We wash dishes by hand (in a rectangular Rubbermaid dishpan), rinse and place in this drying rack/storage unit, built maybe 20 years ago by Lew Lewandowski.

When we had goats, I had installed a dishwasher, but found that we practically had to wash the dishes first (so as not to have food particles going into the septic system). Plus it used a lot of water and electricity, so I took it out and we’ve used this system ever since.

Another feature in this kitchen is a 5-gallon electric water heater right under the sink. While I’m not fond of electrically-heated water, this unit is so small, it’s energy-efficient, and we get instant hot water.

We use rubber spatulas to get food off plates, pots, and pans; edible scraps go to chickens, non-edibles (coffee grounds, avocado pits, etc.) go in a stainless step-operated trash can for the compost pile.

After I finish the book on the ’60s, I plan to do one titled The Half-Acre Homestead, all that I’ve learned abut building and raising food over 50 years.

Apropos of nothing here, the Amazon series “Sneaky Pete” is wonderful. Great story, fabulous acting all around.

I’m off for Oregon early tomorrow morning.

Anyone who fishes (or clams or collects anything from the California coast) will love this book. In fact, anyone on the west coast of the USA, from Baja California up to BC, will learn how to catch, gather, clean, and cook fish, clams, mussels, eels, crabs, and seaweed from this witty and complete fishing compendium. Kirk Lombard worked for 7 years as an observer for The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission before becoming “The Sea Forager” in the San Francisco Bay Area. He conducts fishing classes, does demonstrations, and sells sustainable seafood. IYou can get info on all his coastal activities and buy the book at: https://www.seaforager.com/

Full disclosure: I’ve been to one of Kirk’s fishing demos, attended a seminar on making pickled herring, and went fishing with him for night smelt (caught 15 lbs. that night, netting them in the surf).) I’ve gotten a ton of useful info from him, including tonight, when I used his technique for getting the skin off horseneck clam siphons (slit lengthwise, soak in warm water for 10 min.) before making clam fritters (below, left).

He tells you how to catch salmon, halibut, rockfish, striped bass, and 8-10 other kinds of fish, how to gather 15 different types of shellfish, how to pickle seaweed (I’ve got a jar of pickled kelp in the frig right now, and I put ground-up dried seaweed on omelets, potatoes, anything hot). He’s big on the small fish in the area — herring, anchovies, smelt, grunion, and mackerel — because they’re low on the food chain, super healthy, and take pressure off the popular fish.

He’s got a sense of humor, plays in a band (his oldest kid is named Django), and has fun with his work and teaching.

The book is very nicely illustrated by Leighton Kelly.

Another photo of this, made from a burl of olive wood, purchased last week from The Olive Tree in Sonoma county. It’s sitting on our dining table, made from 3″ x 12″ Douglas fir lumber. (About 4″ in diameter.)

Friday I did a slide show on Tiny Homes on the Move at the Napa Bookmine bookstore. A great bookstore, a wonderful crowd, all of us on the same page. Made me think of Sam Cooke saying to the audience on his “Live at Harlem Square” album, “I can see you’re with me tonight.”

Rapport has been wonderful lately. 45 years of doing these building books; there’s a thread through these books and people who’ve read them. A tribe of us interested in a certain kind of shelter, warm, inviting, full of life, the antithesis of the Dwell magazine aesthetic.

“…all rooms ought to look as if they were lived in, and to have, so to say, a friendly welcome for the incomer.”

-William Morris

And working with our own hands.

Shot a lot of photos of mostly small homes in Napa. After dinner, store owners Naomi and Eric and I and a bunch of their friends headed up into the hills and had a marvelous meal prepared by master chef (and carpenter and musician) Steve Hutchinson. Wine flowed, 2 of the guys worked for wineries, it was a real treat. After everyone left, Steve and I got in the hot tub, yes, with glasses of wine, yes a hot tub in Napa, snark away, Californians in their hot tubs, etc. It started to rain — hard — and here we were at 2200 feet on a mountain, in hot water in the pouring-down rain.

I’m changing the nature of this blog. I (we—Shelter Publications) are going to focus on building,
carpentry, homes, gardening, and the like on our brand-new — ta-daa:

https://www.theshelterblog.com

   It’s been up for a couple of months now, and
its look and function have been steadily improved by Mac Wizard Rick Gordon.
Evan’s doing most of the posting (I’m funneling my posts through him), Lew is
starting at 3 posts a week, and we’re encouraging builders to send us photos
and descriptions of their latest creations.

   We hope to build this up so it’s a player in
digiworld —we’re aiming for some major readership. We don’t think there is any
blog or website out there with the type content we are generating. Think of all
the buildings and builders in our books—now coming out daily.store appearances (a slide show and book signing
for Tiny Homes on the Move), and getting such good vibes. It feels like
we’re a tribe. We’re interested in the same things—doing stuff for ourselves
(as much as possible), having a warm, attractive, natural-as-possible
handcrafted home, growing some of our own food…

   Remember, it’s “theshelterblog,” not “shelterblog.” The “the” is necessary to get to the right
place. This blog—my own—will continue to follow my
idiosyncratic path through life. Wherever I go, I’m taking you, the reader,
along with me, riding shotgun. It gives me an extra incentive to explore, to
search, to inquire, to shoot photos—if I can come back and tell others about
it.