Monthly Archives: May 2012

Counter-Camping Frisbee Fun

The Yard

What a wonderful Memorial weekend it was.  While the typical American was camping, boating, floating, and/or backyard BBQing, We decided to sneak into the mainstream for a day of icy cold drinks, running water, air conditioning and  television.  A friend of ours was out of town for the weekend, so we “camped” at his place for Memorial Day.

The weatherman said it would rain that day, but the clouds parted especially for our retreat.  The sun shined so bright that I’m still feeling it!  The day began early in the morning setting up the outdoor kitchen, Frisbee golf baskets, and determining the Ultimate Frisbee zones and hazards.  There were random games of  Frisbee Golf and Ultimate separated by good food and meditation.  Some went inside the to absorb the air conditioning and Lord Of the Rings, some sat to relax by the lake.

Memorial Day 2012 Tony and the bounty.

Janice, Tony, and I went fishing.   It started a little slow at first, until Tony brought out some magical plastic worms that the fish seemed to crave.  We only kept a fraction of the fish we caught, but it was just enough for dinner.   Janice caught the  biggest bass of the day and Bobbie cooked them all to perfection.   The mood was playful and relaxed.  Our bellies were full.  Some of us were even napping.    What a great day.

Zones and Hazards...not the best place for Ultimate

Paul suggested we have another Ultimate Frisbee game.  The competitive spirit began flowing again…I could feel it.  The sun was down, everyone cooled off and rested. This was going to be an epic game, I imagined.  The game was indeed epic, a shutout even.  The rematch was turning out to be more of the same merciless torture.  Suddenly I smashed my thigh into a tree stump hazard.  I wanted to ugly cry, it hurt so bad.  I was out for the game and the rest of the week as it turned out.   Our team was now outnumbered, and minutes later we had another injury.   Tao twisted his knee keeping him out for the game as well.  We were riddled with bad karma.  It wasn’t looking good for Paul either.  He was our last man standing facing a determined team of three.  Luckily, Janice mercifully volunteered to change teams.  She certainly picked up the slack from Tao and I.   It was another epic win!

Diggin’ It

Last week we rented a small backhoe and began excavating the cistern and leveling the front yard. The plan was to dig the root cellar, level the workshop/shed site and dig out the straw bale duplex foundation at the same time, but we managed to break the rear wheel drive and were cut prematurely short after nearly finishing the cistern and leveling much of the front yard area of the common house and making a greywater mulch basin.

The cistern will hold about 3,500 gallons of purified rainwater and keep it from freezing.  We’re going to seal it with a cement plaster lining and reinforce the frost zone with a rock/cement retaining wall and seal the top with a concrete lid poured in place.

We’ve spent the last few days digging the ledge to hold the retaining wall and squaring up the hole somewhat, although it doesn’t need to be perfect for our purposes.  We’ve still got to dig the trenches for the overflow and outlet pipe runs, but in the meantime though it’s perfect for some good old fashioned pit fighting…