Yurt Test Assembly Complete

After over 150 ft. of taping, I managed a test-assembly of the 6' Stretch Hexayurt in the living room tonight. Assembly is definitely harder than the 6', and having an extra person would really help. After checking the real dimensions of the fanfolded roof, I elected to transport it in three pieces so that they could all be collapsed down into a single triangle, rather than three offset triangles. This way the roof will still fit *inside* my vehicle, leaving only the top to go on the roof. I think stability will be fine once all the final taping is done, although the tack-taping was awkward. The break in the center of the 8' walls pushed outward as I was trying to get the sides of the roof up, so I created a rope to hold the gap together until the rest of the roof was in place I'm not certain if I'll have any additional time for things like velcro or venting, but I'll try it if I do. As it stands, I could take it out and assemble it on-site the way it is right now and still have a pretty good experience. I took a brief siesta inside it with the puppies after finishing the very iffy tack-tapping assembly.

Unlike the 6', I'm fairly sure the best way to assemble the 6' Stretch is to put the roof together on the ground, then life it up and tape it to the already-assembled walls. This would obviate the need for the support rope while assembling.

My Mom Lives in a Yellow Submarine

I got a call from my Mom about noon today telling me that her house is flooded from an unknown leak somewhere in the walls. The timing couldn't possibly be worse, as I was planning on leaving for Flipside tomorrow around 3 PM, and she is in the 4th week of 6 weeks of not being able to put any weight on her left foot. She also just had a new hardwood floor placed down in her bedroom which is currently buckling and popping up. The water in the house is turned off, and plumbers are on the way, but there is a possibility that I may have to drive up to D/FW to help her out and will therefore have to miss some or all of Flipside. Several friends and neighbors are on the scene helping right now, and I'm not sure what help I would be at this point, anyway, but I'll have to make a final decision before I leave tomorrow.

So far so good...

Mom reports that they have located the leak (by jackhammering the foundation!) and will probably have it fixed by tonight, which means the rest will be clean-up and drying stuff. She does have homeowner's insurance to cover the water damage, and hopefully people to come in and clean up, set up fans, etc. Right now it looks like I'll make it to Flipside OK.

I also just discovered the chicken waterer was leaking, so I had to my first (but clearly not last) visit to a home improvement store to fix it. It seems to be fine, now. I don't want the dog sitter to have to do anything with the chickens except pick up eggs.