Yurts

Yurts: Living in the Roundjourneys from Central Asia to modern America and reveals the history, evolution, and contemporary benefits of yurt living. One of the oldest forms of indigenous shelter still in use today, yurts have exploded into the twenty-first century as a multi-faceted, thoroughly modern, utterly versatile, and immensely popular modern structure whose possibilities are still being explored. Kemery introduces the innovators who redesigned the yurt and took it from back country trekking and campground uses to modern permanent homes and offices.

The yurt or ger is a low-impact structure that causes no permanent damage to the land on which it is pitched. It is easy to erect and can be taken down in an hour. It is cool in summer and, with a stove, warm in winter. For centuries, people throughout central Asia have made yurts their homes. Robust and versatile, the yurt has evolved into the ultimate portable dwelling. Yurts are perfect for offices, summer houses, meditation spaces, spare rooms, or just beautifully satisfying spaces to be in! Join the thousands of North Americans who are discovering the many virtues of the yurt. Part One of the book delves into the history of the yurt and the principles behind its construction, and explores modern life in a Mongolian ger and the culture and etiquette of ger living. Part Two gives fully illustrated and detailed instructions on how to make several of the most popular types of yurt, including the "weekend yurt." With a few common wood-working tools, even an absolute beginner could build the frame for this simple, elegant structure.

The God of the universe is still in the business of healing and restoration. Travel to paradise as one financially devastated couple, their twenty-nine-year-old equine, and young goat take a flight-of- faith, leaving the economically challenged mountains of Southern California for the unknown, off- grid "tiny" lifestyle of a vintage, rented yurt on the Big Island of Hawaii. In My Year in a Yurt, Jen McGeehan tells the true story of how she and her husband, Pat, experienced a radical lifestyle change when they packed their bags, left their three-thousand-square- foot home with their realtor and, with over $600,000 in debt, unknowingly entered the Tiny House Movement. With foreclosure and bankruptcy hitching a free ride, Jen sent yet another prayer to heaven asking for God's divine intervention. My Year in a Yurt unearths life-changing treasure through thirty-eight stories that reveal the humorous, bittersweet, and miraculous experiences of the McGeehans as they stepped into a once-in-a-lifetime journey that would soon mirror a national lifestyle movement. Jen McGeehan is a motivational speaker, sharing her humorous yet inspiring stories of God's miraculous healing and restoration. As an accomplished equestrian and nature enthusiast, Jen was able to successfully transition from life in the fast lane of Southern California to the off-grid, back-to-nature farm life of the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii. She is the founder of the Annual Christian Women's Gathering, currently held on the Big Island of Hawaii. "And she is a" voice within the Tiny House Movement, both in Hawaii and beyond! Author is available for speaking engagements and can be contacted by phone at 808.747.2365 or by email at [email protected]

Many people have asked why we did this. Why would my husband and I sell our home, car, ATV, snowmobile, furniture, why donate over 90% of our belongings and move into a yurt, in Maine no less? You might be surprised, because the reasons were really not all that unique: debt, unhappiness, and lack of fulfillment with where we found ourselves in life. What was unique was our solution. Join us as we strive to achieve our dream of becoming debt free by drastically altering our lifestyle and building a low cost, DIY yurt. A Year in a Yurt follows us as beginners while we tackle our first year from construction through a snowy Maine winter in our tiny house while we battle insects, heat, cold, and occasionally each other in a search for freedom through living in an alternative, solar home. Learn from our decisions made to solve a multitude of problems from solar installation, types of toilets, what to cook on, how to plumb an indoor shower, and more as we strive not just to survive but to be prosperous and self sufficient in our new homesteading lives. This book is full of photos with more available on line to better illustrate what life is like in less than 500 square feet of space and living in a cloth sided yurt!

Today’s commercially available yurts largely are flexible wall units, with lattice forming the “frame” of the walls, and studs resting on an aircraft cable strung along the top of the lattice. They are lightweight, but, by that definition, are vulnerable to the elements and to wildlife. Although defined as portable, they require a full day to set up, using three or more people. Their insulation (optional) generally is Mylar bubble insulation and windows are heavy plastic. The yurt concept in this set of plans calls for rigid insulation walls, readily available materials, glass windows, standard-sized door, and a very lightweight, truly portable design. Although the yurt plan is sized for a 16-foot diameter unit, size can be scaled up or down quite readily. Total material cost generally is less than $1,500. Typically, one person can cut all the pieces needed to size in less than 40 hours. To assemble the unit requires one person and three or four hours. To disassemble takes two hours. The guide includes numerous photographs of a sample yurt being built. Also included are discussions of problems with many yurts (and solutions), ideas on plumbing, heating, interior finish and power.

A boy or girl describes daily life among the Eskimos, the Haida and Jivaro Indians, the Tuaregs, the Mbowambs, the Samoans, and other peoples whose customs have remained practically unchanged for thousands of years.

Grand Prize Winner of the 2015 Green Book Festival Mark Sundeen's new book, The Unsettlers, is coming in January 2017 from Riverhead Books In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his life savings-all thirty dollars of it-in a phone booth. He has lived without money-and with a newfound sense of freedom and security-ever since. The Man Who Quit Money is an account of how one man learned to live, sanely and happily, without earning, receiving, or spending a single cent. Suelo doesn't pay taxes, or accept food stamps or welfare. He lives in caves in the Utah canyonlands, forages wild foods and gourmet discards. He no longer even carries an I.D. Yet he manages to amply fulfill not only the basic human needs-for shelter, food, and warmth-but, to an enviable degree, the universal desires for companionship, purpose, and spiritual engagement. In retracing the surprising path and guiding philosophy that led Suelo into this way of life, Sundeen raises provocative and riveting questions about the decisions we all make, by default or by design, about how we live-and how we might live better.

New Qing Imperial History uses the Manchu summer capital of Chengde and associated architecture, art and ritual activity as the focus for an exploration of the importance of Inner Asia and Tibet to the Qing Empire (1636-1911). Well-known contributors argue that the Qing was not simply another Chinese dynasty, but was deeply engaged in Inner Asia not only militarily, but culturally, politically and ideologically. Emphasizing the diverse range of peoples in the Qing empire, this book analyzes the importance to Chinese history of Manchu relations with Tibetan prelates, Mongolian chieftains, and the Turkic elites of Xinjiang. In offering a new appreciation of a culturally and politically complex period, the authors discuss the nature and representation of emperorship, especially under Qianlong (r. 1736-1795), and examine the role of ritual in relations with Inner Asia, including the vaunted (but overrated) tribute system. By using a specific artifact or text as a starting point for analysis in each chapter, the contributors not only include material previously unavailable in English but allow the reader an intimate knowledge of life at Chengde and its significance to the Qing period as a whole.