Day 553: making thread

Day 553:

I’m trying to make good thread. Most of the “thread” that I’ve made for sewing the mattresses together and things like that have been strips of ducken skin or similar, but it can be challenging to cut the strips thin enough to make them convenient to sew with.

So I’m experimenting with trying to dry ducken intestine to use as a smaller, smoother sewing medium, but so far I suck at it. Either it’s so dried that it’s brittle or it’s not dried enough and it’s kind of gross within a day or two.

So still experimenting. Smellily.

Day 552: nothing new here…

Day 552:

Not a lot to report. The anvil is settled in its position in my workshop, the holes I put in the local hills mining are well underway to repair, the pigs and duckens are multiplying like bunnies, and I’m seriously considering doing some sewing so I have enough clothes I can wash one set while wearing another.

(It’s not so much that I’m afraid to walk around naked for propriety’s sake as it is that things here very much like to try to kill me, so even when I’m sleeping I’m wearing leather armor.)

So I spent the day measuring and cutting and tomorrow I’ll do some sewing. Or leather working. Or whatever you want to call the creation of spare leather pajamas.

Day 551: More crates

Day 551:

I actually found myself with more wood than I knew what to do with, thanks to my landscaping techniques. So I’ve stocked up on crate parts, making it so I can throw a crate together pretty quickly and with only a few extra parts. Yay, I’m the deserted asteroid equivalent of Henry Ford!

Day 550: Coal mining

Day 550:

Found another seam of coal close to that last one, so I’ve got fuel for a while, which is good.

The biggest challenge is that the coal dust gets on everything, and it’s surprisingly flammable for a rock, so I have to scrub myself down whenever I’ve been near the stuff… because everything I do for lighting is open flame, and coal dust can explode in the right mix of air, and I don’t feel like being blown to smithereens.

But when it’s wet, coal is much more like chalk than I’d like, and it smears on everything.

I have no idea how to make soap but I’m guessing I should figure it out.

Day 549: discovery

Day 549:

Remember ages ago when I climbed the tall hill to the south so that I could get a good look around, and I discovered a huge mountain to the east, which is where I’m heading now?

Turns out there was a huuuuuuuge cache of coal under the “stairs” I carved into the big hill so it was easier to climb.

So that’s a little embarrassing. I could’ve used that coal a couple of times before now.

But I have it now, which beats not having it at all.