estwärts

On Monday, Anton and Klaas tackle the barn: the old threshold had become moist due to the collapsed earth cellar and was largely no longer in existence. So a lot of small pieces of wood are swept away and the crumbled foundation is removed. The threshold is rebuilt from five parts using beams from the collapsed woodshed and put back in place. The borrowed jack makes it easy to lift the barn.

A new guest is also picked up from Rakvere bus station: Steffi is joining us for the first time and has traveled directly from Tartu. The evening passes by the flickering campfire, with guitar music and singing.

Tuesday morning. Some people climb out of their tents more quickly than others, while others are woken up by Anton’s lovely singing and guitar playing. After the first few notes, we hurry to the breakfast table. After breakfast and with the last cup of coffee or hot chocolate, tasks are assigned again and responsibilities and daily goals are set. Fresh water is fetched from the spring, perhaps for the last time? Because shortly before 10 a.m., it is not the long-awaited well man, but a relative of Krista’s who takes a water sample. In two days, we will know whether our well water is drinkable.

Meanwhile, Hagen is installing the solar panels under the kitchen window. This spot gets lovely morning sun, which we will use to power our cooling box. However, they will be modified again later as the electrical work progresses, and may even be expanded next year! After that, we will continue with the electrical work in the barn. A cell phone and laptop charging station is scheduled to go into operation here tomorrow, and in this context, we have a special heroic story to tell: Shortly before the construction camp, we spoke on the phone with Stefan, the father of Anne from the association. Actually, we just wanted to discuss our solar plans with an electrician to make sure we didn’t do anything wrong. But Stefan was eager to help, and a few days later he offered to put together a small electrical box for us to make our work on site easier. A few days and phone calls later, a huge package arrived at the association’s address, containing a proper fuse box, pre-drilled holes for 12V cigarette lighter sockets, which we will use to charge our devices, mounted fuses, and even illuminated buttons that immediately show whether the fuses are still intact. Hagen has been looking forward to finally installing the box for days, and today is finally the day! Together with Lukas, he had already crimped special solar plugs onto cables a few days ago, and now everything is coming together. In the evening, the first laptops and power banks are already charging as a test. Everything is working fine, thank you very much for your help, dear Stefan!

Meanwhile, Lola and Steffi rush across the tent meadow with the brush cutter and extend it by a few meters. They have to work fast, as a thunderstorm is forecast for lunchtime and the darkening sky keeps rumbling. They finish just in time for lunch, and the others join them at the table after the first rain shower. There is more of yesterday’s savoy cabbage soup, today with a little extra cumin, but as always with hapukoor.

The second and actual storm front is not long in coming, and while the used coffee cups are still outside, a front of hailstones passes by and refills the cups.

Now the new guests arrive in quick succession: railway engineer Nils shows up, unfortunately not by train, but by hitchhiking from Tallinn. We’ll be happy to report on the Rail Baltica project, which is intended to connect Warsaw with Tallinn and Helsinki by rail, another time.

Anton and Lukas are also making progress with the new threshold of the barn. Today, work can begin on repairing the foundation wall and laying mortar. At the same time, a beam layer is being constructed, which will form a small stage in this part of the barn. Instead of power tools and machines, pure muscle power is being used to create a solid wooden structure with traditional wood joints from oat flakes. Throughout the day, more people whose work is already done gather, so that after lunch everyone bustles around in and around the barn to complete a mini-internship in carpentry. The exterior cladding is designed by our journeyman with a bevel at the foot end to protect the base from rain and snow. The prototype is already impressive in terms of style and elegance, but more on that next time. See you soon!