Our first tent

Hello all

Today was good, but disappointing in some ways.

Mainly because my phone had turned itself off in my pocket, so I missed Andy's call from Slough station - so he went home again without quite
making it to the nursery.

The other slight disappointment was not getting as far as squelching the cob together - we now have everything we need there to do it (using the 'tarp method').

But - on the positive side - good progress was made:

- We have put the tented cover up - of 2 large tarpaulins to keep the yurt floor dry. Stretched on a rope across the plot, pinned down with skewers and weighed down with blocks and soil, we hope it will withstand the storms forecast for Monday. But the worst will happen is that it will blow off...

- We have laid the damp-proof membrane and firmly stapled it all the way round - with about 10-20cm overhang to ensure the yurt floor keeps dry.

- We have finished off our 4 bags of sand and probably need 2 more to lay the base for the cob - we did not have enough to make the 'slightly domed' foundation for it today. So I will order 2 more bags. We did do some stomping of it, though...

- Daisy and I went to meet our nearest farmer neighbour, John Whitby at Rowley Farm (about 2 miles away). He is bringing round 20 straw bales on Monday afternoon - which we will put into a circle to make the seating within the yurt. But he recommends covering it with fabric/rugs/canvas to keep the bales intact - so any old rugs etc will be welcome. He also does many interesting things at the farm, including making all the wood chip fuel for the nursery's main boiler - so he gave us a good show round. We also admired his 6 month and 18 month calves, and were invited along to his open day on the 2nd Saturday of June - which I'm sure it will be worth going to.

Today's photo is a view through our tented cover - and Jasper is the four-legged helper!

Rex