Spring '24 Yurt Update

Greetings Yurt Aficionados,I'm writing from Southeastern Vermont where the weather is turning milder after an already mild (not wild) winter.  What has been going on with Dickinsons Reach Yurts, you may be wondering?  Well.....
- Our family has been lovingly settling into our yurt home atop East Mountain. ​

• We're mostly through our first winter in this 24' taper wall yurt.  It's quite cozy (so much hygge!) for two adults and two kids, but we still find room to have dance performances and play hide and seek in our 314 sq ft. 
• The offical tally for materials cost for this 24' yurt has come to a very reasonable $16,000.  This includes the framing lumber, insulation, single pane glass windows, interior and exterior wall finish and the roofing materials (not including the mudroom).  We're lucky to have an abundance of trees here in Vermont and we purchased as much as we could from local sawmills - that helped keep the price down.   We raised this yurt in the fall of 2022 - here are more pictures of that raising. 
• We built a mudroom - anyone who's lived in New England knows the importance of a mudroom for wet, muddy boots, wet coats, and your yogurt.  
• We had concerns about the fumes from a propane range in such a small space, so we designed and installed a more robust solar electric system which allows us to cook on a two-burner induction cooktop. Having lived off-grid for many years, I was a bit skeptical of being able to reliably use an electric appliance to cook off-grid without an enormous battery bank - but I can happily report that it works!  We are borrowing 4 used Rolls Surette S-480 lead acid batteries from a friend to comprise our 24 volt battery bank and we have 940 watts of panels.  
• We've been using our yurt sauna regularly and really appreciate the deep clean it provides.  (Yes, the Yurt Sauna Plans are still forthcoming)
• Sloyd Sunday!  In conjunction with our friends of Wit's End Homestead, we've been organizing an event we affectionately call Sloyd Sunday.  It's a high old time where we are "not un-crafty" together.  It's every other Sunday in Guilford, VT.  If you'll be in Southern VT and want to Sloyd with us, email Mike and you can find out when the next Sloyd-y Sunday will be.  

 2023 Yurts BUILT

• In June of 2023 we traveled to Eastern Pennsylvania to facilitate the building of a Yurt Sauna in a 7-day workshop.  What fun we had - and what a pretty little Yurt Sauna!

• In July of 2023 we helped raise another 24' Diameter Taper Wall Yurt in nearby Marlboro, VT which is being used as a music studio - the report from the musician is that the recordings are -------- exceptionally magical!

• Here are a few pictures of a beautiful new 24' diameter Taper-Wall Yurt in Colorado built by Steve Storm. 

 2024 Yurts To Come

• August 10 - 23, 2024  - A 1,200 sq ft Concentric Yurt build will take place at the homestead of Sandra Kehoe and WillowBrook Basket Farm in Central New York State (outside of Cooperstown).   Sandra is an incredibly talented basket weaver.  To learn more about the workshop and to register, go to Sandra's site - click here.
  

• Second half of September of '24 - A Concentric Yurt build in Green Mountain, NC.  For more info or to register, contact Beth by texting "YURT" to her cel: 828-208-6625.  
  
• I've been working with a family in the vicinity of Anchorage, Alaska on the design of a custom Concentric Yurt they will build later in 2025.  
  
• New Guest Yurt - Before Bill passed on, he made a quick sketch of what he called "The New Guest Yurt"  With those drawings I've been fleshing out plans to build it with some friends at some point in the future.  The upper floor will be lit by the skylight and will be much simpler to build than a concentric yurt with upper clerestory windows.
  

- 2025 Yurts To Come

• Spring of 2025 - A 24' Standard Yurt raising in Northern VT - details TBD.  
• If you're interested in hosting a Yurt Raising Workshop in 2025, email us to talk about the details - [email protected].  

- Articles & Essays

• I thought you may enjoy this pleasant article describing the high level of Mongolian social interconnectedness - faciitated by their yurtlife!   
• The Value of Voluntary Simplicity, Richard Gregg - Richard Gregg was a teacher and inspiration for Bill Coperthwaite.  I enjoyed reading this well thought out argument for simple living which you can find for free download on the soil and health library.  

- Books we've enjoyed 

• Good Work: The Chairmaking Life of John Brown - Part honest biography, part how to make a Welsh Stick Chair, part collection of interesting articles written by John.  Fully enjoyable.  
• Moving Heavy Things.  by Jan Adkins - I find it dificult to explain how much fun it is to move large objects with human power.  I'd consider it a dying art.  Lovely illlustrations.
  • Robert Riversong also likes to move heavy things.    
• Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe - I never read this as a youth, and I'm not sure it would have affected me the same way as it does now.  It's difficult for me to fathom that it was an accepted part of our culture to "own" another human.  Nor can I begin to imagine what it would feel like to have my family split up at an auction where my daughter would go to the highest bidder.  I'm grateful that these practices are outawed but also recognize that modern slavery does exist in many forms.  There is work yet to be done to ensure "liberty and justice for all".  
• The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), Roald Dahl - Ella LOVES this book.  Roald must have had fun inventing his vocabulary for this - "snozzcumbers"
• Possum Living, Dolly Freed - Dolly lived very simply in suburban Pennsylvania in the 70's.  There's a lot of great detail and info on how to live simply yet abundantly with little $$$.  
• The Lorax, Dr. Seuss - UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot.  Nothing is going to get better, it's not.  

- Websites

• This to That - Are you like me in that while lying in bed at 3am you're pondering what the best adhesive is to glue Leather to Glass?  If so, then you'd be as excited as I was when I learned about the website - It's an amazing wealth of information revealing which adhesive is most proficient in glueing one thing to another.  In case you're wondering, Silicone will provide the strongest bond, but Weldbond is the best non-toxic option.  

Phew!  What an update.  I won't wait so long to send out the next one.  
- Mike