Book Contract in the Mail!

That's me (on the right) at the West Oakland post office, happily handing over the signed book contract Matt and I have been negotiating since May. Over the next year we will be working on the manuscript.  Sorry to be so secretive but I don't want to give away our awesome idea! More details soon.

I spent another week on the Lost Coast, re-surfacing Leah's tiny deck.  This is my work table for the week, with views of the Pacific and Big Flat:

A couple of the joists under the deck had rotted out over the years.  Here's the deck before:

And after:

I was lucky to re-use the redwood deck planks.  They were still in good shape.
I almost brought back a stray cat.  His tail was lopped off and his ears are all chewed up, but he's friendly.  He walks like a pit bull.  Meet Mr. Man:

This week, Matt and I are teaching a chicken coop building class with City Slicker Farms.  We'll check in next week with photos of the coops we are building for a few lucky West Oakland residents.

Humboldt Fog

Team Just Fine spent the last week on a ridge at 1700 feet on the Lost Coast in beautiful Humboldt County, California.  A 25 year old redwood deck & stairs was in bad need of an update and we were happy to provide the labor.  Here is the finished product:

Carpentry presents its own set of challenges from furniture making.  Different tools, different methodology.  The controlled environment of our shop in Oakland and close proximity to hardware stores and suppliers was a far cry from our new job site. The lumber yard was a half hour drive down a steep washboard road, so we brought along all the tools we thought we might need, including saws, screws, shims, and sawhorses. We were at the mercy of Mother Nature, who for the most part cooperated with our plans. If the sun wasn't shining, our client's solar array wouldn't provide the juice needed to run the chop saw and circular saw simultaneously.

Here is the cedar planking, I like the 2x6, it feels solid underfoot.

We drove in at night, not recommended.  But we did catch a beautiful sunset.  Deep in the flats of Oakland, Team Just Fine sometimes forgets there are beautiful sunsets and stars in the sky.

This is the tiny octagonal house we slept in, with views of the Pacific Ocean.

Sunset from the tiny octagonal house:

We were above the fog line, thankfully, so blue skies greeted us every morning with our coffee on the short walk to our job site.  If you haven't lived within a 2 minute walk of your place of employment, Team Just Fine highly recommends it.  On our last day of work, the fog cleared and we were rewarded with views of the ocean down below.  Not another house could be seen in any direction.

If you haven't been to the Lost Coast, go explore this beautiful untouched gem of the Northern California Coast.  Matt remarked that it feels more like the Pacific Northwest than California.  We brought back some of the old steps, so if anybody wants an old growth redwood table top, or kitchen island, or desk, please send word along.