Three month end of summer hiatus to the blog, huh? My apologies. I have an alarming tendency toward serial obsessions.
Let's start with the first. The end of August took us to the middle of the desert for the Burning Man festival. I mean, what woman halfway through her pregnancy wouldn't want to freeze on the ground every night, sweat the entire day and eat out of a cooler for a week? We really did have a great time, with me and my pudgy getting self always at the back of the pack slowing everyone down. It was over this week that hubby felt the little widget kick for the first time, what a sweet moment.
We (hubby and I and the friends we traveled with) built our own yurt, under my direction. Planning that bad boy took the better part of my brain for three weeks and threatened marital stability (let's just say neither of us is used to me being in charge of a construction project). Eventually though, a pile of wood, bamboo, rope, canvas and bungees became our portable home for a week. I was, and am, immensely proud of this achievement. How many people can say they have a yurt in their garage??? If you want to build your own yurt, I came up with our plans using these instructions and this immensely helpful yurt calculator.
The yurt was 14 feet in diameter, 8 feet at its highest point, and 5.5 feet at the outside wall. It barely budged in the strong winds toward the end of the week. It cost about $300 to build, including all the bungees and canvas. It took two dedicated weekends from the four of us. We used 1x2 from the hardward store, nylon rope, recycled 2x4s for the door frame, and a 4x4 for the top ring. The only specialty tool required was a radial arm saw. The rest was done with a drill and our hands! Our friends took care of making the cover, which was a beast. Thank goodness, I would have drowned in all that canvas at my sewing machine.
The view up at the ceiling was so peaceful, especially at night. Check out the solar night lights casting their subtle warm glow!
