July update

(We are officially moved into the yurt as of last week, but here is the update prior to that.)

We’re really trying to wrap up the finishing touches and slowly move in without having to pack everything in boxes and have one big “move in day”. We’ve had a very busy July and beginning of August! We’ve been working on the yurt a ton and sleeping there 2-4 nights a week. Marceau also turned TWO at the end of July, so we took some family time to celebrate.

Kitchen update: we have countertops and a backsplash! I thought I could live with a plywood countertop longer, but I kept getting splinters. And we used the kitchen all day long, so it is nice to now have a wipeable surface. We decided on a tile countertop, but considered butcher block and stone/quartz. Tile countertops are pretty common in France. Je had them in his house in Bonson and they were really nice I thought. Tile countertops are also very inexpensive! It cost about $350 to do the countertop and the backsplash. Je did an awesome job on the tile job. The only imperfection in the tile is the small part I helped with that’s not at all straight!

Loft update: Je finished the loft floor about a month ago. We found some leftover bamboo flooring that someone had from a project, so the floor cost us about $500, and we still have a lot leftover. I’ve never had a bamboo floor before and I have to say it’s really nice! The loft space is much smaller than we expected, but we had to compromise on either the loft or headroom in the boys room/bathroom. And we’d rather have the extra space downstairs. The loft fits our king bed and Hugo’s old dresser just fine.

We’ve debated a lot about what kind of stairs/ladder to put for the loft. We considered a spiral staircase, but they take up a lot of room. We also had to consider where to put the stairs/ladder- the sides of the loft are so low that you had to climb up somewhere in the middle so you didn’t hit your head. I really didn’t want a ladder ladder, so Je built me what I’ll call a “stadder”- half stairs half ladder. It’s definitely closer to a ladder, but it was cheap and quick to build, so for now it’s good. Je built it so that it folds up from the bottom- that way we can keep the ladder folded up during the day so the boys can’t go up there. We’re obviously putting a railing- which is in progress now, but I still don’t want them up there. I’ve never seen two smaller humans be more destructive than Hugo and Marceau (like a human tornado), and I don’t need dirt in the bed and clothes pulled out of the drawers!

The last part of the loft update is the railing. We haven’t had one for a few weeks, and I was a bit nervous sleeping up there in a new space without something to stop me from rolling off. The first night up there, I was sleeping like 3 feet down in the bed so I didn’t accidentally fall off. I don’t usually move in my sleep but sometimes I’m a bit disoriented in a new space. A few days later, Je started working on the loft railing. Je and Hugo went into the meadow to cut down some aspen trees for it. Hugo was so pumped to be doing some big boy work. He even came up the big hill from the meadow carrying a small trunk. After his second trip he told me “mama, when I come back, I’m going to be hungry!” Ha it was so cute. So now every time we look at the railing, we’ll know Hugo helped.

We also celebrated our first birthday in the yurt- Marceau turning 2!