Morning chores, breakfast, check the gauges and then ride the line. I found a place to safely ford the creek on both ends of our little oval and could make the entire circuit in one go. Work the wood and build up the stack: that was my morning routine. I took my shotgun with me everywhere I went.

Watering the livestock had become Matilda’s responsibility, as she had the dog cart. I’d use it occasionally to move things around; Brin was always with me anyway and he loved to pull the cart.

On that morning after my routine Brin and I went out with the cart and started to collect fencing wire; the old fence lines were useless and I wanted to get the pasture fenced as soon as possible. It was a slow and painful process; I needed to try and save any staples or nails I found also. We’d come back around on the next pass and start pulling fence posts. I worked on the fencing until lunch time rolled around.

Everyone had managed to find constructive things to do. Matilda went gathering each morning; the pickings were slim this time of year but that should start changing quickly. Her stash of herbs and spices appeared to be growing, and her tent smelled beyond wonderful.

Sonya shadowed Michelle and learned how to live at a camp site, I was told there would be riding lessons for her that afternoon also. Apparently there had been a feminine conference held and the law had been laid down; I was glad to have missed that.

After lunch I spent time training on the drone, this was a complicated tool with lots of possibilities. It had come in two hardback suitcases, one for the drone itself and the other for the accessories. The accessories case had three cameras, including one with night vision (FLIR), four spare batteries, a cargo carrier and several spare parts. The battery charger was built into the case, all I had to do was plug it into the rig and we were charging.

The case for the drone was fairly large and included a separate charger, the control unit and the drone itself. It was all very impressive and professional; no wonder my drunken self bought it.

I fired up my laptop, loaded up the drone SDK and began to learn. Within two hours I had figured out the autonomous mapmaking functionality and another hour had me eager to try the survey/surveillance functionality. I was excited to learn that I could basically have the drone patrol at night using the FLIR camera.

I also learned how to turn off the altitude limitations and which radio frequencies had the best range under which conditions. All truly handy things to know.

I decided to try the mapmaking function first and wrote a quick script to have the drone map the square mile immediately around our camp site and then return to base. Using the controller, I launched the script and paid close attention to the controls and flight so I could take over if need be.

Up the drone went and started flying in an altitude determined pattern for the best mapping results. Technology was fun.

Thirty minutes later the drone settled back onto its base where it started charging again. I processed the acquired data and minutes later had an overhead view of our new homestead and surrounding forest.

I loaded that data into my next script and created an after dark surveillance script using the FLIR camera, which I would test that evening.

The day was beginning to wane at that point and I decided to evaluate our septic situation. The tank in the camper would fill before too long, and I needed a better solution.

I looked to my new map of the homestead to find a good location to dig a septic pit. I was able to find a few spots that looked like a good place for an out-house, but nothing within reach of my septic hose. It was going to be a challenge. On the plus side I noticed the tractor on the map; I had forgotten all about it and even walked right by it not thinking twice.

My mind thought of it as “Oscar’s tractor” and not something of mine. The new reality was it was mine now and it had a backhoe. So much for the dreaded eight-foot deep septic hole dug by hand. A quick walk out there and I happily confirmed it was a diesel tractor and that the keys were in it. The tractor currently had forks on it but the front loader bucket was setting directly beside it and even had gear stored in the bucket, including a five-gallon jerry can of diesel fuel.

On the way back I double checked Michelle’s pickup and it was diesel also. At that point I accepted that I really needed to prioritize our inventory project so we could plan better.

It was getting on towards dinner and I needed to do my evening chores, certain things had to be done each and every day. Kicking back to relax was truly becoming a rare treat in a very short order. I rode the line again looking for anything that might be a worry for us; Michelle accompanied me and naturally Brin led the way. Brin was great out on point: he maintained focus and sniffed at everything; more importantly he was silent. He was quickly learning the duties of this particular task.

We curried out the horses and gave them their dinner. We then cleaned ourselves up and I took my laptop to the table to go over the rig’s systems, fuel levels and solar efficiencies while we waited for dinner.

Dinner arrived at dusk, it was a stew meant for a chilly night and it did a body well, we would all sleep warm that night. The dogs ate at the same time as us but it was definitely a different dish, I do believe they had rabbit offal stew.

Dinner conversation was mainly about what we accomplished that day and discussion about related future plans; we all had a small glass of beer after dinner and then went to work ending the day. I put some relaxing music on and we separated to wash dishes, stoke fire boxes, check live-stock and otherwise clean up and prepare for the night. This was closing up for the night and it had to be done.

We gathered around the fire to enjoy the evening, the music was soothing and the fire kept back the worst of the chill. Michelle got busy maintaining the horse tack. She was inspecting and cleaning bridles, and rubbed the leather with a waxy solution she had in a jar. I simply assumed it was saddle soap but I would find out more later.

Matilda was dutifully teaching Sonya how to stitch burlap together to create something, I could have asked what, but I preferred to wait and see. I needed to be sharpening my saw blades and axes but I played with my drone instead.

I sent the drone up on a night mission to survey the area with infrared; darkness brought danger with it and I had the technology to overcome that. I made a first manual pass to create the logs for use in my scripts; the FLIR was amazing and I could see all the night animals starting to go about their business.

I also saw a human in the tree line.