Inanimate Birds
For the Audubon Birdathon’s Foolish Flamingos team, I photographed all the artificial birds at the ranch.
Category: Update
Quick Beaks and Quick Fixes
Flashing and new vinyl to keep the boys’ beaks off the edges of their floor.
The wee gopher snake
The wee gopher snake that lived under the house finally shows up in the linen hallway, and moves up toward the well.
January Aerial Video
A high-up drone tour of Purgatory, and the damage from the recent big storm.
Light under the house
With the old ducts gone, the crawl space gets cleaned up and lit, so no more flashlights under the house.
End of 2020 Video
Our end-of-2020 video, a few days late as is custom.
Agatha
Please welcome Agatha, a giant 12-foot steel stegosaurus and the newest of our sculptures.
Oh so busy
Busy, busy, and a trail cam test at the north garden birdbath.
Another Time Lapse Video
A summer of time-lapse from the Brinno camera, now retired.
The Lightning Storm and Resulting Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains
A time-lapse of the lightning storm and the resulting fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
More Furniture Finds
More auction finds: a deco side table, a Stein daybed and a wooden rocking chair.
A Trip to the Auction House
Our new great room table and chairs came from an auction house and a closing hardware store.
Vacation Part 2
The second leg of my vacation, with my parents on Longboat Key.
Filling in the Holes
Plugging the huge furnace holes in the concrete, so the closet now holds our 3D printer.
Stripping Down
Stripping the previous owners’ flaking paint off the great room’s chimney column.
Additional Pool Cover Notes
A rainwater pump on the pool cover, a new cover and finally no more Christy box.
Blue Room Refresh, Part 2
Blue room refresh: Agent Smith assembles the Murphy bed while I’m away.
Midge and the SCU Lightning Complex
Midge, our 2007 Earthroamer, comes in handy as the SCU Lightning Complex fires burn around us.
Blue Room Refresh, Part 1
Blue room refresh: deciding on a Murphy bed.
Leakage
The pool was leaking after the remodel, and Adams found and fixed a cracked pipe while I was away.
Another Vacation for Stega
Sixteen days diving on Little Cayman, plus a week in Florida with my parents.
Linens and Things
Reorganizing the linen hallway cabinets, a luxury of storage.
Long Lines
Tracing and staking the power line and water main on the hillside, mostly for our own records.
Another Bit of Electricity
Switches in my office for the courtyard lights, a big quality-of-life improvement.
Battery Backup: Hosed
Battery backup: the power wall displaced the hose reel post, so Agent Smith built a better one.
Console Tables
Finding the right console tables for the foyer.
Gutter Addendum
One more gutter on the south side of the great room keeps the rain off the windows.
Touching up some leaves
Touching up the painted trees in the boys’ space, plus a little swing-like shelf for treats.
Can’t see the trees for the trees
PG&E’s fire-season tree work, and why our tree crew now handles the mulberries too.
Sanding is a Sandy Business
Sanding and refinishing the teak through half the house, after moving all the furniture out.
The Site is Now Open for Comments
Comments are now open on the site.
Arcadia
A long-winded story about our many doors, and why they’re Arcadia.