Our First Project and My Cousin in Corrales

When we are near friends and relatives and will be there for a while, we ask if there is anything around the house we can do?  As in, "Are there any projects that you'd like us to take a shot at?".  Here in Albuquerque, Reid and Amy didn't have anything in mind at first, but now we have plenty of items on our list.

Our first project is refinishing the front doors to their house and also at Janette's.  Janette is Amy's mom who lives with them.

Their house faces the sun, so it has taken a beating over the years.  Pam tackled one door and I worked on the other.

First, I took off the handle, eye hole, door stop and knob, then sanded it down on both sides.

Once that was done, I put on a light coat of polyurethane.  I will have to sand more and put on more coats.

Pam also had to remove the door trim and molding and then find a good replacement.  It took a couple of times, but we found the right replacement.

We worked on the doors on Thursday and Friday and let them dry.

On Saturday, we got to see cousin Linda and husband Jim, when they came over to Reid and Amy's for dinner.

Reid, Amy, Pam, Janette, Jim and Linda

Always fun to see those two!  They live in the village of Corrales across the Rio Grande about 25 minutes away.

On Sunday, we drove out to the Corrales Produce market where Jim and Linda usually sell their vegetables.  Jim is a master gardener and grows all sorts of vegetables.  It was a little cold and very windy, so there were only about 15 vendors there and the crowds were sparse.

Pam bought a plant and we talked with some of the vendors and found out Jim and Linda had already come and set up and decided to pack it in for the day when we arrived.

Since we were nearby, we gave them a call went over to their place for a quick visit.  A couple of weeks ago, Jim's green house had blown down in one of the strong storms.  He salvaged most of his plants and they appeared to be thriving.

He has been at this a number of years and has all sorts of interesting varieties.  It is clear they have a passion for growing and love what they do.  They showed us around, gave us some clipping for salads and such and we headed back over to Reid and Amy's.

We didn't do much then, but we surveyed the damage to the back fence that had blown down on Saturday.

That is the next project on our list.

It is great being near family and extended family.  The times we get together are few and far between but fun!

That's all for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Thanks for joining us today.