We have lived in our new farm for nearly four years, and bit by bit, we are making it our own. I have no gift for restoration or handywork, Maria does, and our friend Jay Bridge, the engineer turned carpenter and King of odd jobs, certainly does.

He has already patched the roof, replaced the rotting wood on the front porch, made storm windows for our very cold bedroom, helped to tile the bathroom, fixed the gutters, repaired frozen pipes, helped install the frost-free water line to the barn.

Today, he replaced the rotting and disintegrating storm door on the back of the house, it blew open repeatedly and let in the wind and rain. It was also an eyesore.

Maria has come up with many of the creative ideas for the restoration of our old and somewhat neglected farmhouse, the previous owner, the much loved Florence Walrath, could not do much in her later years, she lived to be 104. The inside of the house was closed up, drab and a bit forlorn.

We have put a new floor in the 1950’s kitchen, built the Frieda Kahlo bathroom, stripped and painted the living room and dining room walls, painted the exterior, patched up the slate roof, planed a lot of trees and shrubs and rebuilt the old gardens and added some new ones.

The bit-by-bit approach fits our budget and style, it has been a joy to make the farmhouse, a beautiful old thing built around 1800, our own. Jay’s new door will help. Maria and I reverse gender roles all the time, I wouldn’t know how to use a hammer or a drill, but we love working together, and I take orders pretty well.

There is another fringe benefit to this door, Fate cannot push it open with her nose, as she did with the old one many times.