Permaculturing in Portugal

One family's attempts to live in a more planet-friendly way

Yurt porch

Finished at last, complete with arty-farty bits of tree. Not quite so easy to dismantle as originally intended, but still a stand-alone structure that’s not fixed to the yurt, and which allows the covers to be removed every year. The sawmill offcuts morphed into rough timber boards – there weren’t enough offcuts left of a suitable thickness.

Yurt porch after completion

The simple side, the walnut strut

Yurt porch

The silly side, the pine vine

Yurt porch

At last a place to hang wet weather gear

Yurt porch

Ready for another winter

Next week’s rain should provide its first big test.

Meanwhile I’ve discovered 2 things I never took account of in the original design.

First, opening the yurt doors to let some cool air in when the stove gets too warm lets warm air out to condense on the underside of the roof. Result: we get dripped on when we go outside! This is kind of ironic in view of the original intent of the structure …

Second, one of the cats took an instant liking to sharpening his claws on the cork boards lining each side. Result: shredded cork. He is being vigorously discouraged. If this doesn’t work, I’ll have to think of something else.

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1 Comment

  1. Quinta do Vale December 5, 2010

    Postscript:

    During 24 hours of winds that were far worse here than the February 28 ‘hurricane’ that hit Portugal at the beginning of this year, the porch roof stayed solid as a rock while the wind was busy toppling trees, moving chestnut beams and slates about, and sucking the yurt crown windows out from underneath the tied-down cover and sending them crashing to the ground!

    I is chuffed! (Well, not about the yurt windows, but you know what I mean …)

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