National Public Lands Day 2021 at The Black Rock

September 24th - 26th with Friends of the Nevada Wilderness.

This year we spent National Public Lands Day in the Black Rock Desert doing habitat restoration in Soldier Meadows. It was a three group effort organized by the Nevada BLM, Friends of the Nevada Wilderness, and Friends of the Black Rock/High Rock.

A total of about 30 people gathered to spend two days removing non-essentiall barbed wire fencing, building fencing to protect threatened habitat, and eliminated old un-authorized roads/tracks.

We all set up individual camps around the public cabin at Soldier Meadows.

National Public Lands Day website

https://www.flickr.com/photos/113807194@N05/albums/72157719928985647

Spring Cap Rebuild

My first retirement side hustle.

I'm not looking for work, but my long time friend has hired me as his carpenter/handyman for building and repair work around his ranch and vineyard. He keeps hinting at a ranch manager position and I keep reminding him I'm retired and plan to stay that way. :)

I enjoy working with wood and it has been a hobby of mind since my early 20's. I enjoy designing and building everything from fences and gates around our place, to custom made truck bed bunk systems, to workshops and one room cabins to live in...all of which I have done.

My friend needed an old and decaying cap covering one of the water sources on his property replaced  (this one being the spring that supplies water to his house). I was happy to help him out so him and his wife could start using the fresh spring water again as the main water source.

Before and after pictures. I still plan to go back and apply sealant to the new cover.

Old...

New...

Complete with sealant.

Siyahamba

Akekho Ofana Nojesu

Africa - Angel City Chorale

Sympathy For The Devil (Live)

Blundstone Boots

For many years I have wanted a pair of the legendary Blundstone Australian boots, so I finally bought myself a pair. Happy retirement Milo!

I chose the Classic 550 in Rustic Brown. Easy to slip on and very comfortable right out of the box. The uppers are a premium supple leather, and I can see these will loosen up and mold to the feet and will be exceptional in a few months.

More info... https://www.blundstone.com/

These Blundstores will probably replace my old Clarks Desert Boot Chukkas as my adventure travel shoe, but I still love my Clarks.

Sausage & Corn

 ...over the fire pit.

Yorty Creek Low Water at Lake Sonoma

Another trip out to Yorty Creek at Lake Sonoma with Silo to get a better look at the low water situation. This area is 10 minutes from our home and we kayaked out here a lot, so it's sad and disheartening to see another of our outdoor playgrounds become a victim of drought and/or wildfires.