When we left off, both the door and the tent shed were both broken. The doorknob was a simpler task, one I could do alone, at least in theory. I had to get screw-extractor bits, and then figure out how to use them. I got the old doorknob off, and went to put the new one on…and ran into a problem. The backset was too shallow. One of the post holes was buried INSIDE the door. Now what?

The hole got covered in tape and we continued bracing the door with the chair for another day. I went back to the hardware store and picked up another doorknob, along with the materials necessary to fix the tent shed.

Once I got the new knob home, I realized the first one was actually adjustable. It didnt tell me HOW to adjust it, but some experimenting, brute force, and dumb luck later, I figured it out. We have a functional door again, one with a lock and actual keys.

Being the lever style, rather than a knob will be easier when our hands are full of firewood or water jugs.

Saturday, we did our usual bath run. It was SUPPOSED to be a clear day. Instead, it rained. All day. And the shed was still entirely open to the elements. Boo.

Sunday, we tackled the tent. We’ve had the bundle of greenhouse plastic since we came here, but I wasn’t 100% sure of the dimensions. We would need a minimum of 15×26 feet. Turns out, we had LOADS. 24X40 available. We had enough to cover the greenhouse, another almost-as- large sheet for another greenhouse sometime down the line, and a narrowish sheet that will serve as a low tunnel at some point

This is HEFTY grade plastic. It is thick and somewhat rigid and not the easiest thing in the world to work with. All the same, the morning was mild and lovely and the first half of the work went fairly straightforward. That couldnt LAST, of course but it was nice to have at least that much go well. The afternoon got significantly colder and windier, and the second half of the work was frustrating in the extreme. We got it done before dark, but we were cold, tired, and desperate for a cup of tea.

Today, it is snowing like crazy, so it’s a good thing we got it done. The plastic is rated for greater weight than the actual structure can support, so no worries that the snow will cause it damage. And now, I actually have a place to start my seeds early this spring. I might actually be able to grow melons, peppers, squash this year.