Dining room table neatly stored in the 'tween hall' area with the colorful glass fish-net floats proudly displayed on top. Jasper and Primer appeared for their photograph!

Of course, Mrs. Nelson was watching the boys, from behind. Just minutes earlier she swatted Primer's back side as he was trying to get out of her way. This area is where the television used to be. Now it is a nice library for books and DVD's.

BEFORE -- This was the entertainment area. Only two people were accomodated with this arrangement. It became a better reading area.

AFTER -- This is the new READING AREA. The whole purpose for moving the furniture was to utilize the living room. Paul suggested that by moving the television into the living room, it would allow us to use that larger area and, in turn, would provide a quiet reading area as well. (psst - the bright green eye... is Mrs. Nelson's)

Finally, the television is in its new area. Paul and Thom are going to install cable to that location. Father and son, working together and laughing a lot! It will be fun to observe.

Ah yes, Nov. 28, 2008 and this cactus is now 43 years old. The blooms are amazing this year. There were a dozen fully opened before Thanksgiving. There must be 2 dozen fully open in this photograph. Moving from lower branches, there are large buds and small buds going up to the top. I cannot count them all, but suspect there are well over 100. This will be her best year ever!

BEFORE -- Upstairs living room with fireplace on the left. This house is just a tract home in Grass Valley. It was built by Sbaffi, Falconi and Cassettari in 1982 and sits at the top of (for the old timers) Slaughter Hill.

AFTER -- With two very pleased, and very tired, men: Thom and Paul. They had a great time executing their cunning plan. In the end, there was only one minor change from the original plan: the creation of the reading area.

Boasting new black appliances, this is our kitchen.

Another view of the kitchen.

This is the upper deck which is directly above the lower deck. Yes, that is carpet on the decks. Extravagant? No, you can get them for $40 at K-Mart just before Father's Day almost every year and they last 2-3 years. It just adds an extra special touch.

For years on end I have woven strands of Christmas tree lights over and under the spines of the patio umbrella. Now they make an 8-spine set of Christmas lights for umbrellas. I should have patented the thing, huh?

This is the lower deck. I was standing on this deck when I faced our home office and took the picture shown above. We used to have a hot-tub on this deck but we seldom used it so now it's a cozy area we use to relax and play "Pub Quizes". Note the pub signs on the wall. They were purchased on e-bay to give a British flavor to the deck. The official British dart board is in the music room.

This lovely rooster was a thank-you gift from young Jack Lennard who visited with us from Basingstoke, England this summer. The rooster is guarding the two blooming violets. All seem very content to garnish our lower deck in these last few days of summer.

Winter arrives and shows its beauty in our backyard.

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.

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.

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.

Their chatter caught my attention as four, or more, or these gray squirrels ran around our backyard as seen from the lower deck. They jumped up into the trees and scampered through the boughs, and then one would appear on the ground to chase a very surprised friend. Our cat was overwhelmed and just chattered back to them while laying 'flat' on a cement stoop.

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: