Today I got up early to work on my chores and a couple projects. I finished my leather working awl. I made it from a sail making needle and a piece of elm I cut down last year. I shaped the wood handle with my knife and sanded it with the power sander before giving it some hot linseed oil and hammered the needle in.

Kristin and I are planning a camping trip to southern utah this weekend. I’ve been doing a little prep work. I purchased a plastic Jerry Can for water. I have it in an insulation case because it’s supposed to get down to about freezing at night and 60 during the day. I also picked up a catalytic heater for warming up the truck or tent in the morning.

I finished the day of with a very brisk ride on my Kawasaki. Ouch, it was cold on my fingers and ears.

My friend Jeff who is studying wilderness survival and edible/medicinal plants introduced me to a supposed “cure-all” plant called Oregon-Grape. He gave me a tincture made of Oregon-grape and Yarrow. I’ve been using it on everything from sore throats to minor cuts. It seems to make sore throats feel a lot better in just a day or two and heals cuts faster than Neosporin.

I’ve been using it for a couple months and I’m getting low. So I turned to the Internets to figure out how to make it. I had a good idea of what the Oregon-grape plant looked like, but I wanted to be sure. Between wikipedia and my herb book I was confident I knew what the stuff was. I went to a nature park near my house and found some.

I trimmed a small amount off a healthy looking bush. Note the healthy yellow stains on the paper towel. That’s from Berberine, the active chemical in Oregon-Grape.

I started by cleaning then trimming the outer bark off the roots. Once I had enough to fill my little jar I filled it loosely with the bark strips and filled just to cover with an 80 proof spirit.

Now I just let them sit at room temp for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks I’ll strain out the solids and have a bright yellow medicinal liquid.

I got this bike at Walmart for $79… Man is it worth every penny! I love it! I’ve made a few modifications including: flipped the handle bars, lay-back seatpost, handmade wood crate on back, and a beer holder.

I helped the Ferg move to oakland monday to tuesday. It was a pretty fun ride – 13 hours in a 30 foot Uhaul truck and his Subi in tow. We left Saratoga Springs at about 9:30 (MST), sipping 5 hour energy and arrived in Oakland at 12:30 (PST) chugging 5 hour energy. Donner Pass was pretty intense. And I-80 in western Nevada into California really sucks. And the insane “Agricultural Inspection” check point upon entering California made my inner most insane right-winger flare up… Ben’s in a nice neighborhood in Benicia near a cool fishing dock and harbor. I’m pretty jealous. Too bad I can’t take my guns to Cali or I’d consider moving to the bay area.

Enjoy Oakland, Ben!

This year I wanted to go legit with my plum wine. So I went to Salt City Brew Supply and got help from the employees. He gave me a good list of stuff I’ll need. Some stuff I’d never heard of. So hopefully this year’s wine is palatable. Here’s the recipe so far:

28lbs plums, pitted and mashed
6lbs sugar
3tsp of pectic enzyme
2tsp yeast nutrient
4tsp acid blend
3G water

Day one: pit and mash the plums. Added pectic enzyme and 1.5G of spring water.

Day three: added sugars and 1.5G of water. Checking sugars tomorrow.

Uses a flipped dodge caravan axle.

A 34 day voyage across The Democratic Republic of the Congo doesn’t sound like my type of fun. But this guy took his girl and his Toyota Land Cruiser across the contry of Congo on one hell of a voyage. His story is unbelievably amazing. Two tip overs, broken hubs, dead batteries, dragging axels and swarms of gawkers. This should have been a documentary.

“in 2006 we sold all our belongings (literally: ALL), quit our jobs, took all of our saving money and decided to go on a little trip. We had done our homework during the many months/years we had saved up for it and bought and prepared a Landcruiser.”

Trip Report on horizonsunlimited.com

His personal website (For english click the UK flag up top):  The Adventures of Fred & Josephine

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