Shop Cats and Friends

West Coast Weather Vanes is an animal friendly workplace. All of us here like animals. While Ken and I tend to have cats as pets, over the years our weathervane makers and staff have brought their animal companions to work as well. We thought we’d share some of our favorites over the years.

Copper and Brass are the newest members of our staff. They are brothers we adopted from our local animal shelter in May 2013. They take seriously their job of supervising the office staff but find their jobs tiring indeed.

Solder and Flux preceded Copper and Brass as staff supervisors. They did their jobs well for close to seventeen years. Our Cat and Mice Weathervane is based on Solder, who in addition to his duties at West Coast Weather Vanes, was a great mouser.

Two long term canine favorites were Chuck and Sadie, who worked in the office for about seven years. Chuck served as inspiration for several of our Labrador Retriever weathervane designs. Victor, one of our vane makers, often brought his dog Buddy to work as well. He supervised work related activities out in the shop. Our current office supervisor is Teddy, a Labradoodle belonging to Susanne, our Production Coordinator. He is a happy soul and brings a smile to all our faces. Nemo. a dapple Doxie, is the latest addition to our shop team. His gentle nature and laid back personality brings a smile to all who meet him.

Just off the coast here in the beautiful Monterey Bay, orca, humpback and grey whales, elephant seals, sea lions, great white sharks, dolphins, otters, pelicans and seagulls ply the waters. Our studio is in the heart of the forested Santa Cruz Mountains, just six miles inland, at an elevation of 1800 feet. Our home and studio share the land with a wide assortment of wild animals. Over the years, we’ve photographed a number of these local denizens here on our property and thought you might enjoy seeing a few, including this recent video of a mountain lion in our yard at night. What a thrill to finally see this local native.