My mullet started to get out of hand, and I felt that the time had come to cut it off. As my hair dresser (yes, I enjoy the experience of other people cutting my hair) cut it she jokingly asked me if I wanted to save a bit of it for magic or something. I remembered that I’ve wanted to make a paintbrush for making Rewild Camp name tags for some time now, and so I said “YES!”
I’ve taken a few basket classes now, and of all the twining basketry books I think the two pictured above have the best information for newbies; great pictures and illustrations. So many books on basketry read like mathematic equations; lots and lots of strange vocabulary with no accompanying photographs or drawings. Even so, I think I may have a WAYK “technique: dictionary addiction” but with field guides and how-to manuals. I looked in the book once, instead of looking at a previously made basket, and it fucked me up.
This year I’ve really felt inspired to work on baskets. The key to building fluency with any skill starts with a good “setup”. Aside from having the materials to make a basket, you need a soaking pool to make them soft and moveable again after drying. Since I don’t live near a natural body of water, I built this soaking-pool in my backyard with old pallets that I pulled apart, a few screws, my screw gun/drill and a big tarp. It doubles as a mosquito incubation chamber. Fun!
 
Raccoon season starts next week. I finally made time to prep my traps in the way my trappers education booklet told me. I boiled the conibears to get the factory grease off and then mixed in a handful of black walnut to see what would happen.
Everyone talks shit on English Ivy; its invasive behavior has given it a bad rap. A while ago I started to feel empathy for the plant and wonder what kind of relationship I could begin to have with the plant, other than pulling it off of native trees and letting it rot in an ugly pile on the side of a trail.
 
Today I finally gathered some Black Walnuts. I’ve been watching them for weeks now, ever since I got my traps. I never really thought I would get into dyeing things but then when I got my traps, I read online that I should dye them first, with Black Walnut husk.
I went out the other day with Willem and harvested a whole bunch more fireweed as well as nettles for this next year. I’m going to process even more for my own projects but I want to save a bunch and do another cordage skill share at Echoes in Time next summer. I’m going to save some nettle for that too. I generally cut the stalk as close to the ground as possible and then strip the leaves off by running the stalk along my hand, either with a bandanna or wearing gloves. I do this with both nettles and fireweed. Once they dry I will put more pictures up on how to process them into fiber that you can spin into cord.
A couple months ago, while traveling to a friends property in the early morning, I came across two roadkill raccoons within a few hundred yards of each other. One female with a light tan color, the other a male with a darker grayish tint. Each one small and juvenile, and not even a shred of a winter coat. Poor little creatures most likely died instantly since they both lay in the middle of the road. I picked them up and took them to my friends where we skinned them and ate their meat. Raccoon legs taste amazing, if you ever get the chance, seriously try it. I don’t quite know what to do with organ meats yet, so we left the rest of the carcasses for the coyotes or other scavengers.
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The following are the specs of my solar kit, what I have to get power and what I need to power.
What I have to get power:
Solar Panel: Battery Trickle Charger
Up to 5 Watts solar power
Current: I=350mAmps
Voltage (open current): Voc=24 Volts
7 Amp Battery Charge Controller
Load: 7A Max
Cut-out: 14.2V
Cut-in: 13V
Battery BP 12-12
12V, 12Ah/C20/1.75VPC/25ºC
Valve Regulated Lead-Acid Rechargabe Battery
Cigarette Lighter Adapter
Power Inverter
Input: 12 VDC, 15 A Max
AC output: 120 VAC/60 Hz
80 W/0.65 A (Continuous)
100 W/0.80 A (5 minutes)
DC Output: 5 VDC/0.5 A
What I have that needs power:
Cell Phone
Input: 120V-AC/60Hz/4.8VA
Output: 3.7V-DC/340mA
AA Recharger for Digital Camera batteries
Input: AC 100-240v 50/60 Hz 7W
Output: DC 1.4V 1050mA (AA)x2 525mA(AA)x4 640mA(AA)x2
Laptop Computer
60W portable adapter
Input: AC 100-240V~, 50-60 Hz, 1.5A
Output: 16.5V=3.65A ADP-60AD B
My Digital Camera Batteries
…don’t have it here right now, I’ll update later.
Current Questions:
1. How long will it take to charge the battery in the winter/summer?
2. How much juice can I get from the battery? Will I be able to charge all the other batteries frequently?
3. How do I connect all this shit?
4. Where should I put the panel to maximize it’s charge?
5. How durable/weather/humidity/water proof is this gear?
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