Diary of a Manor - Day Two

We woke up comparatively bright and early, both suffering from a bit of a hangover. We had two meetings scheduled with contractors. First was Ed Flores, an arborist, with whom we traversed the property, identifying trees and deciding what needed to be done. It's a lot but he can also manage the overgrowth, pruning, digging up unwanted vegetation, etc. It's sure to be expensive but needs it. We can and will do a lot but we have neither the skills nor the expertise to know how to do most of it right. Then we met with David Leff, an architect, to discuss the house. He encouraged us to keep it and build what we want from its bones. We were happy to hear that. It will also be a lot of work and again, sure to be expensive, but we are anxious for the house to be updated. We spent a lot of time roaming about the property. Had to get back to the coastside early because we had wine work to do down here. Clay's also taking a course through UC Davis, and had a paper due, so he isn't getting a lot of down time. Well, no down time.