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Sunrises
I am an early riser. If am going to get things done, it’s likely to happen before breakfast. Maybe not three impossible things like the White Queen, but things, nonetheless. Morning is my time, though I am less focussed in the morning as I used to be. One of the things I have started doing,…
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Timeline of a rescue
2:30 am. I wake to strange sounds. A bird in distress? A really large cicada? I don’t recognise the noise. I’m half asleep but can tell something’s wrong. Sounds like it’s coming from outside. I get up and pierce the dark with a flashlight. Maura and Beryl come running towards me from the fishtern. Do…
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Carnage
Cats are apex predators and mine are at the top of that apex. I will spare you images of the discoveries I have made in the last couple of days, but let me list them because this is way more than usual: Anyway this morning’s trash had a lot of dead animals and their parts.…
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555: Things I Love
There might be ten things I’d like to change, but there are so many more things that I love about this house. That takes us to ten, matching the number of things I’d change. But there are so many more things that I like. I will continue… I could go on. The house is a…
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Housewarming
The 555 construction chapter closed out with a housewarming party on Sunday. Forty five people attended over the course of 6 hours. Our landowners, architect, contractor, several subcontractors and their families celebrated. And then there were neighbors and local friends who stopped by for a look and a chat. Tod’s Mom and her husband in…
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555: 10 things I would change
The number one most often asked question about the house so far has been “What would you change?” It’s a shitty question. Thanks for making me think about the negatives and things I probably can’t change. But since you asked, here are my answers. Each one is a cautionary tale for when you build your…
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The 555 Underground
This house is new but the grounds have been inhabited for generations. And every time we dig, we reveal some new and confusing aspect of plumbing and drainage from the distant (or recent) past. This week, we’re putting in a French drain (ankyo in Japanese) on the east side of the house, and preparing to…
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A Tribute to Contractors
555 is as perfect as a house can be. That is because of all contractors whose positive energy and skill permeated the house. I’ve mentioned them in posts through out the project, but I wanted to introduce them to you and thank them for their excellent work. SASAKI Yoshi Sasaki-san is the most incredible carpenter…
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Fritter, the wanderer
Yesterday morning, Tod & I were sitting together in the living room having coffee. I told him I had accepted that Fritter wasn’t coming back and listed numerous possible endings of our furry friend, from a new household to being stolen by monkeys. Fritter ran off a few days after we moved in and he…
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Organising the studio
I often wait to write here until I have an outcome, but I think this time the process is interesting enough to put down into words. And as always, writing helps me to clarify my thoughts. What I am thinking is… The new space upstairs is a terrible studio. My yoga area is pretty good.…
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