The Oregonian/Oregon Live recently detailed a list of 77 reasons critics don’t like tiny houses, some more serious than others. Here we offer responses to critics of tiny houses — some more serious than others. Reason #1 that tiny houses are a big mistake: Living full time in a tiny house on wheels is illegal in […]
General
How To Make a Cheap Maple Syrup Evaporator for Under $50
We made this basic and cheap maple syrup evaporator for less than $50, and it took less than an afternoon to put together. So you can file it under “cheap” and “easy” — but you can also file it under “effective.” We used it to boil down a season’s worth of sap from 18 taps […]
Making Maple Syrup: A Reasonable Reading List
Our approach to learning new things — like, say, making maple syrup — could fairly be called a “Learning-Based Approach,” and could perhaps more honestly be described as “slightly willy-nilly.” It goes generally like this: Get interested in new hobby or skill Read just a little bit online Buy the requisite materials — or the […]
Siberian Nomad Homes: Yurts, Yarangas, and Chums
An article by Alexandra Seven on Russia Beyond the Headlines looks at the traditional homes of indigenous Siberian nomad families, with some really great photos. She describes the traditional structures: Siberian nomads made their traditional homes – chums, yarangas and yurts – from animal skins, wood, hair and wool. The frame was always wooden. In warm seasons, the frame […]
Rustic Standing Desk Design — Under $100 and Easy to Build
I’ve now built two rustic standing desks for a couple of Annie’s colleagues. There are supposedly health benefits to a standing desk and there are plenty of “hacks” to give yourself a standing desk equivalent. But shouldn’t it look good, too? This simple rustic standing desk design is easy and remarkbly cheap and adapted from things […]
Yurt Tasks Before Winter: A Post-Snow Update
We posted a couple months ago a short list of the yurt tasks and chores we wanted and needed to get done before winter came and put a practical pause on many of our activities. Well now winter and snow are here. How’d we do? I’d confidently and proudly say that we did SO-SO! Put a […]
Yurt Drone Photos: Aerial Shots of the New Snow
The snow is finally here for real! On Sunday night we got about 10 inches of the fluffy white stuff, which impacts us practically in several ways — how we get water, how we get to the yurt, etc. — but that’s for another post to come. Snowpack also means eye candy and yurt drone […]
Our America, Not Trump’s: Living Intentionally in a Trump Presidency and Beyond
We returned home from an extended trip a couple weeks ago to find mouse turds scattered across our counters and a big sickly-looking turd headed for the White House. We were gone for 20 days, having buttoned up the yurt and flown to Italy just four days after Trump’s election. After that storm of an election, the […]
I Love Luci: That Yurt Featured on the MPOWERD Blog
We recently spoke with MPOWERD, a great company that makes affordable solar-powered lanterns (called the Luci), and the interview is now posted on their Bright Ideas blog. We’re so grateful for their interest in what we’re up to and how we’re getting by. We’ve been using one of their products, the Luci Lux — well, six […]
Spotlight: Dirtbag Steve Discovers the Internet
Our friend Steve is a dirtbag. Like, really dirty and really baggy. Like, who-let-him-into-the-yurt dirty. Maybe you’re a dirtbag too. Or maybe you’re just sociologically curious about that strange fringe of the population. Either way, he recently started a blog that is worth adding to your subscription list, in which he documents his “grungy life searching out […]