Stencil shelf (and the tenth hole).

7/29/19:

(Above: The mostly-shelved spice cupboard.)

Building Summary: This morning I began my time at the farm by once again helping check cows and IV’ing another dehydrated calf. After that, I dug on the holes for Padre’s studio-building for about an hour and twenty minutes, and in that time I not only finished digging the first hole to its final depth (4 ½ feet), I dug another entire hole of identical if not slightly deeper proportion.

This was followed by my venturing over to the nearby Jacobhouse, cleaning up the various hoses / extension cords laying about*, measuring the space for the panel box’s faceplate**, making a template of the kitchen’s spice-shelves, and then marking / cutting some ¼” plywood according to that template. The morning ended as soon as I had cut and test-fitted five of the shelves. They all will work.

Commentary: Yesterday, I believe I was still re-acclimating to Florida’s summer weather, for even though I was a little bit productive yesterday, I had far more energy and was able to work with much more vigor today. With that increase in activity, came two unique occurrences that are worthy of noting. The first is the digging of holes.

Having now dug ten pits for container pylons (today was the tenth), I think I’ve finally developed a system for the most efficient dirt extraction. The first two and half feet are easy, but once the depth exceeds the maximum width of the hole, it starts to become more difficult. At that point, one has to work in an organized fashion or exhaust themselves by constantly shifting their digging position. My system is to divide the hole into two parts: the ‘shelf’ where I stand and the ‘well’ where I fetch my dirt. The shelf-side is typically perfectly formed around the upper portion of the opening, but into the well-side, I slightly enlarge the corners so I can bend down without hitting my head on the edge of the hole. I know this all sounds ridiculous in writing, but the system works, and perhaps I will make a video demonstration when I dig the next hole***.

The second highlight concerns the shelves I made for Jacobhouse. While digging, I contemplated how I should go about measuring their odd shape and marking it onto the piece of ¼” plywood I had brought down first thing in the morning. I foresaw some issues in regard to the marking portion, not because I would have any issue collecting the various lengths, but because I had only a vague idea of how I would protract the differing angles. I did know, however, that once I had one shelf cut, I would be able to use it as a template for the next ones. ‘Template’ was the word that inspired me to forgo the measuring step entirely. I simply found a piece of cardboard, pressed it into the intended shelf location, and cut it (with scissors) down to the exact size/shape that I needed. It was via the resultant stencil that I marked and then cut five of the seven required shelves. They weren’t fancy, I’ll admit, but they all fit, and they will all be of the same turquoise color as the braces upon which they shall be placed. Good enough to hold a plenitude spices, I should think.

Final Note: Tomorrow I plan on cutting the remainder of the kitchen spice cupboard shelves (one ½” or ¾” shelf for the bottom and another ¼” shelf for the very top). This will be followed by my priming the interior of the bedroom closet-wall’s shelf space, the bathroom’s wall-closet, and the just-mentioned spice cupboard. I also need to prime the shelves, but I’m not yet entirely certain how I’m going to do that yet. I want to be able to prime both the top and bottom at once rather than painting one side, waiting 2-3 hours, and then painting the reverse side.

*Wag was coming on the tractor mower, I knew, and I was tired of looking at the coiled mass of cords and hose and grass beside Jacobhouse. So, I disentangled them all, wound them up into separate rolls, and moved them well away from the soon-to-be mown lawn.

**Needed to procure these dimensions for Charlie the welder-man.

***If I recall to do so. The next hole will likely be dug on Thursday or Friday of the coming week.