[RHClarke]

The morning of the first day of the New Year came early. After a quick breakfast and some champagne and orange juice with my beloved wife, I hit the road for the barn - not to worry, it was only about an ounce of the bubbly mixed with a generous helping of OJ.

The sun was up and shining in all of its glory this morning. However, the mercury was hovering at about -13oC, so when I arrived at the barn, I decided to fire up Lucifer. After enjoying Lucifer's warmth, I headed outside to dig out the snow that accumulated around my 45 HUP shelter. The wind chill factor pushed the temps down to around -22oC. Later this year we will shrug off those temperatures, but right now it felt damned cold outside.

It was very quiet at the the barn until about 10:30 when Grant drove in. We both got down to business with door repairs. My focus was on the driver's side door for the Pilot Model. It was in better shape than the other door but requires some repair - see Pilot Model Thread.

Bob made his appearance just after lunch time. Apparently, he and Joyce decided to have their New Year's party this morning, and since he was not feeling any pain, he decided not to operate heavy equipment or use dangerous tools today. So he headed home to put in some wood for his furnace.

I left Grant working away on his cab 13 door and headed home for some hot turkey soup and tea biscuits. It is amazing how the cold works up an appitite.


Photo: The ongoing battle with snow continues. The shelters are getting squeezed by the snow that we rake off. The snow needs to be removed from the side walls to prevent cave ins and material damage.