Great weather!

Hello everyone,

Well we have realized that this hasn't been updated in quite some time so here goes.

A lot has been happening around here in the last week and a half. We have the underground portion of power run to the yurt so we are getting closer and closer to having electricity on site. Up to this point we have been lucky enough to borrow Will's generator. It was quite a production with the excavator digging a very long trench and then going back and back filling with sand and then loam. It's great to have it done, and we're looking forward to the power company running some new lines down the hill to tie into our line.

On the yurt end of things we have continued to have delays related to missing pieces, but they are slowly getting resolved, and as you can see from the photos, things are moving along. We were able to rig up a platform on top of the staging that we had to put up the compression ring and the rafters which was great. It worked beautifully, and it saved me from having to stand on the staging and hold the ring while all the rafters were put in place. We decided after the initial rafters were in that we wanted to add a second set for snow load purposes. They are visible in the photos as well. They're the set that are connected to the initial set of rafters with cross pieces. The whole thing is much sturdier with that addition. Leslie's uncle John happened to arrive during the rafter fabrication and installation process which was quite fortunate given his carpentry skills. Always nice to have the additional help, and fitting the rafters was not the easiest task. We are very thankful for all of the help that we have received during this whole process.

Next came the insulation which we had to wait on for about a day after we realized that the window frames were assembled incorrectly. Sorry Alisa and Andy, but it wasn't our fault! The example frames were done backwards. This seemed to be a bit of a hurdle as they are part of the frame work of the yurt so we could not just take them out and fix them. It had to be done in place on piece at a time. We came through that unscathed, and were ready for insulation! The only problem insulation wise was that 4 of the sections of insulation were too short. This was remedied after a trip to local lumber yard. The installation turned out to be quite easy once we got going though by the end it felt like we had constructed a giant tanning booth. I think at this point we all look as though we just stepped off a cruise ship from the Caribbean. So we've been cooking ourselves in the solar oven for the last few days. It was now on to the wall canvas which of course was not all there either, but after much head scratching we made it work, and as of the end of today all the wall canvas is up! Hooray!!

So tomorrow it's on to the roof. Luckily we have enlisted a few other helpers for this part. The roof is comprised on three layers. The inner liner which is what we will see, the insulation (more tanning ahead), and the exterior roof vinyl which is very heavy. We'll see how it goes, and with any luck things will be closed in in the next couple of days.

Bear with me on the photo business. This thing is not the most intuitive. Sorry there are a few similar photos.

I've got to get to bed so I'll sign off for now.