afab-ulous adventure

[xandanowitz]

We finished the yurt today on the fifth day in April. The 🌧 rains come back tomorrow and I start school on Monday. I am worn ragged but so relieved to have this done.

[xandanowitz]

Today, we put the lattice walls up, the door frame, the tension cable, the ring, and the rafters. It was pretty scary getting the rafters in because some would fall out. We all had head protection on and it was necessary.

Tomorrow is the canvas, the door and the skylight dome.

[xandanowitz]

The platform is finished! The drip edge is exactly 1" above the platform and 6" below. I had to cut into one corner of the frame, but I sprayed it with a sealant to protect it from the watershed. . . I went to see Jesse oil the lanes down at the bowling alley finally too!

Jesse helped cut the top edge down to one inch because I had cut the pieces with a 1/4" extra just in case. They marked a 1" line around the whole circle and then used a jigsaw to cut it out. Tedious work. We finished attaching the drip edge, stained it and I caulked the inside seam and outer seams where the drip edge pieces meet. I measured the whole thing again just in case. It's diameter is 14' and radius is 7'.

Tomorrow we start putting the yurt together. . . 🤞

[xandanowitz]

I'm STILL working in between the Spring rain showers. 😪 I suppose the rains could be positively spun that nature is forcing me to rest my back. BATTLESTAR SCIATICA ! jfc. I'm feeling thirty nine today.

I got the Thang cut into a circle and only have 2 pieces of drip edge to still attach. . .

It's starting to look like it should!

[xandanowitz]

PDX, OR ->SAN DIEGO, CA -> OJAI, CA(pick up yurt) ->LAYFAYETTE/OAKLAND,CA ->ASHLAND, OR ->VANCOUVER, WA.

Successfully flew to San Diego to meet up with Lisa. Rented a Uhaul to drive to Ojai, CA to pick up the yurt and drive back to Vancouver, Washington. Lisa(Kits mom) had friends along the way we were able to crash with. Very, very grest hosts!!

I got to see a childhood friend down in Oakland on the way back. Wild good times. I wanna visit Oakland again and San Fransico.

[xandanowitz]

[xandanowitz]

Here I am kicking myself. Remember how I thought 3 - 14-foot Beams was incorrect? Well, it was! Hah! And fuck me! Dammit.

After Jesse helped me make huge progress on the insulation, I double checked the plans and found more measurements I missed or just didn't see originally. . . Ugh. Embarassing and a pain in the ass (and back). Well, too long is better than too short. I shortened the Beams to the correct length(12'6" and 6'8 3/8") I finished cutting one side, ans disassembled the other side. I need to pick up 2 more 2x10x8 pressure treated boards tmr to cut with my circular saw using the bevel. The angles are about 15 and 22 degrees. Hooray for no miter saw. I fly to San Diego in three days to get in a uhaul, drive to Ojai, California to pick up the 14' yurt and drive it back to Washington. This mistake really set me back time wise and cost 50 bucks extra. Lesson learned. TRUST YOUR fucking INSTINCTS

[xandanowitz]

I finally finished the blocking between the Beams. I got a piece of insulation in, and I've got to stuff the rest of the holes. I can't get underneath to fasten the insulation, so I am tacking it in place with roofing nails underneath acting as pins to hold it up. Very tedious and poor design, but I'm doing it on the fly. At least we will have a pretty warm floor.

The rains are proving to be challenging as well. I didn't get any work done yesterday.

I'm thinking of using the pop-up yard canopy to maybe help cover some area so that I might be able to work under and keep the material dry.

[xandanowitz]

Rainy season builds mean big tarps. . .

[xandanowitz]

I began by picking up a rented 12" compound miter saw promptly at six a.m.

I blocked in the 14-foot Beams with 34" long blocks. I then began to frame. The long Beams called for a 48-degree angle, but the Miter only went to 45-degrees. Oof.

I knew these plans were too easy. I didn't wanna rent a table saw...

So, I just went with the 45-degree angle and said fuck it. It's just a platform. . .

After that decision things went along better and I finished all my angle cuts before the rain came. I also finished a day early on my miter saw rental saving 100 bucks. . .

I might look back on this and regret this decision but oh well.

Next comes the plywood.

[xandanowitz]

[xandanowitz]

The wood for the Yurt Platform arrived this Friday. I cut all the long Beams with my circular saw. I'm picking up a Miter Saw at 6am tmr for rental. I will use the Miter for all the angled blocking cuts. ✂️

Hooray for building shit in the rain. 🌧

[xandanowitz]

Spring on the Columbia River and harvesting nettles down by Cougar Creek.

[xandanowitz]

Spring is here!

I spent the morning and early afternoon pressure washing all the cement out back and front. Duck shit getting sprayed in your face at 700 PSI is more than disgusting. Ew.

[xandanowitz]

Beginning to prepare the ground for the 14' yurt platform I'm going to build. Lucky for me there's a bunch of cement already down so I only have to worry about prepping foundation on a few spots.

[xandanowitz]

Step 1 of project YURT finished.

We moved the duckhouse to the NE patio corner underneath the Cyprus tree. We didn't want obstruct the sliding door view, so we had to put down some foundations for the house to sit half off the cement. I ended up using 2 cubic feet of sand and 2 cubic feet of gravel/granite mix. I'm hoping that will suffice for drainage as that area floods. The duckpen will still be in the baby orchard for now.

We made Amelia(3 year old pup) ride in the child car seat. Lol

We will begin preparing the SW patio for the Yurt platform underneath the Magnolia tree.

[xandanowitz]

Went to Otter Rock, Oregon, only a few hours South, to celebrate Jesse's 41st birthday. Our one year anniversary is next month, so we celebrated that as well. 🎉

The first day provided great weather for tide pools and hiking. The second day was rainy and perfect for the outdoor heated pool and hotub. Making out in the heated pool was a fantasy come true for me. I'm finally enjoying my top surgery perks. I don't think I have been in a swimming pool since childhood. It felt good to take the pool back. I'm so ridiculously in love with Jesse. I've never felt this way. Moments of extreme joy followed by terror. I've found someone so precious to me. I'm reminding myself to experience the joy. Stay in the moment. I feel so seen and cared for. It's beautiful. We're beautiful.