tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-301012672024-03-07T16:28:41.893-08:00Ranch JournalDorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-47440773367956119782013-07-14T09:18:00.000-07:002013-07-14T09:18:04.330-07:00Fresh Coho
I've started a new edition of Coho Salmon, on marine plywood (seems appropriate).
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230930500423870547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-23651947283960565102013-07-07T12:07:00.002-07:002013-07-07T12:07:49.908-07:00Coho Salmon
Andrew got back on the fish this morning.
Last night I complimented him on this painting he did as a backdrop.
I'm going to have to watch what I say. Today he got up at 0600 so he could go out to his studio.
Giant Coho Salmon hanging from the oaks visible in the background.
Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-90324252779910625792013-01-27T15:18:00.001-08:002013-01-27T15:25:58.873-08:00Aquaman<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-79450361149400010512011-11-22T20:37:00.000-08:002011-11-23T10:36:50.328-08:00The Anteater and the MacawHappy Holidays from the Ranch!
We've been gathering our smoked turkey, cranberries, and yams. The pie crusts are safely tucked away in the fridge. It will frost tonight. We have much to be thankful for.
Dori, Mooka, & Andrew
It is our anniversary, which we celebrate over the course of two weeks-—from the time we climbed the chipped gray steps of the court house and signed the Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-69090249282553093212011-09-30T09:11:00.000-07:002011-09-30T09:36:14.920-07:00The Man Who Made Bright ThingsThis is a repost of one of our favorite stories by Addison Ward. This gray morning Andrew wanted to read it, and said, "This is as close to my mission statement as you can come, so I'm going to go glaze something in my cellar. Cheers!"
The Man Who Made Bright Things, by Addison Ward.
Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-5617957919123244002011-05-02T17:58:00.000-07:002011-05-02T19:00:00.126-07:00Royal Wedding: Ranch EditionWe’re told as many as 3 billion people watched the royal wedding last Friday.
Meanwhile, at the ranch, thousands of bees (and two humans) were in attendance at the coronation of a new queen on Sunday. Actually two queens—another swarm was reported a day before at our neighbor’s up the hill. It’s that season.
Image courtesy of "designsbysherry"
On Friday it was extremely windy Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-26097759299912361442011-03-13T13:48:00.000-07:002011-03-13T13:50:31.095-07:00Western SalmonSalmon forecasts are looking good this year. The coho are regrouping (we hope).
This morning, as rain approached, Andrew hung a coho salmon and his cohort cut-outs from an oak tree in the meadow. Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-72582663436378908692011-02-25T21:52:00.000-08:002011-02-26T07:20:52.642-08:00Snow!Last Saturday we had our first snow storm in a long time. Here are some photos from mid-flurry. It didn't stick around on the ground very long.
Of course, much of the country is covered in snow right now, but where we live it's rare, so we get more excited about it.
I love how quiet and peaceful it is when it snows. After awhile it turned into rain, and the snow storm was over.
As IDorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-79037616104831346842011-02-04T07:39:00.000-08:002011-02-04T07:39:02.090-08:00Slab day!
Today is the day THIS gets installed in our kitchen.Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-51171256682924265122011-01-31T17:15:00.000-08:002011-01-31T17:15:55.908-08:00Suspect on the run in Bonny DoonAbout an hour ago Andrew came in asking me to “check the log,” meaning firedispatch.com, since he heard helicopter rotor noise upslope from us that made him think something was going on. He thought it sounded like they were doing a search pattern. I checked the log. Nothing was posted. Simultaneously, two CHP cruisers jammed up the hill, no lights or sirens.
Andrew reported it to our brigade Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-3902282375853879142010-12-23T19:57:00.000-08:002010-12-23T20:16:37.810-08:00The Art Fence ContinuesA few weeks back we started working on another panel in the fence. This is a spot that will probably get made into a gate eventually, but for now, we had a piece of plywood up to keep Mooka in. Not pretty.
Better now that it's becoming the scene down in the meadow, with geese taking shape where we wish there could be real waterfowl waddling around (if it weren't for those dang coyotes, Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-88505906109033429922010-12-12T18:01:00.000-08:002011-01-15T20:36:50.820-08:00Art FenceIn the past few months, our mischievous Aussie, Mooka, has discovered a wanderlust within herself. Andrew has been working for years to build a fence around our house and barn, but it was not quite complete.
We made it a long way with grape stakes, but there were some gaps and unfinished spots, soooo... Andrew got busy, tightening up some openings, and finishing the last remaining section. SinceDorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-23673901423309215522010-11-30T20:40:00.000-08:002010-11-30T20:40:25.195-08:00Wild AzaleasToday we found a new patch of wild azaleas while working.
Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-17250200808519911482010-11-05T21:13:00.000-07:002010-12-12T20:12:09.529-08:00New Brick WalkWhen Andrew was a teenager and in his early 20's, he worked as a brickie. He was trained primarily by Doug Diebolt. They worked together at the Cedar Street Gallery (411 Cedar St). where the circular brick courtyard still exists. Then Andrew had the good luck to work from Roy Rydell's designs as a subcontractor for a landscaper named Kermit Carter. Then he landed Manuel Santana as a client, to doDorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-38755841637850451642010-09-27T12:07:00.000-07:002010-12-13T09:44:36.908-08:00Here Kitty Kitty *update‚mystery solved!*It's the third day in a row of heatwave, and today is the hottest day yet. I was walking around outside around 10 a.m. and encountered a cat. The cat ran up a tree. He seemed pretty at home up there, so we're leaving him be.
* Update: Our friend Camille was right—this was probably a bengal cat, and now we know where it must have come from. We finally met our new Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-86684867919176529102010-09-16T13:29:00.000-07:002010-09-17T19:25:54.866-07:00Ratatouille SeasonAndrew is one of those people who needs to eat frequently, OR ELSE. I once asked him how this worked when he was growing up, with three younger siblings in the house. What was his mom, Mary Helen’s, secret for keeping him satiated without being driven insane?
From what he remembers, he and his sisters were raised primarily on a diet of zucchini and other vegetables that she grew in her gardenDorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-83992081926760669702010-09-11T14:21:00.000-07:002010-09-11T14:22:38.392-07:00Mardi Gras pastA volunteer at the George Eastman House, who is researching Andrew's grandmother, Clara Louise Ward, found our blog and contacted us. In their collection I found this photo of Clayla (and we're guessing her husband Frank Hawley Ward) in costume.
Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-4680346310418225682010-08-14T13:57:00.000-07:002010-08-14T13:59:13.397-07:00Cat HabitatYou will never imagine what has become of the porthole in our bedroom.
For the last few weeks the cat has been expressing her desire to go outside every night, loudly, from 2-4 in the morning. We insist she stay inside at night, safe from coyotes and other predators, but she doesn't know or care about that. It has been a war of wills, resulting in many sleepless nights, which is very unfair Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-41101144586626653842010-08-11T15:21:00.000-07:002010-08-11T15:21:03.498-07:00Poetry CornerOde to Dinnerby Andrew
Left-handed lady, holding a pot.Woops! Now she's not.
Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-12164975512226788442010-08-05T11:59:00.000-07:002011-01-15T20:35:40.030-08:00West Coast Fish ArtAndrew has been working on a collection of carved fish native to the West Coast. He has an old Sunset fishing book written by a colorful character named Ray Cannon, which has detailed drawings and descriptions of the more than 200 or so local fish. Andrew plans to make all of them, and has already made multiples of certain species.
An artists' workbench:
He hangs the fish as mobiles, with a Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-83694626182317870042010-05-06T17:33:00.000-07:002011-01-15T20:36:26.013-08:00Bobcat SightingA bobcat strolled by my office window today, pausing by the cars to hunt for gophers. He quickly caught one, and continued on toward the pond. Andrew was working on a gate about 200 yards away. You'll have to excuse me for the subpar photo quality, because they were taken through the window after managing to evict Frieda, domestic cat, from her position gripped onto my lap—grabbing the camera Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-61374629089330763662010-04-20T08:49:00.000-07:002010-04-20T21:25:32.810-07:00Swarm DayJeff, our beekeeper, brought up a new hive a couple months ago from Carmel Valley. They were packed into this bird house, and he said they would probably swarm soon to a new home, either to one of our empty hive boxes nearby, or elsewhere.
They were a gentle bunch, so he opened the hive door without a full suit on.
April 7 was an especially warm day, and we walked down to the bee grounds Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-38321454023852074902010-03-25T11:27:00.000-07:002010-03-25T17:54:31.848-07:00Barn Owl Web CamThis site has become a regular fixture on the corner of my screen—live video of a barn owl hatching eggs and raising tiny owlets inside a nesting box.
Parental Warning: this is real life, with some gore and mating situations.
Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-39603858758117173352010-03-22T09:07:00.000-07:002010-03-22T10:46:21.118-07:00Collier's Article...part 2This is the second installment of an article about Ward's Natural Science, that first appeared in Collier's Magazine in 1950. The beginning is in last week's post.
What Do You Collect
Butterflies or Hippo Skulls?
By James Poling
Part 2In such a business, purchasing is a unique problem. According to Dr. Gamble, the rule is, “Buy when you can, sell when you can, and pray you Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30101267.post-59415311569424332452010-03-16T12:00:00.000-07:002010-03-19T15:51:31.585-07:00More from the Ward Family ArchivesThis September 1950 issue of Collier's magazine included a fascinating story about Ward's Natural Science, the company founded by Andrew's ancestor, Henry Augustus Ward in 1862.
I've begun typing the text of this article. Due to its length, it will be posted in two installments. Here is part 1:
What Do You CollectButterflies or Hippo Skulls?
Or maybe just the hipbone of the Dorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01671606411582246856noreply@blogger.com5