4.21.2026

Jim sanded the door panels today... 

Then started gluing the door pieces together...

Two done and drying...

All four doors glued and drying!

More sanding to end out the day...

High 51.7/Low 25.5

4.20.2026

As these things always go, Jim had ordered a propane gas delivery at the beginning of last week, so of course it would arrive this morning just as we are getting ready to leave for Jim's followup appointment with the ophthalmologist.  But Jim was able to go out and talk to him so that was good.  This is the first time that we have gone all through the winter season without getting a top off, and this was a cold winter.  We got about 520 gallons today so we're in good shape! 

Once we got home and organized, I headed out to do a few errands and get another gallon of the cabinet paint.

This afternoon, Jim was back in the wood shop, sanding the door pieces...

A coat of paint on the front door panels - he'll later sand and then spray these again...

Drying...

A coat of primer on the door frame...

Jim ordered a timer for our outdoor garage door lights, so he was investigating that this afternoon...

It was an interesting weather day - when I was out, we had snow flying pretty fast and furious for a while.  It didn't stick around and today was the first day we saw a couple dandelions too...

High 44.6/Low 30.8

4.19.2026

 It was the perfect rainy day today - steady light rain all day.  Always good in the spring, especially when you read that so much of the country is in a drought.

Also a good day to do some painting - starting to paint the gray on the cabinet pieces.  The inside of the side pieces...

Door frame pieces drying...

Lots of pieces drying!

High 56.6/Low 36.6 - rainy

4.18.2026

 The temperatures are getting warmer, so Jim wanted to get our bathroom fan working again.  If you remember, we had some issues with temperature changes causing condensation.  Jim took the fan down and cleaned it well and we just blocked it off during the winter.  Today, he sprayed cleaner on the flapper valve, because he thinks that was the issue...

Let the cleaner sit for a bit and then wiped it off...

Putting the fan assembly back together...

Then putting the cover on...

Cross that project off the to-do list!!

Off to church!

High 74.9/Low 47.1

4.17.2026

Jim was back working in the shop this morning - doing some sanding on the front and back frames... 

Doing the priming...

Lots of parts and pieces primed and drying...

High 70.9/Low 55.5

4.16.2026

Jim did a lot of sanding today and then started priming...

Lots of pieces primed and drying...

More hand sanding of the inner parts of the door frames for priming...

Priming the last door frame sections...

Inside frame primed...

Although we felt disloyal to The Local, we tried a brew pub near our ophthalmologist's office that also has a burger and beer special on Thursday night.  We felt like we had much to celebrate again, but we just affirmed that The Local is still our favorite!

High 81.3/Low 58.9

4.15.2026

 Jim had his one-day following up yesterday with the ophthalmologist after his cataract surgery on Monday.  The doctor put a dye drop in so that he could check the stitches.  Everything looked good.  Jim was a bit discouraged yesterday because while colors are much brighter now with the corrected eye and near vision is improved, his far vision was still quite blurry.

Today, although Jim's eye was quite red from the broken blood vessel during surgery, he felt like his far vision was less blurry.  Plus, the scratchiness from the first day was gone.  He goes back in one week for another follow up.  

This afternoon, Jim did some work in the shop.  He now has a 25-pound lifting restriction but he's being cautious and certainly doesn't want to do anything that could cause problems.  Working on the panels of the cabinet, drilling pocket screw holes...

Just a little size tweaking on the planer...

Sanding...

Both side panels are done and ready for priming!

On our afternoon walk, Jim picked up our snow sticks - hopefully we won't be needing those any longer!

I'm now officially in my sourdough era!  Over a year ago, I took part in a crowd funding collaboration with King Arthur Flour.  They created the Sourdough Sidekick which automatically feeds your starter at the appropriate times so that it's ready whenever you want to bake, reducing the amount of discard you have as well.  I've never done sourdough baking, so I'm very excited.  My starter just arrived in the mail today - it's recharging which will take a few days - and then I can start preparing it to make bread!  Stay tuned!

4.14 - High 79.5/Low 52.7
4.15 - High 77.6/Low 47.1