May 27

Last night we all sat down and had a great dinner which consisted of “basketti” as Bentley calls it and salad. It was a great time to get to know one another and have one last meal with Stan before he headed off to Bristol Bay to run a fishing boat. 

This morning I woke up to the sun in my eyes. I forgot how early the sun rises here and the fact that the sun is directly shining into my window in the morning. Tomorrow that will have to be remedied. After I was up and about, I got dressed and headed over to the main cabin for breakfast and coffee with Ginger and Stan. Bentley and Jordan aren’t morning people, so they didn’t join us until 11 AM. However, after breakfast Stan, Ginger, and I went up to start the hydropower station. It was simple: a metal tube was placed into the creek that funneled water into a metal basin that would then send water to the power station below. It was pretty neat to see how Stan provides his own power out here.

On our way back we trekked through the woods and I got to see the remnants of an old building that housed a radio station back in WWII. This building was built before Alaska was a state!

After the hydro was turned on, Ginger and I went out to find a pole to fit over the chicken coop. The last one had rotted. After we found a promising prospect, Ginger let me use the chainsaw. It was kinda difficult at first, but after a few minutes I got the hang of it. After that was carried back to camp, we found Bentley and Jordan up and ready to go. We all ate eggs, pancakes, and bacon for a brunch and then Stan had to leave for town to get ready for Bristol Bay. Ginger went with to get supplies in town and won’t be back until Wednesday so we’ll see how that goes. 

My first time using a chainsaw!

After Ginger left Jordan and I started burning the brush and other burnables on camp and began fixing the chicken coop. I worked on stapling the netting down and Jordan was attaching tin siding to the bottom of the coop to keep foxes out. We also transplanted some strawberry sprouts to some dirt that was a mix of silt and humus. Hopefully they sprout and grow beautifully. 

While the chicken coop was getting fixed we also had the sprinkler running in the hoop houses to water all the plants. Later in the afternoon I tilled a couple of compost piles while Bentley played around and Jordan continued to work on the chicken coop. 

By the end of the day I was exhausted and took a short walk on the beach followed by a shower and now bed. I can’t wait to get started on some new projects tomorrow!

P.S. I found a spider in my bed ONCE AGAIN. I truly hope this doesn’t become a regular thing, because I am not fond of a spider in my sleeping space.