Again this year, I had a lot of maintence work done. Owning a home isn't cheap, but during the 28 years I've owned this one, I've kept it in tip-top shape.

As seen from the street, this is the new front lawn of Kentucky Blue grass and Rye Grass.

See those two beautiful red doors? I've always wanted red doors and Danny Milligan, my grandson, made that dream come true. He sanded them, wire brushed them, primed them with pink paint (the neighbors were a bit worried about that), and then we both painted with the final Cranberry Red color.

I forgot to mention, he removed both screen doors, too. They were an eye-sore. I still have trim to do around the door frames when the weather cools down a bit. It was 109.6-F here today.

Click image to see a larger photograph.

Looking from the East onto the front porch. See that beautiful deck stain? LOVELY! See the newest flower bed in the foreground? It will eventually run the length of the house and it will have jasmine vines which will cover the privacy panels (those criss-cross panels). Right now there are two pieces of plywood keeping the new soil from the panels.

See my pride and joy... the French Lavendar plant? I've had it for two years and it's a wonder if lived. But, James, the gardener, has given it nice soil, it's own drip water emitter, and instructions to grow like Pauline and Paul's did on the Isle of Wight.

Click image to see a larger photograph.

Boasting new black appliances, this is our kitchen.

Another view of the kitchen.

A second-hand, drop-leaf table, and six "some assembly is required" chairs, is the fondation of our dining room. We have a proper Sunday dinner almost every Sunday. Eating together is the hallmark of a loving family.

I collect red glass and there are a few items shown in this photo. Click photo to see larger version.

Our living room is less formal than most. We put our feet on the coffeetable and during winter nights we enjoy watching a few logs burn in the wood stove.

Our family consists of three adults and FOUR cats: Foxy is featured in both of these photographs. Click photo to see larger version.

Most evenings are spent in our living room as Paul and Thom provide NetFlix movies. Sometimes they select English mysteries, and always, their choices are perfect.

44-years old this year, 2010. She's located in an east and south window. That must be perfect for this old gal because she begins to bloom in mid November and continues well past Easter.

Our guestroom is often occupied by our grandson, D.J., when he visits. At other times it is used by framily from England and Scotland, too. It's nice to have an extra bedroom.

All of the comforts of home!

Click the images to see a larger images.

I must mention our elevation of 2,500 feet. The view is very calming as we see the tops of nearby ridges and ravines. We have a very modest metal patio table and chairs on this deck: the upper deck. The umbrella is not present which allows for an unobstructed view of the stars. Remember, August is the month with the most shooting-stars!

Though you cannot see very much of Danny's hard work on this deck, it sports hand rails and decking that was sanded with a mouse sander, and then stained with a lovely cranberry-red color. Stunning! Who did that? Well, Danny Milligan, my grandson, did the lion's share and his Nanna helped too.

Downstairs: This is our office area complete with a small parlor for guests or our personal use. Our desks have an olive-skirt to hide the miles and miles of comptuer cords and cables. My desk is to the right.

See Jasper to the right of the chair?
See Foxy to the left of the chair, UP on Paul's desk?

This area is a fancy wet-bar. When I bought the house in 1984 it was planned that our parents would occupy this downstairs guesthouse. That didn't occur but my daughter and her first husband did live here during the first part of their marriage. Every home should be 2 homes in 1. Why? It's cooler downstairs in the summer. It's warmer upstairs in the winter. That's how we use it.

This is the lower deck as seen when entering from the east side wooden walk-way stairs. Danny Milligan (grandson), with help from Thom Appleby (step-son), did of the staining. I did all of the 'solid color' painting which was put on the oldest deck boards since they will be replaced in the next year or two. I wanted this color, and I was scared to use it! Now, I'm very pleased with the results. Yes, color IS good! Click image to see larger photo.

Little did I realize that there are so many items that are in the same color family as the deck stain/paint. It really popped out in this photograph. Even Jack's white rooster stands out very proudly, too! Click image to see larger photo.

A few years ago we thought the racoons were hungry during the winter months. We fed the 3 that frequented all through that winter. They told their friends, and they all had babies. The next winter we fed 30 and it was getting pretty expensive. We don't feed them anymore but thought you'd enjoy seeing the first mother to bring her pups for a meal. The photo was taken through the closed screen door, otherwise they would come inside.

Summer day with finches feeding from their thistle sock.

Two bucks, the eldest in the lead. Both of these and the other photograph show the bucks with the velvet still on their antlers. That's the blood supply. When the antlers finish growing, the blood supply ceases, the velvet (finely furred skin) dies and they rub the dead skin onto brush and tree branches, thus exposing their new rack. Each year they acquire one more point on their racks.

This buck seems to know that the only shooting will come from a camera. Nice pose, Buck! Both of these photos are in our backyard. This fellow is 3 years old. See the three points on each side of his rack? The eye-guards don't count as points.

Winter of 2009 arrived and shows its beauty in our backyard.

Paul Appleby took this photograph and captured the various shades of white during a snow storm. See the pink (center) and blue (upper right)?

Donner Lake as seen from Donner Summit which is about 40 minutes from our home. Remember the Donner Party? They left Independence, MO on May 12, 1846. A little late in the year to head to California's gold fields. Making matters worse their captain took the wrong trail. Winter hit just as they arrived at the east end of Donner Summit's Lake (the far end of the lake in this photo). They were stranded in snow at depth of 100" or more. The survivors resorted to cannibalism. Read more about their ordeal at Wikipedia.

This Oregon Junco took a wrong turn from the lower deck feeding station and came into our home. Frightened, it made a U-turn and ran into the sliding glass door. It fell to the floor and took flight once again, this time landing about 20' away onto the carpet.

It was in shock, of course. I gently carried it to the feeding station and worked with it until it regained its good senses.

In this photograph I had placed the bird into a shallow dish of water, while I slowly placed drops of water on its bill, one at a time. The water drops were suspended on the tip of my finger. The bird instinctively drank the water. After about 15 minutes the lovely little Junco flew into the overhanging tree branches and then went Eastward. Click image to see larger version.

Winter birds feeding on our lower deck as snow flies around them. The larger birds are California Towhees, the black headed medium sized birds are called Dark Eyed Junco, and the tiny yellow ones hanging onto the thistle feeding sock (top center) are American Gold Finches. We have other birds, such as:

He visits daily now and has his escape route well established. One day, while driving back to my home, I saw this little guy on our roof. Sure enough he crossed over to the side and jumped onto tree branches to make his safe journey.

I love it when he thumps his back legs to scare off whatever is frightening him. Most of all, in the hot summer, I really enjoy seeing him lay flat on the deck, legs splayed out making him flat as can be, in order for him to cool down.

Mama squirrel sits on the second step of the cat's up-the-plank escape route as she removes the shell from a peanut. She was seen moving her baby the other day. At first we were at odds about the gray fluffy thing covering most of her head until she put it down to get a better grip. It was one of her babies. Woopie!
Click image to see close-up of squirrel.

This is a young male gray squirrel. Notice that he has a wound just above the left side of his nostril. It doesn't seem to bother him as he enjoys eating a peanut in the shell today.

The younger generations of squirrels are less fearful of us. I was able to stand about 5 feet from him today before he became fearful. He's the third generation of squirrels that have eaten on our lower deck throughout the year.