It's Finally YURT Time!

After 10 months and much scrimping and saving of money, AT LAST we are about to put up the yurt!!!!!! Our goal date has always been 11/11/11, and that is now only a month away! Things will have to go really smoothly and money will have to hold out to get it up by then, but it's possible.

What we've done so far:

We've chosen the site on our land; we chose a spot back against the forest because of its proximity to water and electricity and because of its relative level-ness. It gets morning sun and afternoon shade, which is good. There will be a large-ish area in front of the yurt for a "front yard." It feels very secluded except in the winter when the leaves are gone and we can see a neighbor down the hill. Ah, well, that's what bamboo was made for.

We've had the area brush-hogged. What a difference that made!

We've moved all 26 of the 50 lb. concrete piers from the front of the property to the site and placed them.

What's next?

Levelling the piers, and building the platform, of course! Though Greg and I have perused deck-building books and yurt-platform building plans and web posts, we still don't feel confident enough to proceed on our own, so we are hiring a bit of professional help. I've been calling home renovators, deck builders, and general handymen on Craigslist today.

Once the platform goes up, we put up the yurt. It's actually the easy part. Should take a weekend or two with plenty of helpers. We took it down back in Indiana, and that was the best lesson in knowing how it goes up. Funny, we took down the deck, too, but that seems much harder. I think we were too exhausted by the time we got to the deck to pay much attention.

After we get the yurt up, we then put in the systems, such as electricity, graywater lines, water, wood stove, etc. We still haven't decided if we want to use our composting toilet that was a part of the yurt package or if we want to hook up to the septic tank. The good thing about all these systems is that they can happen slowly. We're close enough to our electric pole that we can simply string some extension cords for a while--and we also have some solar panels that provide a bit of power. We have the camper hooked up to water, electric, and sewer, so that can also be our back-up until we get all systems going. The most important thing, I think, is the wood stove. Of course, we can use space heaters--in a small space like a yurt, it would be feasible, but we don't want the expense or waste of that for long.

Once the systems are all working, we begin the fun part--building the loft and interior walls and decorating the place! I can't wait to put in the kitchen and create the bathroom! I've seen clawfoot tubs at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, and there are always plenty of countertops either there or at IKEA that are affordable. And we have some lovely furniture to put in the yurt--I have pieces in storage from Great Aunt Lena and Grandma that I can't wait to bring out.

Everyone wants to know 2 things: Has this been hard and is the yurt up yet?

Answers:
1. Yes, it has been hard, but it's been fun, too. Money has been tight. We're still paying off the yurt, of course, and the girls are in a private school this year. That was important, because Maddie really needed a place to transition from homeschooling to public high school. Also, Beatrice isn't old enough for kindergarten. Next year, Bee will be in kindergarten and we'll have the yurt paid off around next summer. That will free up a good bit of money.

Managing simple things like showers, meals, and morning rush has been the other hard thing. We have to wait for forever for the propane heater to heat the shower water after one person uses it. The kitchen is a camper kitchen. I am not a camper kitchen kind of cook. I CANNOT wait for my yurt kitchen!

The fun has been the closeness, the land, the feeling of freedom, and the joy of ownership.

2. No, the yurt isn't up yet (said with a crazed smile for the millionth time) BUT IT SOON WILL BE!!!!!!!!!

Here are a couple pics of yurt platforms to give you an idea:

I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to write an update. I'm battling too many things to do with kids/jobs, etc., and also frustration at the slowness of the process. Everyone asks: "So, are you enjoying your yurt?" OR "How's the yurt life?" or some variation on those themes. Well, the unfortunate truth is that the yurt is still not up yet. Why, you ask?

1. Money is tight and we can't afford to hire professionals to build the platform.

2. Though we have studied deck-building books for hours, we just don't feel qualified to do it by ourselves. Our house will be sitting on this deck, and it's gotta be done right.

3. My brilliant cousin, Mike, who had a home renovation business, recently got a full-time job in another field AND he just bought a house that they have been spending the summer renovating. So, he hasn't been available as early as we had hoped--but we're so excited about his wonderful life changes! He's going to give us some expertise and guidance as soon as he's more available.

4. It's been 150 million degrees in Arkansas, and we can't ask our volunteers to work in these conditions.

So, we're waiting until the weather cools at least a bit and when we've saved a bit more and Mike can give us some guidance. I'm guessing September through early October will be our work time. All along, we've had a goal to be in the yurt with all "systems" operational by 11/11/11, so we're still on target.

The summer hasn't been easy, I'm not gonna lie. The air conditioner in the camper went out, and even though the window unit in the storage "cabin" is working well, it still gets really hot during the day. It doesn't have insulation, so these 110 degree days are too much. Here's a pic of the interior of the cabin:




We've got two beds, a couch, a chest of drawers, a desk, and a refrigerator in the cabin, and there's still room to move around! It's quite comfy at night. We've got our TV and a DVD player on top of the dresser, so we snuggle in and watch movies together. The girls have occasional nights away at sleepovers or Grandma's house, so the hubby and I are managing to keep the "romance" alive through this period.

Meanwhile, we're planning things like decoration in the yurt, interior wall placement, window orientation, etc. I can't wait to have it up and make it beautiful! I'm thinking tapestries, splashes of bright color on the interior walls, funky but very natural-looking furniture, and plenty of twinkle lights! Upscale Zen Hippy, I think I'll call it!

Though this year has been sometimes difficult, I think we'll always look back on it with great fondness. We are, if possible, closer than we were before. Our girls have learned adaptability, and we have gained numerous skills. There have also been many fun moments. Here are a few random pics from the year, including one that is the view from the window of our yurt in Indiana before we took it down and moved it here.

The Final Day

The final day was the hardest! We showed up with sledge hammers and a demolition mindset! This deck was comin' down! Even though we destroyed a lot of the pieces of the deck, we were able to keep most of them. Dewayne, our hired helper, turned out to actually be a super-hero in disguise that Maddie named, "Epic Ninja." I'm not sure what we would have done without him. Dawn Ryan's family showed up again and did incredible work! It tooks us another nine hours on the final day, but we finished at 5:00 EDT/4:00 CDT. The truck was packed at 16 feet, which saved us about $200 (which paid for most of the hired help we received).

We began driving back to Springfield, Missouri to pick up our little Beatrice and stay the night with Monica's parents. We had a great feeling of "OMG, we can't believe what we just did" combined with "OMG, we can't believe how tired we are!" It took some tag-team driving, but we arrived safely at Grandma and Pawpaw's house at 12:30am!

The truck will be picked up by the ABF driver on Monday and will begin transport to Little Rock. It should arrive around Friday of this week. We are all tired and sick, but satisfied that one major hurdle to our pursuit of mortgage-free, ecological living has been passed! Now all we have to do is build us a deck, put up the yurt, build the interior loft, etc. But I think we have shown ourselves that much more is possible than we ever thought before!

Day Three

Today was really, really hard! Taking apart the floor is proving to be an arduous process, and loading up sheets of plywood onto the truck is tiring! We are still not done!!! We have our hired helper arriving at 7am to begin working without us, and we will show up at 7:30. Storms are set to begin around midday, so we don't have much time left-- not to mention that that rapture thing is supposed to happen! WE WILL GET DONE TOMORROW!!!!!

Thank you to Dawn Ryan and family for putting us up tonight! They are the best!

Day Two

Today was filled with a lot of hard work, but we learned a ton and still had fun! We hired a man off of Craigslist to help us, but he ended up getting sick before the end of the day! Dawn's 70 year-old mother, Eddie Sue, helped, and she was an inspiration to say the least! I think she may have out-worked all us younguns!

We loaded in the 500 pound woodburning stove, removed the vinyl covering that serves as the exterior wall and roof, and we removed the rafters and the center ring that hovers above it all! We are all achy and sore, but with a good night sleep, we will be ready to go tomorrow! Oh, I also learned a lot about using solar panels to generate power!

Tomorrow, we will need to take down the lattice walls, the door, the loft, and dismantle the deck! We are hiring TWO men to help us tomorrow and Eddie Sue has instisted that she will return to help as well! There is a lot of work to do tomorrow and we are hoping to get it all done, especially considering that, according to the weather report, tomorrow is our last sunny day! Send us your good thoughts and energies!!!! ONE DAY MORE!!!

DAY ONE

The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind for us! We left Beatrice with Monica's parents in Springfield on Monday, and we started driving to Indiana to pick up the yurt! Despite several attempts to actually enter yurts before, it may surprise some of you that neither Monica nor I have ever been in a yurt-- that is until yesterday!!! We spent last night in the yurt that will be our home, and it was so much fun! We also got to use the composting toilet, which was really not that bad at all! It kinda makes us wonder why we Westerners poop and pee in perfectly drinkable water and flush it down everyday! It really makes no sense when you think about it, especially when there are people around the world who don't even have enough water for their own citizens to drink!

Today, we began loading in all of the furniture, walls, and, yes, even the kitchen sink! We were a bit surprised to discover that the moving truck had to be parked a considerable distance from the yurt! However, Matt and Connie have a truck that we load up and drive to the moving van. It actually was a lot less trouble than we had feared! We had our friends, Dawn Ryan and family who live in Indianapolis come to help us, and we had a fabulous time visit as we worked together. Day one of moving was really wonderful!

Tomorrow, we will begin taking yurt apart, moving the wood-burning stove, and possibly even begin taking the deck apart. We have another friend, Dawn's mother, helping us tomorrow and we have hired someone who answered our ad on Craigslist. Stay tuned!!!

4 More Days!

Though I can hardly believe I'm writing this, there are only four more days until we leave to pick up our yurt in Indiana! We're very excited, but also have a lot of concerns and worries. Will the truck be big enough? Do we have enough adults to dismantle the yurt and the platform? Do we have enough money for gas and food and all the other unforeseen things? This is a little scary, but we're taking it one day at a time.

We have had a little trouble getting help with the actual dismantling and move. My awesome cousin, handyman Mike, was blessed with a great new job, but that unfortunately meant he couldn't come with us. We'll definitely miss his spirit and his expertise! Then a friend from church who has grandkids in Indiana thought he could come along with his truck and a flat bed trailer. Sadly, we just heard from him today that he has a conflict after all. It was so wonderful of him to even offer, though!

So now, it's just us. One really strong but scrawny man, one really not scrawny but super scrappy woman, and one 12 year old who is way stronger than she looks. (The preschooler is exempt and is staying with Grandma!) The man we're buying the yurt from will be there to help, too. Can we do this? I think we can. We're going to try to find some local help in Indiana, perhaps through our local UU church or through some friends we have there. Wish us luck!

We're also gearing up for our fundraising and awareness-raising concert this Sunday night, at the UU church, at 7pm. It's us and five other super-talented friends of ours, singing songs we like and showing a short video about alternative and affordable housing. It's been fun to put together--I really hope we can raise the money we need to bring the yurt back! We've raised most of what we need through various extra jobs and shows, but we're still a bit short. Several people have already donated through the Paypal button on this blog, so we're off to a good start! (Thanks--you know who you are!)

We've decide on the spot for the yurt on our land--it's on a hill, near the front of the property, close to the garden. Very secluded and we can just SEE the yurt there, when we look at the space. Strangely, when we first moved to the land, it's where we put the campfire, even though it was very far away from the camper. Perhaps we knew it was the soul of the land and would eventually be the site of our hearth.

I could bore you with all sorts of details about composting toilets, hot water heaters, heirloom tomatoes, flooring options, etc., but I think that's enough for now. Besides, I have a million billion papers to grade and laundry to do and an ailing great-aunt to go visit. Much love to the cyber-world!

Let Me Catch You Up. . .

I know, I know, I haven't written an entry in well over a month. Forgive me--I was holding possibilities so gently in my heart that I could not put it down on this blog. Much has transpired over the past six weeks! Some grass has been growing, although right now our land looks like a 14 year-old boy trying to grow a beard! Three garden boxes have been planted, filled with peas, kale, swiss chard, potatoes, carrots, spinach, romaine, and more. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, beans, zucchini, summer squash, and cucumbers will be planted starting April 15th. A Master Gardener friend cautioned me to never, ever plant warm season veggies before April 15th in central Arkansas. Since she's a "Master," I'm gonna stick to that rule!

We got a storage barn with 2 lofts--it's 14' by 16', I think. We moved most of our boxes and other storage stuff into it. We payed $225 down, and we pay about $140 a month for a couple of years. The crazy thing is, we still had so much room in the barn after moving all the stuff into the lofts that we decided to turn the main floor of it into a bedroom! We fit our queen bed, our couch, a twin bed, two dressers, and a TV comfortably into the barn. We even have a space for our seven new baby chicks and their heat lamp under the entertainment center! The cabin has a window that we've been putting a fan in when it gets hot. We also got an extension cord and put a power strip in the barn so that we can have lights, TV, and a space heater for cold nights. Are we crazy? Absolutely! But we love our "Magic Cabin," as we have dubbed it. We even hung up pictures and decorated with colored lights! It's much more comfortable sleeping there than in the camper. Of course, the kitchen and the bathroom are in the camper, so we spend lots of time there, too.

Let's see what else is going on? Oh, yeah--WE BOUGHT A YURT!!!!! There's a lovely family in Indiana who posted their yurt for sale on the internet. I'm a Facebook fan of the Tiny House Blog, which I HIGHLY recommend, and they happened to feature the classified ad on their Facebook page. I responded to it, asking if they would consider payment arrangements as opposed to immediate full payment. And omigoodness, they said YES! As it turns out, most people who are in the market for a used yurt don't have thousands of dollars laying around. We didn't have the time off or the extra money to make the trip to Indiana to see the yurt, but we had a friend who lives there go for us and take pictures. That, along with pictures from the owners, convinced us that this was a perfect choice for us. The yurt comes with all sorts of extras, including the wood for the deck, the loft, a large wood stove, kitchen counters, solar panels, a solar shower, a composting toilet, and many other goodies. The outside certainly has some wear, but the essentials are in excellent condition. And we can purchase new outer vinyl coverings from the company that made the yurt for a very affordable price down the road! We feel so blessed right now, and we can't wait to go pick up our yurt--we get it in the middle of May. The total price tag? $11,000, paid out over a year. Not bad, huh? We signed the contract and mailed it off just today!

We're still fairly worried/concerned about putting up the deck, siting the yurt, fixing some erosion problems, and affording things like water hook-ups and sod and all the little things we're not even thinking about. But we're working a LOT, trying to save money, and we're just going to take things one baby step at a time. Patience, patience, is the lesson for us on this journey. May we learn it easily and well!

Here's a couple of pictures of the yurt we've bought:

Winter Blahs

Leave it to us to choose to move into a camper in the country during the worst month of weather in a decade! I don't recall a winter in Arkansas with this much snow and freezing temps since I was little. Yes, we're staying warm. Yes, we're still certain of our decision to move here. But we are SICK of the winter!

The land is beautiful in the snow and we are happily planning our garden. But cabin fever--or shall we say, camper fever--is a problem. We're expecting a pretty hefty snow late tonight and most of tomorrow. Joy. We knew there would be times when this wasn't easy.

Meanwhile, Greg's show is supposed to open tonight. He's had a good time and he looks lovely with his new short haircut. I just secured a gig with the local wind symphony doing a historic portrait performance of a famous Little Rock woman for their summer fundraiser. Should be lots of fun.

I'm also working on an exciting new book about a forgotten bit of Civil Rights era history. I have high hopes that it will be published. We'll see. More shows coming up, and all that money is going to the yurt fund. Our goal for delivery of the yurt is 11/11/2011--isn't that perfect?! It's the ultimate wishing event!

We gave our heirloom seeds to a local master gardener that has her own nursery. She starts them for us for only $8 a flat! Try though I might, I can't seem to grow seeds inside. Plus, she invited Maddie and I to go over there every other Friday to work and learn. Maddie is going to take her herb seeds and learn about herb gardening. Wanna see where I buy my seeds? I just love it when these catalogs arrive in the mail! It's the perfect cure for the winter blues!

http://rareseeds.com/shop/


www.southernexposure.com


www.seedsavers.org


OK, I don't know why those last two wouldn't become a link, but you can copy and paste, right?

Just When You Think a Decision is Made,

someone posts about a new yurt company that intrigues me!!

http://tinyhouseblog.com/

This blog, which is one of my favorites, posted about a new yurt company that has a very intriguing product. I will be watching them closely! Here's their tiny website:

http://turtlebacknomadics.wordpress.com/

You can get lost for hours looking at all the small, beautiful, and quirky homes they have featured on the Tinyhouse blog.

Meanwhile, back home, I just sent off my seed order for the early veggies and the ones that need to be started inside. Joy! Over the past several years, we've just had a garden at a community garden that is far from our house. Now, we can see our garden from our windows. During the Spring, I'm either gardening or thinking about gardening--except, perhaps, when I'm onstage. This year, I'm planning six raised beds. There are also several veggies and fruits I'm giving up on--cabbage, watermelon, etc. Maybe later, when I'm a better gardener!

We are also getting some topsoil and sod early next week, and we CANNOT wait! (Not to self: Call Uncle Larry!) We'll be glad to get something over this muddy clay soil, although the water drainage is MUCH better after they sculpted the land with the dozer!

Let's see, what else can I tell you? Oh--Greg and I went to some local theatre auditions last night, and it went very well. I think Greg got offered another show, and we stand a good chance at the summer musical, I'd say. Woo-hoo! What a joy, to do something we love AND to get paid for doing it! AND to put all the money we make in the shows toward a new YURT! As Dame Candyce Hinkle says, "We're very lucky people!"

Lastly, you may notice that I have placed a Paypal button on the blog. After much thought and advice from some wise friends, we decided that we feel ok about placing it there just in case anyone wants to donate. I'm also considering it a call to myself to really make the blog real, useful, and enjoyable. If it can inspire anyone, I'll just be tickled pink!

Money Matters

OK, in the interest of full disclosure, I thought I'd give you all the dirty details about money. How much we need, how much we've already spent, how long we anticipate the saving process taking, etc.

Here's the breakdown:

Land: Down payment--$2000 (although they were only asking for $1000) about $300 a month, but we're paying $400 so we can pay it off quicker. It should take 8 years to pay off.

Camper: $3000 It was $3500, but we managed to talk him down with little more than a pretty please. We had a budget of $4000 for this purchase.

Pipes, Water Lines, Sewer Pumping, Trencher Rental: Total of about $600 (This was smaller than it would have otherwise been thanks to Uncle Larry and Cousin Mike!)

Electric Pole and Equipment: $300

So, our initial outlay of money came to just about $6000, which is exactly what we borrowed from my parents. We start paying them off as soon as the yurt is up and completed. We'll probably pay them $500 a month until it gets paid off, wich will take a year.

We still need to buy some sod and grass seed, and expect to spend about $300 on that.

Now, for the yurt:

Here is the company we've decided to buy from:

http://www.laurelnestyurts.com/

They are well-respected and more affordable than some of the bigger companies. A couple of the smaller, affordable yurt companies weren't respected and had bad rating with the BBB. We are buying the 30' yurt, and we're adding an extra door, several extra windows, complete insulation, and a working glass window to put an air conditioning unit in. We plan to do some sanding and staining ourselves. The total cost, according to their price calculator is $10, 445 minus shipping, which will be around $800.

The deck and flooring for the yurt will be in the $5000 range. We plan to do much of it ourselves with help and knowledge from my cousin, who owns Dunamis Home Restoration.

Initially, we plan to live in the yurt without interior walls. As soon as we can get the shell of the yurt up and heated/cooled, we will move our furniture in and hang curtains for partition. Over the next six months after that, we will build a loft, with a bathroom and rooms underneath, and with a kitchen. We will pay for that gradually, as we can afford it. We hope to have everything completed two years from now.

Here are some examples of interiors anf lofts to give you an idea:










How we're going to save the money:

Theatre, baby! So far, we're in two shows--Greg's in one and I'm in another. That adds up to $3500. Hopefully we'll both be in a show this summer. (I think we have a good shot--cross your fingers!) I have a possibility to be in two. Maddie may also be in a show this summer. Each show pays between $1100-$1700 dollars. This is over and above our usual pay for teaching. We also hope to do some voice-overs over the next year.

Additionally, starting in March, we should be able to save $500 of our "regular" pay since we are saving on rent. All in all, we estimate we should be able to order the yurt by the end of the summer, if all goes
well.

We're also considering what one blog reader suggested regarding adding a Paypal button to this blog. It feels kind of wrong to us, but I understand lots of people do it on their blog, and if we're giving any information that entertains or helps people, I suppose donations for that service make sense. We're still in the "thinking about it" phase!

And that's pretty much all I know about money right now. By my count, at the end of two years, we will have a camper and a 30' yurt for about $25,000. You can't even buy a run-down crack house for that! In eight years, we will have paid for the land. I'll be sure and post money updates as they come!

Downsides and Upsides

Everyone has been asking the same questions about what we're doing, so I decided to write a blog post addressing most of them. Without a doubt, the first question is always "Are you managing to stay warm?" The answer is a complicated "yes." We are staying very warm, sometimes too warm. The main difference between our cozy camper and a home with a traditional heating system is that we have a difficult time maintaining a level temperature. It fluctuates between 66-76, and we're often turning it down or off or cranking our space heaters up. It's a tiny little annoyance, but we're blessed to be warm and our bills are going to be tiny!

Another big question that has been asked: "Aren't you all tripping over each other and getting angry with each other and just wanting your own space?" For the most part, no. We generally like each other and are a pretty close family already. Greg and I don't often fight or even nag at each other, so that helps. Maddie and Beatrice do fight, but they do that no matter how big or small the size of the home! When someone needs space, they can go back to the back bedroom and close the door. I (Monica) am the one that the closeness bothers a teeny bit sometimes--especially when my little one is climbing on me. As soon as I can get out in the garden, though, even that will have a solution! (And truthfully, I got those feelings when we lived in a "regular" house!)

"What are the downsides?" There are a few. #1--Getting ready in the morning is much more difficult. We're going to have to give ourselves two solid hours, I'm afraid. Tomorrow is the first day of classes at the college we teach at, so stay tuned to hear how it goes! #2--It's REALLY hard to be patient! We want the grass NOW, the garden NOW, the driveway paved NOW, and we wouldn't mind having the yurt NOW! Unfortunately, these things take money and timing also depends on pesky things like weather. Currently, we are swimming in mud and would love to lay some sod, but we have to wait for it to dry up a bit. One of the saddest questions we get is when people get confused and ask us how we're enjoying our yurt. We have to break the news to them that we're only saving for the yurt right now and meanwhile, we're living in a CAMPER! That always produces a look of mixed horror and disbelief.

And the final downside is simply adjusting to the lack of close restaurants and good grocery stores. That would be difficult, though, even if we had moved to a mansion in the country. It's an adjustment. We'll adjust.

OK, upsides!! #1--Feeling ownership and independence. This cannot be overstated. If you have rented or even if you are swimming under a big mortgage, you know what I mean! Also, we are giddy with joy over what we can do with the land--so many choices! #2--Movie time! We have been watching lots of movies we've always meant to watch. It gives us something to do after Beatrice goes to bed and makes us forget that we don't have much room. #3--Simplicity, baby! Things don't get lost very easily, we can have a conversation at normal voice levels no matter how far apart we are in the camper, and our bills are SO much lower! Between rent and bills, we're saving over $1000 a month! #4--We've discovered that we are really changing minds and informing others of options. We didn't expect this. It's kinda cool. We've even decided to start a "Yurt Club of Arkansas!"

Most of all, we really want Spring to hurry. We did this move at the absolute worst time of the year. Our first two weeks are Arkansas' two coldest weeks! It would have been SO much easier in a milder time of year. Bring on those mild Arkansas Spring days--their beauty will be greatly appreciated by these "Two Tramps in Mud-time" and their two baby tramps!

Dozer Day, Snow Day

Fun weekend here on the land. (Note to self: must come up with a name for new digs--calling it "the land" is getting a little old.) Saturday was exciting--the little dozer came at about 11am and worked for about 4 hours to sculpt the land, working to fix some water drainage issues. It was a freebie job we had negotiated when we bought the land. It was fascinating to watch. What was an unsightly short cliff became a lovely gentle slope. Our driveway was smoothed and a nice drainage swale(sp?) was created. After it was all over, it was like the place had gotten a drastic new haircut. It was beautiful, but very different--it made us rethink the siting of the garden, the coop, and the outdoor theatre. (Yes, you read that right--we plan to have a small outdoor theatre eventually!) Walking around after the dozer had gone, I think I truly felt myself falling in love. It's finally beginning to look like a place I can really sink my heart into. Here's the new gentle slope, although it desperately needs grass:




So, that was dozer day. The next day was snow day. We estimate we got six inches, which happens about once every five or so years in Arkansas. It was lovely and quiet and magical, but I'm not gonna lie--it was a little scarier in a camper than in a house! We weren't sure if the roof would hold! We were quite cozy warm, though, and the deer tracks going all around the camper the next morning were delightful! Here's the view of the trail that runs the perimeter of the land:




Greg has proved himself quite useful over the past several days. He fixed a small leak, finished the insulation, and is currently working on a tiny septic problem. I've mostly been focusing on learning to cook in the small space and taking care of aging kitties and mischievous daughters. We're going sledding on our new slope tomorrow! Here's to snow days!

Big Picture, Pesky Details

We’ve been settled now in the camper on the land for four days and it’s been really fun and feels right. We absolutely depended on the kindness of family and friends for most of December. We stayed for about 10 days with Greg’s parents and for about 10 days in the house of some dear friends while they were on vacation. We were so grateful to have their generosity and love to rely on while we were laying water lines, sewer lines, graywater lines, and getting the camper level and insulated.

And speaking of generosity and love, my uncle and my cousin, Larry and Mike Brown, have both in spades. They gave their time and expertise to us in order to get us up and running in the camper by the New Year. I’ll always be grateful to them both. It took quite a bit of work to get everything set up.

Digging trenches 150 feet long using something called a “Ditch Witch.” Gluing pipes one-by-one to lay water and sewer lines. Cutting large boards to fit around the camper. Insulating pipes. Slashing out paths through the forest using a machete. Raking dirt to fills holes in preparation for sod. Etc., etc. More work than we’d really realized to live in a camper. In our minds, we just moved the camper, pressed the “on” button, and we were good to go! Well, we weren’t quite that ignorant, but we definitely didn’t think of all the details.

Greg and I are big picture, vision-oriented people. We see what can be, bright and shiny on the horizon. Getting from A to B, though, isn’t always an easy, direct line. Details sometimes overwhelm us and weigh us down. Sometimes this is a good thing. I’m not sure many people would have been able to overlook all the details and just DO what we’ve done. But our big-picture minds get us into trouble sometimes. We did have to take out a small loan on our 401K to pay for all the details we didn’t think about to get the camper set up—pipes, septic pumping, sod, etc. It was a small amount, and will only deduct about $40 a month from Greg’s check, so it’s OK.

We’re feeling good right now. We’ve completed step 1. We’re here, we aren’t paying rent anymore, and we have a savings plan for how to get to step 2--the YURT! Meanwhile, there’s all sorts of entertaining things to amuse us here, and the adventure has now officially begun!

Wanna see the camper and the land?? Pictures below! We didn't get any pics yet of the back bedroom/bathroom area or the front of the land, but there's more to come!