For Christmas morning Libbie made ham and eggs with toast. We next opened some Christmas presents. Libbie gave me a replacement socket for the one lost at the greenhouse. I had put two boxes of Russel Stover under the tree. I used the day off to continue working on the Meistersinger program. I added two more feeds to Pachube so we could monitor this from Florida this week.
Libbie made her wonderful pizza once again. It looks like now Meistersinger has the correct feeds coming from the porch via an Xbee and also the stuff is on the web and on Pachube.

Worked the morning inside trying to get Meistersinger to compile with Arduino 1.0. After a while I finally found the errors of my way calling the client wrong. Fixed that and it now compiles. would like to add this to the current setup but I'll wait till tomorrow so I'll have ample debug time. I ran the conduit with wire in it over to the fan in the greenhouse. Next I'll figure out how to hang the heater. Dinner was ham, sweet potato and Broccoli along with Beringers Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was nice and hearty and dry but not much oak characteristic. In the afternoon we listened to La Fille Du Regiment live from the Met.

We started the day by going to the greenhouse to look for staples and pick up a roll of leftover plastic. No staples so it was a trip to Lowes for staples. Brought this stuff home and then went to Krogers for our Christmas ham and fixings. Put more plastic up on the sidewall then switched to working on the gas line. I ran a new gas line all the way up to the heater and capped it with a shutofff. Leak tested everything and came in satisfied. Dinner was ham, sweet potato, broccoli and Chardonnay. During dinner the Met was playing Hoffman from 1989. This was a very productive day.

I had to get blood. taken in Cary this morning. When I came back home I had breakfast then went to Home Depot for electrical stuff and gas pipes. I have everything needed to finish wiring. Installed the inside plastic on the shutter wall then ran the rest of the conduit and hooked up 3 outlets. WooHoo! Next I'll run a wire inside conduit to the fan wall for the fan. Today is a very warm day - 70 degrees for the first day of winter! Dinner was veggie lasagna. After dinner I read and listened to a live broadcast of madama Butterfly.

This was a relatively productive day. We went to Lowes and got conduit and fittings to run power to the shutters and heater in the greenhouse. I installed all that stuff so now rough in is done. Still much to do. It's a reiny day and the greenhouse leaks like heck all along the bow to house attachment. Dinner was Quesadilla and a Margarita at La Cosina. After dinner we watched a pretty interesting synchronized light display in Cary on Balmoral Drive. It was pretty cool, the first time I have ever seen one of these.

I broke down and picked up a new computer at Office Max. It's an i3 by Acer. It seems to have enough power. I'm having trouble with Win 7 networking in order to transfer files from my other computer. The keyboard also seems to be smaller but not much of a problem. Put some plastic on the sidewalls this afternoon. It's a warm day but I didn't get much done. Next item is to run the power everywhere. I also need the Xbee temperture sensing so we can remotely monitor everything. Dinner was lobster Ravioli. I spent the evening installing software on my new laptop.

Started the day with a dentist appointment at 8:30. Dr Paul spent a lot of time talking to me about twins and how easy they are to raise when you have a schedule. He talked about his trips to Disney including next week when he takes the grandkids to Disneyworld. Her wife told me they have 10 grandchildren.
When I came home it was still cold outside so I worked indoors on the Xbee temperature sensing. I had success receiving temperature packets and displaying them on a web page. Just before lunch we took the roll of plastic out of the garage and unrolled it on the back lawn. Next I took a corner and pulled it up to the top corner. Then I climbed bow by bow and pulled the plastic up. When done I put the clips on the top and bottom edges. It looks pretty good. I went out on the roof from the workshop window. This worked well. When the plastic was not there it looked scary but with the plastic hiding the ground going outside onto the roof was easy. Tomorrow i will button up the sidewalls in anticipation of 3 days of rain this week but at least it will be warm. I should be able to do wiring and gas plumbing with the top on.

It's cold but sunny today. We took a walk around the new pathway in Seagroves around the pond. there are two bridges. Very nice. It's still under construction but lots of people were out using it. I finished the clips above and the ridge beam. Now I'm ready for the top. Dinner was Libbie's excellent pizza. The crust came out nice and thin and yummy.

Started the day outside finishing the ridge beam and then the baseboard. This was the extent of the outdoor work today. I came in to listen to Madama Butterfly live from the Met while we photographed Violets. When Butterfly was done we went to Jennifers birthday party for MacKenzie. It was her 15th. Jenns house is a disaster but definitely a family place. There is junk everywhere. Stewart fixed some nice Pork shoulders on his cooker all day. After the party we drove downn Penny Rd to see the Christmas lights of the 100,000 light display. It was awesome as usual.

Finished the framing then tried putting up the ridge beam. This is a huge task. It started raining while I was putting the first U bolt in. Came down and started brining in the tools. The rain wasn't supposed to start until this evening. It's early. Went in to work on the Zigbee temperature sensing. Dinner was stuffed flounder, peas and mushrooms and brown rice.

Another great day. Spent the morning working on temperature sensing and Xbee in my workshop sensing the porch temperatures. At noon I went outside and started working on the greenhouse. I framed up the fan and shutter, caulked the nails on the roof. Remaining is the attachment to the porch. This will be a challenge. Libbie made Pad Thai for dinner. Time Warner called about the tire tracks. They want me to file a police report to get the license number address.

This was a successful day all around. i went to Wake crisis Ministry with Libbie to donate our gift exchange items from yesterday. We each got a throw. Next we went to Lowes and then Home Depot for a garbage can and silicon caulk. We also got two rugs for the family room. A runner and a throw rug to take up traffic patterns on the white rug. I went on the roof and finished the two caps for the dryer and the kitchen vent complete with flashing and shingles. Still need to caulk the exposed nail heads but the job went well. I finished in the evening around 4 PM.

Spent the morning on the Xbee transceivers. I ended up ordering 3 of them from Digikey. i could not get the config program to recognize this level of firmware. We left for the Violet party at 11:30 but dropped some packages off at the Post Office first. Got to jAnn Raymers at noon. wow, what a spread she put out. Pork chop ribs smoked outside with mac and cheese and greenbeans. Desert was apple pie and ice cream. Fantastic. We did a gift exchange which Libbie and i will donate to a charity. We don't need anything else. dinner was Lobster Pasta. Yummy. I got the Xbee to transmit from my shop to the office, just dummy data. now the challenge is for real data to make the trip.

Today was a lazy day. I painted the transition box in the morning and lined it with flashing in the afternoon. When I finally got outside on the ladder it was 3 PM. Got a hole cut in the roof for the pipe. now I need a hole for the dryer vent and then put the roof cap on. Dinner was chili with cornbread. nice.

After dragging my feet most of the morning on little projects, I went outside on the ladder and built a transition box for the kitchen vent. This morning I successfully got the porch temperature sensor working on both the thermostat and the heat stack. There were some wiring errors and also Arduino switched to version 1 which was not compatible with the one wire libraries. Dinner was Libbie's pizza. She put pepper and onion in it which was good but she also put leftover barbecue in it which wasn't great. I painted the transition box this evening in my shop. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow.

Worked inside on the temperature sensor this morning. It's a nice Fall day but we have to leave for Faust at 12:15. The Opera was grand. Never have I enjoyed Faust more. Since we were at Crossroads we went to BJ's after the performance and got ribs which we had this evening with Louis Martinin Cabernet Sauvignon.

It's in the thirties this morning. I chose to stay inside and work on the temperature sensor for the new greenhouse. Jack came over to get more Mondo grass. I started working on relocating the dryer and kitchen vents. Need to go through the roof with them. Ended up getting some stove pipes from Home Depot and also a new jigsaw. i bought a gift card in Kroger first to get the gas points. They are offering 4X the points this month for gift card purchases. Dinner was Chili with Ravenwood Zinfindel.

In the morning I worked on finishing the baseboard for the greenhouse. After lunch Libbie and I went to Wyatt Quarles and picked up pots, trays and domes. We also got our roll of plastic for the roof of the new greenhouse. Got the run around from Time Warener so i called ATT. They will send someone out tomorrow to look at the damage. Dinner was chili with cornbread and shiraz wine. This is a very nice meal for the weather which is turning colder.

It's supposed to rain today with a major cold front. I went outside to get the name of the contractor who ripped up my lawn. One guy wouldn't say who he was, the other said they were Time Warner subs. Timer Warner told me they don't have them on their list of contractors. It's probably ATT. Bought some more 2x6's at Home Depot today with a gift card purchased in Krogers to get gas points. Installed all the baseboard. Went to Scottrade in Cary twice today. Once to make the IRA transfer and the second time to transfer the Schwab accounts to Scott. I want one consolidated account. Dinner was Lobster Ravioli.

This was a busy day. The market only went up 51 today but my IRA port broke 400 going to 400.7. WooHoo. I tilled the front yard and then went for groceries. Jack came over and got Mondo grass out of the greenhouse area. After the groceries I painted the cornice work because it's supposed to rain tomorrow then get cold. I then planted the Mondo in the front yard and criss crossed the area with electric fencing. Some moron from Time Warner did a U Turn on our front yard. I went out and yelled at him then called Time Warner. what a mess. We went to LaCosina tonight and had Margarita's and the usual. Very nice. Afterward we hit Kroger again for missing groceries like tea and milk. I also bought another gift card for Home Depot to get 4X the gas points. I need to go to Home Depot anyway so this is a good deal.

Went to home Depot first thing for bolts and more wood. Jack and Joy were coming over today at 10. I didn't get started on the greenhouse project until after lunch. Added some baseboards and nailers to the mix. I also bolted the shutter wall to the vertical pipe. The greenhouse is closing in on the day it will be covered. I'm hoping for next week. Dinner was a Korger Rotisserie chicken with Bush baked beans.

After the normal Sunday programs I went out to work on the greenhouse some more. Put the shutter wall up. I roughed in the shutter at 40 inches but it looks too big. Need some bolts to fasten this wall to the vertical post. Libbie made some of her best Pizza yet. She used peppers from the garden and some onions in the refrigerator to make an outstanding pizza.

Worked the first few hours of the morning on an Xbee temperature monitor for the porch and greenhouse. I glued down 4 RJ45's onto a proto board as the first step. One wire buses will plug into this. Next I went outside and started the East wall by digging up the Mondo grass and dumping it in the front for transplanting. Measured what I needed for wood and went to Home Depot for the stuff. I'll put it up tomorrow. Dinner was parmesan crusted tilapia with steamfresh veggies and sweet potato. This was accompanied by a bottle of Shiraz.

This was a productive day. I worked on the roof putting up flashing from the window to the edge of the West side. This was in preparation for the two pieces of 1x4 PVC corner bead that I installed next. This essentially completes the cornice work. Out in the back somewhere is a noisy and annoying machine that just roars. I don't know what they are doing but it gets to me after a while. We had a long list of errands to do which included a post office trip to drop off a package, a trip to Whole Foods to use our Groupon and get tomorrow's dinner then a stop by Ira's office for Libbie to get her glasses. We also went to the greenhouse where I picked up 4 more pails of gravel. Lots of running around!

Came in and cleaned up for First Friday. We went to Nichole's and had some wine and bought some fused glass angels for the TAVS gift exchange. Next stop was Raleigh CAM. Had a hard time finding parking but eventually a block down from CAM we got a spot. Admission was $5 each. The building is lovely, it's a converted produce warehouse. The art was not to my taste. Downstairs they had a weird NC State School of Design high tech art display. Once again, not for me. We had dinner at the Pit. I had Carolina style Spare ribs with beans abd french fries and some Brooklyn beer which was a microbrew. Excellent. I remarked to Libbie that we were the oldest people in the place. Surrounding us were tables of young professionals.

Cleaned the house up because Nancy was coming over. It turns out she came but we didn't hear her at the front door. need to fix that, either a bell on the porch or in the back room. I finished enclosing the cornice and built some more of the greenhouse wall including a header over the door frame. I planted all the daffodil bulbs - some in the front yard, some in the woods in the back and a few in the garden below our porch chairs. I also pulled the dahlias. After lunch today we went to the farmers market and visited with Jennifer who was selling xmas trees. I also gave her the parrot toys from Vicki Carr.