Stone Masonry!

little bench for observing, and tea drinking :)

It's been a wild WILD few weeks here. A great neighbour borrowed us his bobcat, which is such an extraordinary gift that we stopped everything else to take full advantage.

The first task was to dig an irrigation trench. By the end of that dig, the garden looked more like Viet Nam in the early 70's. Rock work and earth work have really kept me from the will to blog at night, as there have been a few deliriously hot days here on the hillside. I MUST get on the 'before-picture-bandwagon,' as the after pictures are quite thrilling in the comparison.

I was putting down some black bags to keep the (ever immortal) Kooch Grass at bay, and, in pinning it down with some rocks, built a little bench.

central staircase

Weeding was on the agenda, but the big rocks seemed to just want to go into place instead ;)
D, myself, and D's dad (also D... D2?) started up on some staircases, which really got the creative juices flowing.

Next we needed better wheelbarrow access to the upper gardens we created. See this blog for the story of creating that(!) So much work is getting done here. Many things have lost the obstruction from the winter snow-over. I happened to be reading on "Obstruction" in the I Ching a few weeks ago (I keep an I Ching blog, too) and the way through it was to have "subordinates" play their position. I've found I have lots of creative energy for this kind of work: The decisions, though, at this time, are for D&S to make.

We've built a new chicken coop, a second yurt, tidied the garden shed, tilled for new fields, and now we're into landscaping. We're looking forward to getting the shop spaces in order so that the house-building can begin next summer.

wheelbarrow ramp: wish I had the before picture!

left side of ramp

side view

top view: a steeper, slower staircase

this rock wasn't nearly as heavy as some of the others

right side of the ramp

close up - more work/fun! waiting up hill :)

I just been loving the character and colour of the stones as they wash up!

While we were digging out the hole for the stairs, we came across some old old chicken wire. It was at least three feet under the ground. I was totally amazed how the earth and trees were reclaiming this!

The old hillside has clearly had many generations of effort take place here. It is wonderful to be bringing my friends forward into their permaculture dream. It is also great to be learning of permaculture, hands-on: it is simply so congruent with all other matters in my life. I've been calling it "organizing common sense."

Chicken Coop Complete!

Chicken Palace!

Wow! What a week. S, D, and I put our minds together to get the chicken coop in place last week. The first two days we had the sun in full cooperation, it snowed Wednesday (which was depressing - even for me, who never complains on the weather!) and then we had mostly sunny days to finish out the week. It is truly REMARKABLE just how much a factor the weather is on this hillside - for morale, energy, inspiration, physical exhaustion... I blew out yesterday with a fever. I was in bed by 3pm yesterday, stoked the fire hot and high in the yurt, bundled up and sweated it out until 11am today! Certainly it cannot be over-or-under-stated, that the patience of a saint should be on every person's tool list when taking on any building project.

We were so inspired with the sunlight that I didn't even carry my camera, and missed documenting how we build the platform. Six palettes and three 2x6 - and Dylan's new giganto-nail-gun - had us a platform in about half and hour. A few rocks along the bottom edge had us level, and then we were off to the races putting the structure together.

I enjoyed how S called the wooden palettes "a waste product," and they are certainly something I wish to gather for keeping supplies off of the forest floor. Pressure treated ones would make a good shop floor surface with some sort of sand/salt barrier below. And this brings us to the coop itself. S & D picked this up second hand for $200 (regular $1000 at Canadian Tire). D enjoyed bashing the retail cost of this pile of plastic. It is certainly not hurricane proof, let alone whoops-I-slipped-in-the-mud-and-had-to-hold-onto-something... proof. ... It is, however, chicken proof, which counts the most.

Repurposing: Less plastic in the landfill :)

We snapped this puppy together in about two hours of Kootenay time. Which is to say, it felt like two hours passed, but it probably took longer.... or lesser. ... No one knows. It was easy, and inspired by M's lego palaces inside, the three adults took to it like, say, adults cooped up in a trailer by inclement weather. It was so good to get something off the ground and together in a pinch. The reuse of this building was the "convenience we didn't pay for" but welcomed all the same.

Next, we traced the pole lines, and dug fence posts. Certainly a fence auger is manna from heaven for the task. It's actually very satisfying to use because the progress is so measurable.

the folks of  rBrand - click here to see their blog :)

When it snowed on Wednesday, we eventually got moving on using some new found lumber for building the roosting boxes. The coop kept us reasonably dry.

Last came the fencing, which needed "base boards," just to make sure the little chicks don't get away, and hopefully add another layer of defence against predators... which unfortunately includes the family pup, Oden! He's been super "bad," as his "inner wolf" gets the best of him, especially when the chickens give a little dart. Like pinball, the energy increases, and they bring out the worst case scenario in each other.

 

The back side needed some extra attention, what with the slope, and to have the option of an extra exit/entrance. The backside levels up closer to the road, and the quad can be better pulled into place to ship in wood chips or heavy bags of feed.

Shortly after came the moving of the chickens themselves, which was so exciting. It was a relief to get them out of the former coop which they had clearly outgrown by number some time ago. Catching them would certainly have put my mother in stitches. I took a good slide on the "chicken shit slide of death."

I had the better part of Friday afternoon to solve the back gate issue, and had a lot of fun doing so. The birch on the left had several curves to accommodate: I built up the ground with some clay and rock to make a step, stapled the fencing into place, and filed in the gaps by lashing a pole along the bottom.

The real gem is the found handle. Character wood pieces always set ablaze the creative heart. As one  unhooks the gate, the little rounded piece makes a perfect handle to lift the gate through. I may need to put a similar handle on the other side too. It's very functional, and there are no gaps!!

Haggard and Happy!