Day 394: New doors arrive

Such a busy day! First thing this morning,  Pella delivered the new doors and the crew installed the front door.  Then we met with the contractor about bathroom fixtures.   Tomorrow they will finish the trim and begin to take out the back door.  The weather has really cooperated with this whole operation.

I drove a carload of friends to the funeral home in North East for calling hours for my friend's mom.  She was 91 and died suddenly on Friday night.  Although it was a bit shocking, when I compare it to my mom's passing at age 72 after ten years of illnesses, their family was fortunate.

New front door

Doors arrive

Day 393: Frozen creek

Over the next week, the original double door in the back deck and the front doors will be replaced. 

We haven't been able to open either of the doors with one hand for many years because the weight of the logs has pressed down on the frames.  The back door will slide instead of opening into the room so it will take up less space.  

It's been a long time since the creek actually froze.  Finally, we got out for a long walk in sunshine!  

The deer highway that leads to the convention center in our backyard!

The food chapter has been harder to complete than I anticipated, but I'm close.  The toughest part has been devising a formula to determine quantities of each food item for groups of different sizes.  We have an ancient formula that Lee created on an old floppy disk, but we have adapted it so many times that it's hard to explain.  I finally created a chart that shows the amount of each item based on cook group of five people.  

Day 392: Costuming

Such a busy day getting the cast into costumes!  The girls wear at least four outfits each and all of them are pretty this year.  No more headscarves, long skirts, aprons,  boots and shawls.  Instead, they'll be adorned in gowns that shimmy and sparkle, with ruby red lips and bobbed hair.  But the amount of work is huge!  Millie and the dancers are so good, so exciting, that they give me goosebumps!

Day 391: Trunks

Most of the day was spent on the food chapter so I didn't get out to take photos until late afternoon.  We were on on our way to buy paint for tomorrow's work party.  We'll be working on the 12th floor set and the hotel lobby in the afternoon.   The photos will be better tomorrow.

Day 390: Winter morning

What a gorgeous morning!  Early morning sunlight spilled through the willows and lit up the sky.  Patches of blue tempted me to go out, but it was only 11 degrees.  We bundled up to do a few errands and then I went back to peruse the routes chapter one more time.  After printing it, I tucked it into the blue binder of finished material: thirteen chapters, 123 pages!

In the afternoon I did a couple hours of research on backpacking food so I could see if I had left out any major points or included any incorrect information.  The one new point was about caloric density, which is a concept more suited to people who carry their food and hike for two weeks.

Day 389: Freezing

White outs and 13 degrees, but we ventured out anyway.  Two days in the house was more than enough.  We stopped in to see my department and drop off a cake.  It's always such a delight to spend time with them!

Mostly I spent time on the routes chapter, six hours actually, cause I kept thinking of new information and Steve reminded me of stories.  Now, it's complete and I can move on to a new topic tomorrow.  Perhaps food.  Twelve chapters down!

Rt. 20 near Brocton

Day 388: Eight degrees

Wind swept through the yard, bounced branches and whipped the feeders about with Mr. Cardinal hanging on.   A flock of doves, pairs of cardinals and blue jays, juncos and nuthatches darted from shrubs to branches seeking shelter and the only food available.  Apparently, the deer had the same idea cause they came by to finish any seed the birds missed.

Only eight degrees all day, I huddled in sweats in front of the computer or curled up next to the wood stove.   I read a hundred pages of Lincoln from the first battle of Bull Run through the death of their son  Willie.  It's hard to put the book down, but I did revise the chapter on routes and trails.   The major problem today was whether to combine the chapter into the Outdoor Classroom chapter.  I finally opted to keep them separate for now.  I should be able to finish it tomorrow.