Cold weather the first half (highs of -5 or so) and warm the second half with highs of +5 to +10. Most snow now gone but lots in the mountains. New driveway works like a charm (as long as I plow it before driving on it). Used only a handful of de-icer and a pail of grit once. Had several sunny days and finally a day with the right conditions to burn branches I trimmed last year. Skied only once this month but had several dinners with friends and two concerts.

Helped neighbor Klaus bottle (caps and corks) some 1,300 bottles of some excellent gewurztraminer and pinot noir that had been aging for a few years (no grapes at all last year due to cold snap and late frost).

Dismantled a dresser in the downstairs guest suite (with burled walnut drawer fronts) over 120 years old and assembled with square nails. It shall be repurposed. I’m building another dresser/shoji closet in its place. This means designing the piece; buying material; cutting, dadoing, and grooving the parts; assembling the cabinets and drawers; applying edging on the panels and sanding and oiling it; building toe kicks; and then leveling and installing the cabinets. Next month I will finish building top and bottom rails for the shoji screens, clean and oil the shoji doors and apply new paper, and build a gable end. I find that projects progress at a very measured pace these days but my new noise-reducing bluetooth ear protection makes the work more enjoyable when using machinery, sanders or Bob.

Had a trip to Van planned to see an old friend/colleague who was passing through town on his way back to Australia but he had to cancel so I did as well. Some good news from the tax authorities – the non-profit I am setting up with a friend was approved for charitable tax status so we are ready to launch. More on this later.