Finally, the milk paint adventure begins

This weekend we had two hot dry days back to back and I decided this was the right time to power wash the front porch and get all the debris off the screens in preparation for painting. The power washing set up revealed that we need a new water faucet on the grass paddock side of the house, and since it was so hot and I wanted to Get This Done dear husband took two hoses and wound them around the other side of the house and through the front porch rail so I could proceed.

It is crazy how you think you can check something off your to do list but in doing so you have to add new things to do! 

It was satisfying to see the dusty brown water sliding off the walls. It was a bit disappointing to see one layer of porch floor paint lift up and spray all over everything. I decided I could not deal with that mess so I backed way off with the power washer and just rinsed the porch floor. I'll have to use a stripper to get all of what is there off if I want to use milk paint and tung oil on the floor. That's a project I'm relegating to a way back burner for now.

Within 24 hours everything was bone dry due to the heat. I proceeded with soft white milk paint mixed with outdoor additive powder and got one upper porch screen completely done plus the inside of the main support beam on that same end of the porch. Two coats was perfect. It looks fantastic!

Now I only have the lower (larger) screen, the porch rail and posts, 5 more large screens, another top screen, the remainder of the support beam and the entire other one, and the porch doors to go. And the rest of the porch rail and posts. And the steps. And of course the cat tunnel and ramp. (sigh)

I was dripping sweat the entire time but had my iPad out there playing music and it was a pretty nice way to spend part of a Sunday. 

It's a big project but I love being able to do it section by section as weather permits. And my reward for getting this part (the front porch) done will be to go pick out 4 beautiful door pulls to install and I am thinking a new porch light fixture and (possibly) a ceiling fan! 

how to spend the hovering-near-100-degree weekend

UC-Santa Cruz physics, day 2

I got more photos the second day. I love the front of the physics building but I love even more how UC-Santa Cruz groups their science buildings under the umbrella of interdisciplinary studies. The sciences form a semi-circle and you can go from one building to the next with only a few steps.

Inside, a Nobel Prize winner:

And a very very cool double pendulum:

This thing was capable of taking your hand off so I was gentle with it!

I took a walk to another science building but will share that wonderment next!

Back to UC-Santa Cruz

We spent three days here and I have so many photos to share. The library quickly became one of my favorite spaces on campus, though as you have already read, I loved it all.

Here's the walk to the library. The redwoods seem to gather in circles as if they are doing something sacred and important. I spent some time standing in the middle of the circles and soaking in their amazing energy.

These bridges are more beautiful than I have captured. I should have photographed the view off the bridge to reveal the forest floor and the path below. It is almost like there are two levels on this part of the campus - one above the forest floor and one on the floor itself.

The front of the library is stunning. You don't see the trees in this shot but they are everywhere around it, as if a building full of knowledge simply landed here and the trees stepped aside to let it be.

The space inside was the most inviting I've ever seen.

I spent some time here writing and reading and then I headed back to the student center to visit the bookstore. (Which had an entire section of fiction, very well stocked, and a wonderful collection of beautiful notebooks and blank journals - I was totally impressed.)

The student center was undergoing renovation but is very distinctive. I would love to go back and see it when they're done with the work.

Stay tuned for more. 

November Hill farm journal, 12

Three years ago we said goodbye to Salina on the same morning the 11-acre wood next door to us was clear cut. Two years ago we mourned the timbering of a large section of the 100-acre wood behind us.

Now when I hear the scream of the cutting machines I feel the loss like an old bruise that still aches when pressed upon.

I heard those sounds this morning and they have gone on throughout the day.

Friday I found pink tape marking the property line at the back edge of our farm. I contacted the real estate agent who has the listing for the 100-acre wood and said again that we would be interested in acquiring a small parcel that would clean up the property lines and give us a buffer zone and a little additional acreage.

This time they offered to take our interest to the owner. There was no mention of logging so I figured it was the hunters who sub-lease the land who had put up the tape, marking their territory in advance of deer season.

I've emailed again today to check in but meanwhile I'm cringing every time a huge old tree hits the ground.

The land seems so precious to us and the trees equally so. 

This morning one of the red-shouldered hawks who lives at the edge of the 100-acre wood came and sat on a fence post and gazed in my bedroom window. It felt like he was asking me to come handle this travesty and I wish there was something I could do.

They have lowered the price of the 100-acre wood to 900k. I hope they realize that the more trees they cut the less likely it is that anyone wants to buy it.

I'm putting up walls of white light around November Hill, and, in spite of myself, beams of Edward Abbey fury are aimed at those screaming machines.