Air conditioning and furnace replacement

Our air conditioner had been getting flaky. It would work sometimes, but on the hottest days, when we wanted it most, it would run for a short while and then freeze. It was leaking freon from the coil, and it was overdue to be replaced with a newer, more efficient, non-freon system. As we learned, it was a 25-year old unit (even though the house itself was only 17 years old, go figure), and it was never set up well, with a 5-ton furnace driving a 4-ton condenser and coil, no condensation drip pan or proper condensate drain lines, and other oddities. Though everyone who looked at it said our ducts were in great shape, and they were sure they'd been replaced, even though we know they're original to the house from 2001. We got five different bids, with a bewildering range of prices and advice, but we ended up going with Southland Heating and A/C, who gave us the most confidence that they knew what they were doing. We ended up going with a Ruud U802V 2-stage 100K BTU 80% furnace and Ruud RA14 5-ton 14-SEER condenser and coil. And a cool new Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen) that learns our patterns and can be controlled from an app on our phones. They also enlarged our return from a 14" to an 18" conduit, and switched to a more effective filter at the plenum instead of the return cover. It was quite a job, with a crew of six guys working for nearly twelve hours. And the crane they used to hoist the new condenser to the roof and take down the old one was quite impressive. I wasn't quite sure how it would work with our overhead power lines in front of the house, and having to reach over the garage to get to the main roof, but the crane operator was quite adept at solving such three-dimensional maneuvering challenges. So, as of late this evening, we have a whole new HVAC system.

Raccoon invasion

Late this evening, George was awakened hearing noises outside. We went to investigate and discovered that a whole family of raccoons was traipsing across our barbecue and side wall, clambering carelessly over potted plants, using them as stepladders. In addition to a few adults, there were two sets of youngsters, three or four very young ones, and three or four more somewhat older juveniles. Mom was trying to help the little ones climb up the wall. In the large photo, look closely and you'll see, in addition to the group to the right of the crape myrtle tree, there's another group to the left by the chimney looking on.

Early morning skunk visit

Very early this morning, when George came down for breakfast, he found this visitor in our backyard. Skunks are around a lot. We've had times when we've seen the evidence of them digging in the yard, and we certainly smell them on occasion, and we've seen them mostly running around at night. But this was a rare daylight sighting.

Early morning rabbit visit

As George was eating breakfast, he saw out the window this unusual visitor to our yard. We'd seen a lot of other wildlife, but this was the first time we'd seen a rabbit.

Orioles and scrub jays

Here's a scrub jay enjoying the bird bath. If you click into Flickr and look at adjacent photos, you'll see a couple short videos of the scrub jay, and another of some orioles and finches in the fountain.

New dining room table cloth

Whenever we visit the Pasadena Showcase House, we like to see our favorite linen vendor, Catherine Giraud from Lavender Blue, and we often come home with a new table cloth.

Close brush with a brush fire

It's a bit frightening to be watching the news, and see coverage of a brush fire, and then realize you can see your own house in the helicopter live footage of the fire! This fire was in Elysian Park just steps from our house, but fortunately the firefighters got it quickly put out before it harmed any homes.