Click here to see how we built The Yurt Farm
Tuesday 10th August - Laurie
Its been a busy month so far. Nick has made a new sink which is now beside the compost toilets. Fittingly, it's made from unused pieces of the toilet's timber frame. We've made a whole set of seats for to lie back around the campfire. The grass has been cut and the silage has been made on the farm. The Red Kites were soaring and diving around the yurts looking for a fresh morsel on the newly mown field.
Friday 30th July - Laurie
On our walks down to the yurts early each day, Thea and I have been regularly seeing a lolloping hare slowly making its way across the fields. My dad then found one of the hare's tiny leverets hiding amongst the lettuces in the vegetable field,, thank fully it hadn't gobbled too many up.
This picture of one of the farms meadows was taken just before a big rain shower. The large drooping beech tree hedges provided the perfect shelter from the brief but amazing shower.
Friday 16th July - Laurie
Our friend Nick has joined us for the summer to help us catch up a few jobs. Despite Mossy and Wrens best efforts they are not quite able to join in yet...i'm sure it won't be too long though. So, instead, Nick has been making some handsome herb box fridges. We are now ready to try out our first one, I'll put up a picture when its full of herbs and flowers.
A week of rain has given the grass and yurts a good soaking but everyone has remained dry, chirpy and toasty warm in their yurts. Our firewood store will need replenishing as soon as the sun shows its face, which wont be too long in coming i hope.
Wednesday 23rd June
We were on S4C Ffermio on Monday which we think went quite well. You can watch the program online at S4C, subtitles are available.
Saturday 5th June - Laurie
What a lovely week. The school holidays are nearly over and the children staying have all been having lots of fun together. They have been running around in the sun, swinging on the rope swing and seeing how many people it is possible to squish onto to the slide. The simplest things are usually the best.
Sunday 23rd May - Laurie
I picked up our pigs on Tuesday and they have now settled into their new home in the field beside the yurts. They are sharing the field with the cows and seem to have become the best of friends. After a lenghty discussion they have been named Truffle and Mr T.
The farm shop is full of strawberries which have been keeping all the children happy and a little bit messy.
Sunday 25th April - Thea and Laurie
After almost 3 weeks of sunshine and dry weather we finally got some rain last night. It was just what the plants needed. Our little renewable powerstation has been performing really well and keeping everyones showers toasty.
Our yurt makers Sarah and Steve 07791569175 modified our larger green yurt during the week and it now looks even more amazing. The internal support poles are gone and we have now have a curvier looking roof and it feels really spacious inside.
Monday 12th April - Laurie
The chickens have been enjoying their first full day down in the yurt meadow. We've made some changes to their pen after unsuccessfully trying to keep the chickens safe from foxes last year. So far so good. All 3 chickens have laid eggs in the hen house... i hope our guests enjoy finding and cooking them up over the campfire.
Wednesday 7th April - Laurie
What a lovely day, the sun came out and the yurt meadow filled with children flying kites, playing football and running around. It was just perfect.
Tuesday 6th April - Laurie
Our first guests are happily snuggled down in their yurts. We have been blessed with lots of rain and wind over the last week which our yurts have stood up to well. Last night we were awake listening to the wind howling and worrying about our guest only to find them all chirpy this morning after a soothing nights sleep. The new extension to the cabin is working really well at keeping the weather at bay, i'll pop a photo up tomorrow of it all finished.
We are very happy to be featured in the new edition of Cool Camping Wales, it's a big honour to us to be recognised and reviewed in this popular book.
Also, we are featured in the Time Out "Our favourite sites in Britain" book in which they give us a brilliant review and
with lots of great pictures. Thank you.
Thursday 18th March - Thea
We made it....all the yurts went up in the sunshine.and we are now getting excited about welcoming our first visitors of the year. Laurie is making a beautiful oak table to go under the covered area by the cabin...and our friend Dan (who makes lovely mugs) is going to help us make a pizza oven to go there too. I can almost taste the summer!
We can't sit down to a meal without being distracted by a lamb being born in the yard. There are two fresh bull calves in the field and more due any day. Mossy and I spotted a blue tit darting into a nest box in the garden on our way to post some letters. Laurie saw a hare in the yurt field and Matt and Suzanne saw a weasel this morning..spring is on the way!
Thursday 11th March - Laurie
The sun has been shining for nearly 2 weeks so we've been very fortunate to have done lots of outside jobs in the dry. The yurts are going up this weekend so we have been giving the framework a spring clean and a fresh coat of linseed oil.
The first calf of the year was born today, a fine Hereford bull calf that Mossy couldn't wait to see. The cows will continue to calve over the next few weeks so some of our early guests might get to see a really fresh one. Lambing is going really well and keeping Matthew and Suzanne busy, there's usually a noisy new set of twins to wake up to every morning.
The cabins extended covered area is now complete, all i need to do is find some wood in the shed to make a big table for it.
Thursday 5th March - Laurie
We've nearly finished building the new timber framed extension to make a bit more space for everyone to relax in. There will be a table and seats so you can enjoy a meal while the sun sets. Fingers crossed we should have it finished over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the first lambs of the season have been born, we had triplets this morning! And it looks like the cows are about to start calving.....a feeling of spring is in the definitely in the air.
Saturday 20th February - Laurie
After the winter wind made a mess of our old woodshed, we decided to build a new one. Thea's dad Jan joined me last weekend to turn a lovely pile of Ian Hedges douglas fir into a big dry shed for this years yurt wood. All we have to do now is chop and move the big pile in front of the shed inside.
We were featured in the Saturday Telegraph Magazine a few weeks ago. Click here to see what they thought.
Tuesday 9th February - Laurie
We''ve spent the last two days planting some more trees in the yurt field and creating a new hedge around the parking area. It is a perfect time to plant them while the ground is moist and the weather is dry.
I've been digging in some steps down to our 21ft yurt to make it easier to reach. Whilst doing this i saw that our badgers have been very busy rooting around this winter. Hopefully someone will be lucky enough to see some this year.
Sunday 31st January - Laurie & Thea
It's been an exciting month, Mossy has a lovely new baby brother called Wren. Luckily he waited for the snow to clear before he arrived. On the same day 7 yellow chicks hatched although we didn't see them for days whilst the mum kept them warm in her feathers.
Work starts tomorrow on setting up the yurt site once again, as there are a few burst pipes to fix, doors to sand and an outdoor extension to the cabin to build. We're both really excited and motivated about the new season.
And lastly, The Yurt Farm will be featured in this coming Saturday's Telegraph 'Travel Section', we look forward to reading it.
Thursday 31st December - Laurie & Thea
The sun is shining and the hills are glowing with a good layer of snow, what a lovely end to the year.
We both wanted to say a big Happy New Year to everyone who has stayed, is coming to stay and has supported and helped us in making 2009 so special.
We will both be getting busy again in the New Year working off the last of the christmas dinners so will have lots of exciting news to tell you about.
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda Pawb
Monday 16th November - Thea
Laurie and I are delighted that the yurt farm has won the ‘Muddy Boots’ travel award from the 'The Oldie' magazine. We want to thank all our friends, family and visitors for making our first year so successful and so much fun...winning this award is the icing on the cake.
We have a busy winter ahead of us. Luckily we put a new roof on the cabin just before the first of the winter storms arrived. As soon as we get a dry spell the yurts will be taken down and stored under the new roof. We have Mossy's little brother or sister due to arrive on St Dwynwen's day, the Welsh saint of lovers and friendship, January 25th. And we have a beautiful old train carriage to turn into a quiet comfortable space for couples to stay next year.
Saturday 3rd October - Laurie
Two months have flown by since my last news and lots has happened so i've put up a couple more photos than usual. Our first summer has come and gone with a sprinkle or two of rain but our happy yurters have really enjoyed themselves, having an advetnture while living off grid in a quiet meadow looking out onto the Cambrian mountains. Thea and I are so happy to have had such lovely people staying, we wish that some of you didn't have to go!
One of the nicest things has been to see all the children making new friends, splashing in muddy puddles and running around the fields together. This year we have taken everyone who has wanted to around the farm to see all the animals, vegetables and to collect eggs. The cows have really enjoyed being fed fresh carrots everyday, it makes a change from grass.
The farm shop is bursting full of vegetables and meat from our farm, its amazing to see what can be produced from the land. My pigs, Smokey and Streaky have now become the most tasty sausages and burgers i have ever eaten (i would say that though)... you will have to try some when you come and stay! We cooked up lots of burgers for our open day and raised lots of money for the local school to buy some science equipment for the children. Thank you to everyone who came.
Next year is looking really exciting because we have got a really fun project in the pipeline, a new arrival for you to stay in at the yurt... watch this space for exciting news. Talking of new arrivals, Thea and i have got another baby on the way aswell so we're going to have a very busy winter!
Sunday 2nd August - Laurie
Here is the cabin and compost toilets very early in the morning with the sun rising through the clouds. We've made it through some wild summer weather, the turbine has been whizzing in the wind and the rain has given everything a good sprinkle but it has done nothing to dampen any of our yurters good spirits. The woodburners in the yurts have been keeping everyone toasty while we've busy restocking the woodshed.
Unfortunately Mr Fox came along and gobbled up the chickens we had down the field. We are now working on putting up a pen and a new arc down the field as soon as we can so you can check the eggs and chicks when you visit.
The pigs are growing really well and have been joined by two more weaners called WIlberforce and Michael Jackson. They are ploughing their way through their field really fast.
Thursday 2nd June - Laurie
Its been hot hot hot. We've had a great few weeks of hot weather and the yurt meadow is in full bloom. There are a huge amount of small oaks growing in the grass so we will transplant them to the wooded areas before mowing. The grass will be mowed mid July once the grass and flower seeds are fully grown and about to be scattered.
We are replacing the stove in our mini yurt as we are struggling to get much heat out of the one currently in there. The stove is made in Devon by Windy Smithy. Its a lovely little stove and a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
And, The Yurt Farm featured in The Times' 50 Best Campsites last week! It feels great and we are both really flattered and very proud. Thank you to everyone for coming to stay with us.
Monday 15th June - Laurie
One of my favourite parts of the day is getting up really early and walking down to the yurt field to do a quick morning clean up. Its the time of day when the sheep are still sleeping and i can watch hedgehogs wandering across the track. The mist is still siting in the valley, slowly getting burnt off by the sunrise, and all our happy yurters are sleeping away. Only my piggies are bouncing about ready for food and a scratch.
Thea and Mossy are away till tomorrow in the Netherlands so i have had fun weekend looking after our yurts. Our yurters have been canoeing down the Cilgerran and have hired bikes from Cyclemart to cycle for teas and ice creams at The Hive on The Quay in Aberaeron.
Thursday 27th May - Laurie
Hello, sorry it's been so long since the last news update, we have been so busy since we opened which has been brilliiant, thank-you. Everything is going really well, with all the yurters really enjoying themselves. People are amazed with how peaceful it is around here with only the sound of the birds or maybe if your lucky the pitter patter of rain to wake you up. We have a long list of useful suggestions to make our yurts even better so we are busy trying to act on them all.
Our solar showers are working well, it is amazing how hot the water can get when the sun shows its face. Our wind turbine and pv solar panel have been well tested and we have been lucky to have always had either wind or sun to create our electricity.
We are going to change the roof on our cabin because it gets quite 'acoustic' when the wind picks up. Instead we will put onduline corrugate on the roof with lots of clear panels to let lots of light in.
And i have finally got my piglets! Smokey and streaky,
(saddleback x berkshire breed) arrived exactly a week ago and are in the old pig sty on the farm before making their way down to the field beside the yurts. They are both a bit shy but are getting the hang of coming flying out of their straw nest when they hear the food bucket coming. In a couple of weeks they will be joined by another 2 piglets so everyone will have be able to watch them ploughing up the soil and playing in the field.
Sunday 19th April - Laurie
So we are officially Yurt Farmers! Our first lovely guests have given the yurts a good try out and luckily had oodles of sunshine to bask in. The sun meant that we could also use our solar powered showers for the first time. They seem to work really well and generate lots of hot water for toasty showers. With a few tweeks like a few more pegs and shelves for clothes the showers will be another big job ticked off my list.
Thursday 16th April - Thea and Laurie
We've made it and are so happy and relieved we have got everything we wanted finished in time. Our first happy guests have arrived and got all the stoves roaring hot, unfortunately they brought the rain with them! It has been a very busy last few weeks with all our families helping, we can't thank them enough. It will be nice to have a lie in tomorrow.
We now have pictures of our own yurts on this website. We are really grateful to Carmen from Annwn Valley yurts for letting us use her images for all this time. Please check out her website for a lovely yurt holiday in the woods by the stream
