LEVELLING SITE

16ft circle spray painted

Site cleared and levelled. Sand base laid - just got to keep those bunnies from digging it up now! I may have to undo all Willow's bunny-friendly training soon as the numbers have really increased and im loosing alot of our veggies this year to to the fluffy critters.

The Sand- dance!

Rang through the final details of or yurt requirements to Tim, door type and stove etc. Went for double oak dooks and wooden latch . Undecided on whether to have a window or not, traditionally Yurts dont have windows, but it may be nice to have one over the kitchen area .Tim usually makes round ones, which i dont fancy , but he could make us a rectangular one instead.
Hope to collect our Yurt when we go to Glastonbury for the Summers Solstice and Chris's birthday next month!

CLEARING AND MARKING SITE

further ground clearing and post marking of the 16ft yurt

veg beds finally under control again!

a local resident of the herb patch !

CLEARING OF SITE CONT..MARCH 07

The clearing continued until we were in a position to mark out the space for a 14ft Yurt (A family sized yurt). It soon became apparent that we could accomodate a slightly larger Yurt, if we could afford it!.. considering that our Lurcher , Willow whom we are sure would take up as much room as she could, and would probably require her own very large comfy bed and the fact that we could do with the extra space in front of the door to do craft work when it rains it seemed sensible to check out the possibility of an upgrade.

Luckily Tim hadn't started work yet, and was in agreeance that a 16ft would make a real difference. Two foot difference in the round is quite a lot of floor space.

The cost wasnt much more , and the crown ( or roof wheel from which you can gaze into the sky through) increases in size with a 16fter from 40 inches to 50 inches in diameter. so we upgraded!!

For my Birthday, Chrissy brought me a boxwood stove, which should keep us nice and toasty through the winter months .It has two cooking plates , so we wont go hungry.

CLEARING SITE FEB 2007

The site required a fair bit of clearing, but as i had already cleared the area for a veg plot there wasnt too much to do.. the Brambles needed a little taming, and it was unfortunately necessary to sacrifice a herb and veg bed or two. And transplant the herbs into new homes.

Having been ill most of the winter i hadnt been able to do much on the plot so, the remaining veg beds needed a bit of work getting them back under control.

clearing

Living in the Round

Our earth is round, not square, and multitudinous forms that surround us in the natural world are round in structure. So why do so many of us choose to live most of our lives in cube-shaped houses and apartments? How can we bring the sacred circle consciousness into our daily lives?

Indigenous nomadic peoples, from the freezing Asian steppes to the windswept plains and deserts of the Americas have, since the dawn of prehistory, held sacred the belief of living or worshiping within the sacred circle. Whether it was a tipi, kiva, igloo, yurt, or wickiup, or hogan, the idea of a symbolic circle was basic to their concept of a balanced existence.

A circle represents both movement and completion to nomadic people, just as the seasons of the year are part of the circle, or cycle we call a "year." Nomadic hunter/gatherer peoples had objectives in their journeys- following game and the ripening foods as they matured and were ready to harvest. Their wanderings were not linear with some abstract goal that was never reached, but harmonized with the cyclic pattern of the seasons.

YURT LIVING- the start of an adventure

Having a deep love and respect towards of all life, and an increasing desire to live life simply , living off and close to the earth - living in a Yurt feels like a natural progression for us.

To live simply, eat simply, harvest food fresh from the veggie patch which i am fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to work on.

The idea of living in a simple dwelling has been appealing for many years, the dream of a Yurt about twelve or so years in its coming!

Motivated by recent ill health, and the realisation that life pasess too quickly its timely to realise this dream.
I guess we all have ultimate dreams, many of which are never realised....
we can wait for the "full package" , or work towards the ultimate, small steps to realise some if not all of the ultimate along the journey .. or we can but dream and never realise any of it. Purchasing some woodland, land and to build a simple cob dwelling.. an ideal... an ultimate.
So right now i find myself at this point , with this opportunity in front of me.
Not sure how long this site will be available for us, but thats the beauty of a Yurt, we can move on!
And the Journey... working the land for many years, simple dewelling from the allotment shed to a beautiful and sacred round space in the form of a Yurt, nestled between my carrots , potatoes and herbs!!!

Having researched the various Yurt makers, we decided on Yurtworks based in Bodmin Cornwall.Finding a Yurt maker with the skills to produced a beautiful Yurt, was one thing , but the bussiness ethos and the intent that the Yurt would be made was very important to us.

Yurtworks

" A Yurt cannot be made without the wood and making that connection from tree to tent has remained a central part of the Yurtworks ethos.

We continue to manage the woodland here, when deer and squirrels allow, and also coppice an ash plantation nearby which currently supplies most of our coppiced material.This connection between the yurts and the local environment is the underlying principle behind each part of the business.It is our aim to be as sustainable as possible, supporting both the business and the environment we depend upon.

The yurts themselves are made from trees from local well managed woods, and are finished with organic oils.

The yurt holidays not only make little impact on the land but also bring people a little closer to it while they stay here. It all
enables us to look after the land for a great variety of birds, beasts and
butterflies and the plants they depend upon."

http://www.yurtworks.co.uk/

JAN O7

So it was that in Jan07 we approached Yurt works and yurtmaker Tim Hutton, and located a suitable site for the yurt.

15th Jan we placed the order for our 14ft yurt.