7/05/92

 7/5/92

12:30 p.m.

      Jasper and Ula have gone for a walk to find rocks and berries. I removed all of the rocks that I had placed around the garden , so we could use them to line the muddy little creek bed and to dam up the water a bit. It's going to take more rocks, though. Then, I want to find even more to put around the garden again, so that Ula will notice the boundries and stop stomping through the dirt. I also think it would be nice to char an area and build a fire pit right next to the creek for bathing, washing clothes and boiling drinking water. It is mosquito heaven down there, though.
     The diapers survived the storm last night quite well and most of them are dry now.
      Nika is supposed to be taking a nap, but after sleeping only 15 minutes or so, she is up and wants to play.
      It is very hot and sunny.

5:50 p.m.

    We are having our nightly thunderstorm. At least we had plenty of warning before the rain hit. We could see the dark clouds approaching nearly a half an hour before they were over us.
    Jasper chopped quite a bit of firewood today, but he says it's only about one day's supply.
     I resurrounded the garden with stones and dug out a fire pit down by the creek, although I haven't found rocks to go around that yet.
     Ula and I just finished folding diapers and Jasper has started reading aloud from a new book, Giants in the Earth, a book much more appropriate to our present experiences.

8:40 p.m.

    It stopped raining for a while and Jasper was able to split some more wood, while I sewed up the largest of the holes in the tent. Jasper built up the fire, which had gone out completely during the rain. I fetched some water from the creek, filled the kettle, and set it on the fire just as the rain started falling again.
   I stayed out in the rain to be sure the water boiled long enough to be safe for drinking.