May 2025

This has been a very sad month. Barley, our beloved top dog for more than 10 years, passed away due to a run-in with a service vehicle. We are simply heartbroken.

After she passed, we laid Barley out for the other dogs to sniff her body, and Elsa chose to lie in Barley's favorite spot and take a snooze.

While no dog can take Barley place, we needed a new addition to distract us. The result is Mousse, an 11-week old chocolate lab puppy. He's keeping us up at night and steadily destroying the house, but we're happy to have him.

All the other dogs have now met Mousse, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. However, we're confident that things will settle down in the right way.

Despite the loss, ranch tours continued apace. Shown here are members of the American Institute of Architect's California chapter who especially enjoyed seeing some of our less habitable dwellings.

Yes, there are bears up here, and the extensive scratch marks on this tree show proof of one bear's attempt to get at a local beehive. The marks are all around the tree, suggesting multiple if unsuccessful attempts. We're quite sure he or she will keep trying.

Our latest construction also wound up this month and resulted in a rustic special events venue for up to 60 folks. It's more than a mile back from the main house, making it wonderfully private and quiet, yet it has all the amenities an event would require. If you're looking for a special spot for that wedding, reunion, anniversary, or corporate retreat, this may be just right for you.