Came first workawayer vol.1

Hi, this is Yuta!!

My family registered with workaway, and to my surprise, I was contacted by many people as soon as recruitment started! !

It’s a blessing to have so many offers. (^^)

So, the Swiss woman who contacted me first became my family’s first customer.

Well, what kind of workaway life will we have? ?

 

Prepare the bedroom

Since she is coming to visit us, we want to provide you with as comfortable a space as possible! !

Our house has a large warehouse, and one corner of it has a space of about 4 and a half tatami mats.

The walls are made of thin iron, so it’s hot in the summer! !

When I measured the temperature of the wall from inside the room, it was 45℃.💦

I can’t say it’s comfortable, but she doesn’t use it much during the day, so please be patient.

Someday, we will peel off the thin iron and make a clay wall!

Anyway, we desperately cleaned and tidyed up the room that I hadn’t used at all.

And install the equipment we think she needs! !

For example, a futon, a place to dry clothes, a cup, a thermos pot, tea leaves, coffee, and water.

In addition, we got information on scrap materials and we could install the sofa! (^^)

There is no running water.

So, the washroom, toilet, and bath are shared with my family.

Well, I managed to make it look like that! !

I don’t know what is needed.

So, I would like to make up for it while listening to her requests!

 

First day

We finished our preparations and headed to JR Osugi Station, our meeting point.

Ōsugi.jpg

Finally, we met face to face! !

I should have taken a photo. .

 

Started the life with her

About job

Making bamboo fence

We have many projects at our house, and while prioritizing among them, we wanted to have the people who help us do tasks that fit their skills and interests, so we decided to have make them build a bamboo fence around the field first!

This is an area where I have built bamboo fences three times in the past. Each time I was in trouble because the chickens invaded every time and I could not grow any crops at all. LOL!

In the end, this still didn’t agree with the chickens (laugh), so we discussed a different method this time.

After much discussion, we decided to try a method of splitting bamboo into thin strips and weaving them together.

Once the plan is decided, the procurement of materials begins!

Incidentally, our family advocates the three non-purchase principles, not the three non-nuclear principles, “Don’t buy things, don’t let people buy things, and don’t let people bring things into the house” (laugh), so we rely on the bounty of nature for the materials we need.

We are enjoying our work to the extent that we can, of course.

We immediately started to get materials!

Cut down bamboo,

and carry bamboo,

and fixing bamboo to a light truck.

She, curious person, instantly mastered the truckers hitch!

When we arrived at home, we immediately started cutting out the material.

Bamboo should be splitted from the end, not from the root.

Once the materials are ready, we weave the bamboo together.

This is a tough job that requires a lot of strength!

Still, she did her best without a complaint!

Finally, the gate is installed.

But then she also installed a nice entrance in front of the gate!

I would never do something like this if I were she. LOL!

Finally, it’s done!

We both have wounds on our hands. LOL!

 

Honey gathering

The time is late September.

The weather is nice and I think the nectar concentration is progressing.

The Japanese knotweed is about to bloom, and I want to collect honey before it does.

There are two reasons.

・The nector of the Japanese knotweed has a peculiar taste, and people have their own likes and dislikes about it. It is necessary to collect the nectar before the bees bring it back.

・The bees need to collect the nectar before the bees bring it back. They need to store a lot of nectar to survive the winter.

 

So, I decided to collect honey from the hives of Japanese honeybees!

We will get honey from the most vigorous hive, which has grown to the fifth level of the stacked-box system!

Remove the top panel and cut the top box with a knife.

Cut the hive out of the top box.

It was well filled with honey!

After this, the chopped hive is strained through a cotton cloth.

It takes about three days because of the dripping honey method.

And here is what we got, 4 liters!

It is like a dream come true to be able to collect honey at home!

 

Moss ball class

During her stay, we had an appointment for a moss ball class, so we asked her to help us.

She supported us well even though she barely understand Japanese!

 

Compost toilet

I have always wanted to build a composting toilet someday.

There is no toilet in the warehouse where she sleeps, so I decided to take this opportunity to make one!

Due to various complications, we will create a simplified version this time.

First, we had a meeting.

Decided on a policy of “keep pee and poop separate.”

It is better to keep pee and poop separate to avoid bad smell from decomposition.

We collect scrap wood from my house and creates.

She is quite particular and does not cut corners.

She finished the surface nicely with homemade wax made from a mixture of beeswax and oil!

For now, the seating area was completed, but we couldn’t come up with a plan for how to separate the pee and poop.

Putting that off for later, we decided to build a shed to house the toilet!

As usual, the only material used was bamboo.

Here is the drawing. LOL!

It is what is called an “A-frame structure,” which is simple and sturdy!

The disadvantage is that it makes the room smaller, but that’s not a problem since it’s a toilet.

We cut bamboo to make the frame.

The concept was to build it without relying on civilization as much as possible, so no nails or wood screws were used.

The bamboo is joined together by cutting the tips of the bamboo like this,

Make something like chopsticks out of bamboo,

and build up, and make holes, and insert chopsticks,

and make holes, and insert chopsticks,,,,,,

The bamboo is hard!

Some of the drill tips were dull, but it was hard to drill into it. LOL!

In the meantime, the frame was completed just like that!

The man on the far right who suddenly appeared will be introduced in a later article. LOL!

After that, it was time to prepare the roof cum wall.

Bamboo is cut down, split in half, and the joints are destroyed!

It is then propped up on a frame like this.

Unfortunately, we ran out of bamboo along the way and ran out of time.

The day of the woman’s departure came and the work ended here.

 

I used to think, “I want to do that…” but I never got around to it.

But thanks to her, I was able to get the work done quickly and efficiently.

We really appreciated her help.

 

This is the end of this article, as it has been a bit long.

In the next issue, I would like to focus on the living aspects.

Thank you for reading to the end!

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