, to create a DVD for L/L Research, is something Mark has been trying to accomplish ever since becoming aware of our material in the mid-eighties. He said he would go to his Mother when we finished and not before! So hats off to you, Mark! And many thanks to Hotaru-san for tossing aside the substantial job du jour at the site for a precious hour and helping me with the session. I am fastidious about always holding on to someone’s hand in any channeling session, after some interesting experiences with the Ra sessions back in the early eighties when we were collecting that material.
LoneBear's Log
May 9, 2005
K. brought back that weird, mutated influenza from his visit to Detroit, and laid me flat out for the last few days, so not much work got done. But today, with my coughing and stuffy nose, I got a strange phone call from K. at Avalon … “Can you come down to Avalon? The tractor is upside-down in the creek.”
K. had an accident with the tractor. Rather than doing the work he was supposed to be doing, since nobody was around, he decided to go for a “joy ride” on the tractor, and managed to flip the tractor over, upside down, in the middle of the creek. It is a total miracle that he walked away from it; by all the laws of physics he should have been crushed alive. It did about $3000 worth of damage to the tractor, and will set us back at least a month.
The one weird thing is that nobody, K. included, can figure out why he is alive. The tractor flipped straight backward, rotating on the rear wheels (he was heading up a steep slope out of the creek). That doesn’t tend to throw one to the side—K. found himself with some “missing time”, and came to laying next to the tractor, instead of under it.
When we were disassembling the tractor to assess the damage, K. noticed an unusual mud handprint on the hood—about twice the width and length of a normal handprint. The curious thing was the location—the tractor was upside-down in the creek, laying on the hood. The print is positioned in such a way that K. could not have made it—it is as though something reached up out of the stream, caught the tractor as it was flipping and pulled K. out before letting it crash to the ground. (It was enough to give us some goose bumps!)
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
Avalon again. Dear God, I love it out here.
I had a realization tonight as I was driving up. Connie has been doing Reiki on me for three weeks now. She says I not only absorbed the blows of physical damage, I also absorbed the ill intent of all that misdirected anger. It makes sense, and resonates with me. My instinct with the Reiki has always been to use the available energy to the fullest and to heal as much old damage as possible (preferably ALL of it), to allow this body to be made new.
It didn’t occur to me until today that all of that ill intent has been coded into the damaged tissue of my body. As I let it go—as my body renews itself—it remakes that tissue. It remakes it not only without the old physical damage, but also without the ill intent. I believe that has a lot to do with my easier attitude these past weeks. I don’t perceive as much ill intent or feel as much misdirected anger. (Grin) Oh, what a feeling! I could get used to this.
It rained—RAINED—tonight. The creek is running high. Don’t know if my pictures will turn out—I had to use a night setting (leaving the aperture open longer), since the light was pretty dim. Call me crazy, but it was beautiful. I love rain. I’ll take more pictures tomorrow and the day after so we have comparison shots and can see how fast the water subsides.
Just as the rain began, Bear drove me down the hill with the cats. As it picked up momentum, I was thinking he might be stuck sleeping in the shed with K … given my history of getting stuck down here with no way up the hill. Ironically, it rained SO hard the access road was washed down to bedrock. The continuing seepage will introduce new muck, of course, but Bear was able to drive right out once it let up a bit.
D called to ask about his clients. Boy, I sure blew that one. I totally lost track of the date … can you believe it’s nearly June? Where did May go? Anyway, I forgot to remind his upcoming clients of their appointments, and I cannot remember when his next one will be. I should probably drive back to town, however briefly, to correct that error. Tomorrow. It shouldn’t wait until Saturday.
May 20, 2005
LoneBear's Log
Spring Water
Last year, I found a spring in the north corner of the main field, which was wet most of the time. It was still wet this year, so I decided to see what was in there. I excavated a 4 foot by 4 foot area, about 4 feet deep, and waited to see what happened.
Initially, a spring broke thru the side and started dumping water in the hole at a considerable rate. But it faded away after about 3 hours, leaving the bottom with about 10 inches of water in it. The next rainstorm set a number of springs poking thru the sides of the excavation, dumping water in at such a rate that there is actually a good flow coming off it, and making “mush” of the entire area.
What I’ve learned about the springs here, is that they seem to contain a fixed amount of water, which can dribble for weeks, but when you clear them out, they go dry quickly, only to be refilled upon the next rain.
Hopefully, I can find either a larger reserve, or some real ground water sometime in the future, as we cannot count on the local springs, nor the creek, for a stable water source.
Field Erosion
There is a second part of the creek that is eroding rather rapidly, on the north side of the main field. It is currently cutting its way right in to the field. I started dumping some stone in there, to act as a barrier, but cannot find stone of sufficient size that won’t wash away easily (I’ve seen this creek move huge stones, in the 300-pound range).
Might have to come up with a different approach, or find a way to divert the main flow of the stream.
Friday, May 20, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
Last night’s rain left plenty of soggy spots, but we seem to have drained off all right. There’s a new island in the pond, of course.
I took more pictures this morning, and got the site rules into sheet protectors. Taped ‘em up to keep out the wet. Then K came in for his morning coffee. When I mentioned I would be driving back to Louisville for a short while, he asked to come with me. We hiked the hill together and drove back to L/L.
I followed up with D’s clients while K ran a load of laundry and checked his email. Then, back into the Mustang and back to Avalon.
This afternoon was a hodge-podge … Bear ran the backhoe, excavating the Sumai site, K ran the sander, prepping the Shed for interior paint, and I got the roses I acquired over my weekend in MN into the ground to either side of the gate. They sat in wet newspaper much too long, and I’m afraid the roots may have molded a bit. One of them looks pretty sad, but I have my fingers crossed.
My next project was pruning. First up was the peach tree in the Shack’s yard. Poor thing was infested with ants, and drowning besides. Between my pruning and Bear’s attention to the root system (which included eviction notice for the ants), I think she’s got an opportunity to thrive again.
Next came the mulberry tree, also in the Shack’s yard. It’s a big one, and I had a wonderful time climbing up into it, hanging out on the limbs, and wielding my Japanese saw and cutters. The sky piddled on us a bit again, but only a little.
After its “haircut,” the tree feels much better … thinner, more light reaching the interior, better air circulation, and better balance overall. K helped clear the debris as I cut. At one point, he said, “This may sound weird, but I’m feeling a surreal sense of serenity.” I had to smile. Happy trees will do that to you.
I sure did a number on my hand with all the “squeezing” action. I hope it feels better tomorrow. I think I crunched a ligament in my thumb.
My feral cat Shawnee disappeared for the entirety of the day. I have no idea where her new hiding spot is, but it’s a good one. Tonight, she is out and about again, singing her heart out and chasing mice. I haven’t seen a single shred of evidence that she’s hunting (no telling tails!), but despite all the meals she’s missed, she still sports a bulge in her middle and looks extremely pleased with herself.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
I pruned the smaller of the two old-fashioned pear trees in the field. It is significantly shorter now, but feels more balanced and more focused, with a direction in life.
Took more pictures this morning, also. The creek is down to its normal self again.
K and I had a good look at the shed walls and discovered they needed more mud and another sanding pass. We got it re-mudded and—hoping the mud would dry while we were gone—left with Bear to obtain culvert piping.
We struck it rich in pipe. Lowe’s had black, plastic, corrugated culvert pipe in both 12 inch and 15 inch diameters for about half the cost of metal pipe. Even better, it’s easily manageable with just a couple of people, and doesn’t require special delivery. We were hoping for about three sticks (lengths of pipe), so to find out they had enough in stock to complete the entire access road was an amazing windfall.
We bought all they had, which was 15 pieces. Got it home (took two trips), got it all unloaded, along with all the canned groceries from Wal-Mart, and went back to work around 6:00 PM.
I packed the groceries into the Shack shelves. K tried to sand the Shed walls but they were still too wet, so he joined me, hauling the brush Bear had cut earlier while K and I mudded the Shed. Bear attacked the feeder creek with the backhoe, digging a trench in which to lay the first three sticks of culvert. By the time we quit, around 8:30, it was dug, laid, set, filled, and (carefully) drivable. Still a bit soggy, but it’ll set up as it dries out.
K and I were all over mud… jeans, boots, and gloves. So, while Bear did the backfilling, we splashed in the creek, working to get the worst of the goo off.
Dinner tonight was chicken and broccoli rice … with a little luck, I’ll be asleep before midnight. I’m tired.
Shawnee has developed a routine of vanishing around 10 AM, not to be seen or heard from again until 10 PM. We can almost set our watches by her. I have an idea where she’s hiding, but still think she has acquired cloaking technology.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
It was a sluggish day, today … very muggy. K and I got off to a slow start. The humidity just made everything a chore. We finally got moving about the time Bear arrived …
K re-sanded the Shed interior and applied the first coat of paint. I cleaned up the Shack porch again, as we were accumulating an impressive pile of mud. Bear took down four more trees in the area that will accommodate parking. In the process of moving furniture on the porch, I decided to tape up the legs of the wicker chairs to halt their unraveling and disintegration. I discovered our wicker furniture was literally coming apart. The seat supports had completely separated and all that was holding us up was the rotted seat weave itself.
I wanted to save the furniture—to eek a couple more years out of it—so Bear and I brainstormed how to go about it. His bright idea was to use our impressive collection of cable ties. This I did, repairing the seats and reinforcing the joints. The project took the afternoon, but K noted immediately when he flopped down in the wicker loveseat, “Hey, this feels much more sturdy.”
By the time each of us finished our afternoon projects, the heat and humidity had pretty well sapped our energy as well as our “fuel.” K, however, had a sour stomach. Too much canned food (or maybe old hamburger) set him up for a bad case of acid reflux and gas. We headed to Madison for solid food.
While there, we located the local hospital, which is about 8 miles from the Sugar Shack, and identified the surrounding street names as well as its main and emergency entrances.
Upon our return, we walked out our “night lights” and came up with a plan. We discovered that uplighting trees looks great, but illuminates very little. We’ll need little lanterns on posts—hopefully solar—to illuminate walkways at night.
Bear headed out as it began to rain again.
May 23, 2005
LoneBear's Log
Pipes
We found a good deal on some plastic 12” and 15” pipes at Lowes. We had been looking at the steel pipes, but they had some problems, namely cost, weight and inflexibility. These plastic pipes solved all those problems, costing less only about a third of steel, and two people can carry them around where needed—plus, they can bend to fit around the irregularities in the rock. With a foot of rocky gravel over them, they can hold the 20,000 pounds of the backhoe without any problems, so this looks like a good, inexpensive solution to some of our water runoff problems.
Our First Bridge
I trenched out the feeder creek area where I was crossing to the Sumai site, and we placed three of the 15” pipes in there. Hopefully, they will have sufficient flow capacity to hold the water when it starts flooding. We plan to add a stone wall to pool up the water, so it doesn’t overrun the gravel bridge.
The only other problem is that this water tends to transport a great deal of rock, which will probably get caught up and block the pipes. Right now, we’re thinking of some type of “cattle guard” in front, to catch the rocks and prevent them from getting in to the pipes.
The Garden Plot
I used the bucket on the backhoe to clear off the thick grass from the garden area, trying to leave as much topsoil as possible. The grass is so thick, it is impossible to till, disc, or even plow, as we found out earlier with our tests with the tractor. This seemed a reasonable solution.
Bank on This
I took the stumps from the parking lot area, and dumped them on the eroding side of this part of the creek in the north field (which is cutting right in to the field now), then took all that grass I sliced off the garden, and dumped that on top of the stumps. Hopefully, with all those roots around, they’ll hold the water back on the next flood, so we stop losing our field to erosion.
Given the way stuff grows out here, I suspect that the grass will take root and make a nice, grassy bank which will probably hold well against flooding (we’ve seen this in other areas on the south side).
Monday, May 23, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
Looong day.
The cats got me up at 6 AM for breakfast, then again at 8:00. Much to my surprise, K was up at 8:30. When Bear arrived at 11:00, K was putting a second coat of paint on the Shed interior, and I was trying to get the tools organized in the office.
What a tangle! We simply did not have enough shelf space. In a word, we had none. The desk was completely covered, as well as the dining table. The existing china cabinet was beautiful, but entirely unusable space. The dresser that was holding up our microwave also soaked up precious space. The half-pint refrigerator stood on an old end table, and the space under it was also unusable.
When we were last at Lowe’s, Bear and I had looked at wall-mounted shelving for the Shed. But now, looking at the office, I requested that we seriously consider freestanding shelves. They would be usable in the office, where the walls will not support shelves at all, and they could be moved to the Shed when it’s ready to hold tools. Later, they could be moved to the Sumai as needed.
Both the guys were excited at the prospect of being able to find their tools, so we headed to Madison. We found the shelves and the plastic tubs (to organize small parts). I’ll set up areas for Electrical, Welding, Plumbing, Safety, Hand Tools, Power Tools, Hazardous Fluids (oil, hydraulic, etc.), et cetera.
Got our treasures home and unpacked. We had also stopped to get keys cut and discovered Mister Hardware offered bulk seeds. At ninety cents for eight ounces, we picked up a variety of seed to try out in the garden. So, back at Avalon, we had a discussion about garden layout. We’ll need to factor in the composting areas, keeping wood chips separate, and make sure the gate is wide enough for the occasional larger equipment to get through.
Bear set to work digging up the garden area and rearranging the field. K helped him with that, and started on the postholes for the garden gate. I got a good look at the Shed and decided to apply another coat of paint. As it turned out, K had never thoroughly stirred the paint! He shook the can a bit by hand, but didn’t stir it up. No wonder it’s been so thin! (Sigh)
That done, K helped me sort out the stuff in the back room of the Shack so we would be able to move the table and hutch. We also got the table cleared, disassembled, and moved. While I took down the stuff on the walls, K assembled our first shelf: 18 inch x 48 inch x 74 inch. Real, usable shelving! YAY! Shimming to get it level was a fun challenge, as the Shack floors don’t even approximate flatness.
The hutch will have to wait until tomorrow. Now that we’ve stopped to eat, finally, at 9:30, I have discovered how incredibly tired and sore I am.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
Lots to do today. I need to get back to L/L and do the bookkeeping, so hope to have a productive day and head out between 5 and 6 PM tonight. Will tackle the office.
K didn’t get up until nearly 11 AM. By then, I’d cleared the hutch of its treasures so it could be moved safely, and done everything else I could by myself in the office. Bear arrived about 11:15 and set to work prying the Japanese beetle dust out of his roto-tiller. Without the tractor … oh … I forgot to tell you about the tractor! Now here is a story!
Mother’s Day weekend, Bear was still laid up, very ill and not able to work. Even now, he has gunk in his lungs, and sounds like he has walking pneumonia. Anyway, K was on his own, with wood to chip, fences to rip out, etc. But, for reasons unknown even to him, he decided to take our new Massey Ferguson 165 tractor for a joy ride. Where? In the creek.
While trying to execute a 3-point turn-around, he somehow got it jammed into high gear, and rocketed up the embankment, flipping the tractor straight over backward onto its nose. [Though after getting to know K a bit more, we suspect he was out playing “Grand Prix” and decided to race up the ramp-like embankment, trying to get the tractor to jump into the air.—Ed.]
Miraculously, he is fine, as you can tell by reading this journal. Some higher force intervened, throwing him about 12 feet off to one side, where he hit the ground well clear of the tractor. He walked away with only a sore back and a scraped elbow to show for it. Interestingly, there was a HUGE, upside down handprint on the hood of the tractor, where it would have been impossible for K to have left a handprint. It looks as though someone reached up out of the creek and held it.
Our tractor, meanwhile, is wrecked. It came down on the radiator and gas tank, crushing them both, and leaking oil, diesel, radiator and hydraulic fluids into the creek. The parts estimate was over $2700. We’ve managed to whittle that down a bit by salvaging what we can, but some parts, such as the gas tank, can only be found in England.
So, we are currently without a tractor. The garden must be tilled by hand, and Bear’s roto-tiller is loaded with Japanese beetles from Wyoming. Thus, his major project today is to get it running again.
K and I set to work on the office. We got the hutch moved and leveled, so it won’t warp unnecessarily in the back room. We got the dresser moved, as well, and the refrigerator moved to the new shelf under the microwave. All this means that the formerly unusable space has been filled with shelves, and the shelves filled with tools and tubs of tool parts. The shelves are of wire-rung construction, which would allow small parts to fall through. Therefore, we now have plastic tubs for various small items such as tapes, electrical parts, loose saw blades, etc. We also have small drawer organizers specifically for chainsaw parts, chipper parts, etc.
My last project before heading back to L/L was to get the warranty cards, owner’s manuals, and other documentation filed, now that I can actually get to the desk.
Bear had to give up on the rototiller. We just didn’t have the right tools. So, instead, he got the composting toilet installed in the Shed.
Bear anticipates that the solar inverter and batteries, etc., will be moved to the Shed by the time I next come up. That will free up the last wall in the office, and I can get the desk turned ninety degrees, creating space for the last of the shelving. I promise to post more pictures when the shelving is finished.
He’ll also work on the privacy wall around the toilet. On my “to obtain” list is a toilet paper holder. (Grin)
May 26, 2005
LoneBear's Log
Composting Toilet
Our Sun-Mar “Excel NE” composting toilet is hooked up and ready for use in the shed. It requires no electricity (since we use solar power here), and runs an active microbe mix to produce useable fertilizer. We’ll be using this fertilizer for the flower beds only—nothing edible will be fertilized by this compost. One of the basic principles of fertilizing is that you never fertilize food crops with the same species, to prevent the transmission of bacteria and parasites. (Actually, it’s a little more complicated than that, since you have to account for genetic heritage, but it’s the basic idea).
The next step will be to add some walls for privacy.
New Road
With the extra rock and gravel from the last thunderstorm, I was able to construct a viable road on the other side of the creek, to the former field areas. We now have access across more than 65% of the bottom land (the last bit being on the south side, by the old ruins).
This road will lead to the spot where the Ranger Gathering will be held in July.
New Fields
I set Ken busy to brush-hogging the field areas on the other side of the creek, to see what was actually in there. Pleasant surprise—a LOT of good field space, and higher off the flood plain than the main field. We’ll be setting up the tent for the Ranger Gathering in this area, so they’ll stay high and dry if we get hit by a big thunderstorm. But unfortunately, they may be stuck over there until the creek subsides … we haven’t come up with a way to build a bridge yet!
May 28, 2005
LoneBear's Log
Painted Fenders
Got some good quality spraypaint in “Safety Red” (as a reminder to some people), and started painting the new tractor parts. They came primed, but the humidity here took its toll pretty fast, rusting out any exposed area. I had to sand them down, put down a base coat, let that dry (which got full of bugs), sand that, then put on a finish coat. Came out rather nice.
Tractor Repairs
Also started on the tractor repairs. We got the radiator and hoses, and test fitted them. Possible problem with the radiator—the cap assembly stick up further than the old one did (old one is no longer available). Might have to “customize” with a hack saw.
Also cleaned up the wheels and sprayed them safety red. Looks a lot better than “rust red.”
May 28, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
Worked at L/L until about 6:00 PM, and arrived at Avalon around 7:30. It was a beautiful evening, if a little cool. I’d best enjoy it—the coolness—while I can!
K leaves tomorrow to visit family out west … he has no return date. I wonder if he’s talked at all with Bear about maybe not coming back. That “home” vibe is going to reinforce his tendency to flatline—to not think. Hmmm.
He (K) seems to think he has nothing to do tomorrow except pack. This is curious, as Bear’s list is in plain view right next to K’s favorite turquoise chair in the Shack’s parlor. There are a number of items on that list, several of which have been assigned to K for weeks, now. (Sigh)
We’ll see what tomorrow brings, I guess.
The fence posts for the garden gate are in … K is extremely pleased, even though they are NOT in line with the fence, and nine feet apart instead of six (as they were supposed to be). He also showed me the rock wall he mortared in on the upstream side of the new culvert. It looks really good, though it does need to be taller. Now, we need to fit a cow guard or gate or something over the culvert so that debris will not clog the works.
Where the hell are all my spoons?
The tent site across the creek has also been bush-hogged, a bit fast, from the look of it. The brush wasn’t cut, just laid down, so now it’s starting to spring up again. Still, the clearing is much easier to walk and looks better.
Our tractor is beginning to accumulate bright red, shiny new parts. I shall have to letter “Massey Ferguson” back onto the hood at some point.
The garden is untouched, with the exception of the well. The old well has been dug out, as well as the nearby stumps. We’ll try to re-dig the well, hoping at least for a water supply to nourish the garden.
The Shed is a mess. Cleaning it up so Bear can finally move the inverter and batteries … not to mention the composting toilet.
Other points of interest today:
- The rototiller is still in the shop.
- Bear’s motorcycle needs mechanical attention.
- The backhoe seems to be clogging somewhere—it’s losing power.
- Bear’s truck died—looks like it needs a new starter.
Oh, K dug another trench for the electrical conduit. The first one was in the wrong place, but this one ends right at the front door of the Shed, so we have to straddle the trench to open the door. The trench then turns and makes a tight loop around the south corner of the building itself. I can’t imagine that’s good.
May 31, 2005
Hotaru’s Journal
K’s off to another slow start.
My cats were so glad to see me, they kept me up all night and got me up at the crack of dawn with demands for breakfast and porch time. I’m exhausted.
I started laying out the garden. Found North, and laid out my rows on the East-West axis. I’ve GOT to get those plants that we bought a week ago into the ground! I can scarcely believe they’ve been left on the porch this whole time. Thankfully, Bear has been taking the flats down to the creek for regular soakings.
Bear phoned while I was still working on the garden plan. He was able to start his truck, and get it into Madison for repairs. He’s there, waiting for me to come pick him up.
Picked up Bear and went over to Wal-Mart for some supplies. They were rearranging and we ended up walking all over the kingdom to find what we needed. We finally loaded our supplies into my already cramped Mustang and headed back to see when the truck would be ready. Along the way it became evident I’d left my wallet on the hood of my car when we drove off from Wal-Mart and we had to retrace our steps looking for it. A kind family in a van had picked it up. We ran into them at the front desk. Whew! Nice people.
Set at last, we headed back to Avalon. My car can’t take the hill, so we carried down what was reasonable. Then we loaded K’s bag into the loader of the backhoe and drove up for the rest. It is certainly not running well. We traded K’s bag for our remaining groceries and other supplies, turned around, and went back down the hill.
There proceeded a conversation with K about whether he would return to fulfill his obligation on the tractor. Got a whole lot of nowhere, really. He danced and sang about two weeks to buy advance tickets, paying debt from afar, and returning “at some point”… not wanting to be pinned down to a date. Good grief.
Shortly, D called to say B’s truck was ready. I gave him (B) a ride as far as D’s house, then went back for K, to take him to the Louisville airport. We had a great conversation (I thought) in the car. K expressed a real love of Avalon and a desire to return. We talked about needing to choose what we want, how we think, and where we will go. This is what 3D is all about: choosing. And, choosing based on our own heart resonance.
There are always a number of good people around to offer advice based on their own life experience. It is well to hear that advice, but in the end the decision is our own and WE are the ones who must live with it. I don’t know if K will return. I suspect the old patterns of “home” will reassert themselves and he will not. However, I am often too cynical for my own good. I am often wrong, and may be proved so on this point also. Meanwhile, I will spend tonight at L/L, trying to make more headway on my to-do list. Tomorrow is June first, so I will run JLS statements and drop them at the post office on my way back to Avalon.
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