heart day snow

cross country skiing

Doug and I went to Madeline Bertrand park to do some night skiing. This was my first experience on cross country skis. It was bitter cold (around 7° F), but I exerted so much energy trying to stay up on the first round that only my fingers became numb. As you can see in the photo, my brow was soaked. I think there is ice in my hair from frozen perspiration.

We warmed up with some hot chocolate at the Bertrand lodge and then went out for another tour. The trail had an occasional electric and gas lights on short poles, but had I not strapped my bike light to my ski pole, I would have stuggled with feeling disoriented. There was no moonlight to help us see in the dark areas between the lights.

Bertrand park map PDF

indy children's museum

This winter the icm featured blown glass from artist Dale Chihuly. Go to indy children's museum to learn more.

Citrus

We had supper club over tonight. I was fortunate enough to cut up some oranges and grapefruit. When I was done I saw a photo op for computer wallpaper.

Morning-Evening 2006.12.14

This is what greeted me this morning as I walked to work. Then I saw the rainbow as I started for home at the end of the day.

Camera:Canon SD 630
For the 3rd image I used the tungsten filter setting.

kitchen 95% 2006.11.26

This room is only 12 x 10. I staged the demolition, rough-in, construction, and final installation so I could do most of the work in the evenings and weekends. I began in August and had 90-95% of the kitchen completed before Thanksgiving. I called on friends and professionals to help. It was a classic case of "project creep" as I was originally only going to install new cabinets/counter, flooring and appliances.

The house was built around 1930, when lathe & plaster, knob & tube wiring, and real 2 x 4 boards were popular building materials. The old cupboards were custom made, installed around the late 1950's. As far as I can tell, only the dishwasher, sink, and fridge were installed since that time.

My rusty construction skills were tested and my stamina took a harsh beating. The wife and kids provided more support and motivation than they would ever know. Although I attempted to clean up after every session, we still lived in various stages of squalor from September until November. My family's encouraging words helped me to pull on my hat, boots and gloves almost every Saturday morning and a few nights during the week.

Here are before, during and 95% shots of the project. This week, the final add-on, a coat locker/pantry, is under contruction by the fine cabinet makers we employed. They are also working on the trim for the windows, door and wall. Hopefully, we can finish, at least up to 99% by Christmas. For some reason, the last pieces of trim seem to always rebel, but I vow to finish this thing that I started.

Overall, I'm tired, but we are very pleased.

kitchen during 2006.10.26