Falling in Love (at first site)...

This is a yurt. Tucked into a thicket of woods in rural Maine, it was so beautiful, rustic and unexpectedly comfortable, I felt completely happy and in love. I loved it's rounded sides and the pretty handmade chairs, the benches gathered up around the fire, the tiny, efficient kitchen area with everything hanging from its own special hook or tucked away in sliding wooden trays. I loved the forest and the smell of the trees and the canopy of leaves dancing overhead. I loved the patches of bright blue sky peeking through the more sparse areas of branches. I loved the clear dome top that allowed me to see the bright stars overhead before falling asleep. It sort of felt like an on-the-ground treehouse.

To the right, is the solar shower-also a first for me. There is something so right about bathing outdoors. I'm far from an exhibitionist-one of my sisters says I was born with clothes on(!) but this I fell in love with. The black plastic bag hanging from the pole was filled with water which was warmed by the sun. There was a nozzle and shower head coming from the bag that you could turn on or off as you needed water. My one regret is that I didn't use the shower a little earlier in the day. The water was pretty chilly by the time I got in, just before supper. Still, it was wonderful. Now I'm scheming to figure out how I can have one of my very own in the back yard...but privacy is much more of an issue on a small piece of land so I will need to do some creative thinking!

I told you the kitchen area was cute! The folks that own Frost Mountain Yurts thought of EVERY detail, many I would never have thought of myself. It was a lot of fun cooking on the propane stove, which heats a lot faster than my own electric one.

This romantic and rustic dinner for two was leisurely prepared in the late evening, just in time to need a pretty candle flickering. When I was little I was a bit obsessed with "Little House on the Prairie" and talked my mother into buying me a blue enamel set of dishes similar to these to have my meals in.