it’s a bird! it’s a plane! no, it’s…Tree Guy!

Posted on October 9, 2009 - Filed Under honeymilk farm | Leave a Comment

Sometimes, when the wind gives a gusty laugh, I look up through the yurt’s dome and see the tops of the pines heaving around like God is mixing a salad. Pine trees with vinaigrette, coming right up. Yikes. A few were particularly crazy-leaning-over trees, so we decided they had to go. Sorry trees.
Turns out a [...]

unexpected benefit of living in a round house #27

Posted on April 26, 2009 - Filed Under mayalife | Leave a Comment

Paul and I were having a fight one day, I don’t remember what about, something stupid probably—aren’t most of these fights about something stupid? It’s too bad you only realize that after the fact. Anyway, the fight reached a head and we both stomped off dramatically, as one is wont to do in those moments. [...]

yurts: the downside

Posted on April 22, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 1 Comment

We love our yurt. I am really glad we decided to go this route.
But no space is perfect in all ways, and yurts are no exception. After nearly four years in ours, here is the unvarnished truth to living in a gigantic, glorified tent.
Sound
If you put up your yurt on a mountaintop, 100 acres from [...]

sneaking around, early in the morning, taking pictures

Posted on April 9, 2009 - Filed Under goats, honeymilk farm | Leave a Comment

I thought the yurt looked very pretty this morning.

All the bushes in front are blooming with tons of these crazy white flowers. I can’t remember the name, something about ‘bride’ or ‘maiden.’ Typical.

Fancy was happy to see me. Ma-a-a-a.

Luc, still asleep when I got back from the barn, looked gorgeous, too, if you ask me.

Shhhh….

calcifer the waterstove

Posted on March 9, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 1 Comment

Two years ago, we ran across an old Taylor Waterstove for sale (great heater, really awful website). Heating with propane that first winter in the yurt broke the bank and we were looking for a wood burning option that didn’t put a wood stove in the yurt. (The reasons for that were (1) we didn’t [...]

yurt in the snow

Posted on January 20, 2009 - Filed Under adventures, honeymilk farm, kiddo life | Leave a Comment

Six thirty this morning the kids are jumping all over me, “It snowed! It snowed!” A few minutes later I hear Sophie saying, “No Luc, you can’t go out into the snow in your underwear.” And I think, Okay, time to get up!
But their excitement is so infectious. If I walked outside and saw a [...]

how to build a yurt (10 of 10)

Posted on August 16, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | 2 Comments

I just realized I never finished posting the yurt raising pictures. Here is the last page, plus a bonus page of yurt interior shots, from that day.

This picture shows the last part, installing the walls. The interior panels have canvas on one side and insulation (the silver stuff) on the other side–you can see those [...]

how to build a yurt (9 of 10)

Posted on July 9, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | Leave a Comment

The top photos show the roof going on. This huge, cone-shaped piece of heavy-duty vinyl stuff weighed a ton. The first pic on the top left shows the crew raising it up, one grueling inch at a time, to get it through the skylight. The picture on the middle right shows three strong guys popping [...]

how to build a yurt (8 of 10)

Posted on July 6, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | Leave a Comment

After lunch it was time to put up the the fabric layers, or the yurt skin. First came a layer of cotton canvas, which is what you see on the inside, the wall covering that shows behind the lattice. Next came the roof insulation–you can see that being lifted up to the top of the [...]

how to build a yurt (7 of 10)

Posted on June 26, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | 2 Comments

These pictures are all of the tension ring going up. First you see the ring, this huge piece of multi-layered wood, really pretty. I was all “the instructions say to use a rope and lift it up using the scaffolding as a fulcrum…” and the men looked at me like I was nuts and said, [...]