Around this country it is not uncommon to have a week or more of bitter cold weather and snow, followed by warm Chinook winds that melt all the snow and warm things up. We finally had a week or so of typical January winter, and last week the winds that followed were particularly strong. But since our house is well protected by the eaves, the guys took advantage of the warm day and changed out our patio door. I was a little nervous watching them battle the heavy door on only a few feet of deck in crazy strong winds—but look! It's in!

The glass is so clean and clear—I just love it. See the bare ground outside? The snow melted fast.

I was a bit nervous after I saw the door. The outside has brown-ish cladding—which is great—but it wasn't supposed to be on the inside like you see here! I was relieved when Tom assured me the brown will be covered up with wood pieces. After those are attached the inside will be painted white and it will look very much like our old patio door. Except it SEALS. Tight.

A while back I mentioned I was looking to replace our exterior lights and was debating about what type of fixture to get. (What is it with me and lights, anyway?) Well, I went with none of those options and found something instead that was cheaper than all of them at $12:

It is small and unobtrusive. I'm happy not to be looking at the uglies anymore.

And while we are on the subject of doors, we have all 5 of our side doors installed. This is the one in the basement:

Looks nifty, no? Yeah, right. They look kind of ugly at the moment. We have to put trim around each of them (and in this case, some cork flooring) and paint them all up pretty. Which will take time. But again, they seal up nice and tight which is what we were going for.

It's amazing how many things we are crossing off our to-do list, and and how many things are adding to it at the same time!