My favorite day in a while. Pilates was at 9 am, so we picked up Elisa about 8:45. After a good class, we went to the farmers' market and bought potatoes and said hello to some people. We took Elisa home and chatted awhile with her "parents." We went by my Dad's and picked up his mail. As we got close to home, we stopped to check on Nancy's chickens and picked up a couple eggs. This is good because our hens don't seem to be laying. I walked back from Nancy's.

We had some leftover pasta salad with ham for lunch and I set to work on my "big" assignment due this week, a paper about my Dad. I wrote quite a bit, although it is not quite the assignment. I will have to make it shorter and more in line with the outline in the syllabus, which is a little vague. One part of the assignment I have completed, which is to meet with an older person for at least 8 hours and make note of our activities. I probably have spent at least 10 times that much time with my Dad.

About 3, I stopped to go outside for a bit, since it was beautiful and Ray was out there splitting wood. We finally started work on the chicken run/fence that I have had in my head for a few months. Naturally, it was not as easy as I had hoped. He did most of the work, cutting the wood with the electric saw (I'm kind of afraid of it), pounding stakes into the ground, trying to nail boards together that split and break, possibly because we bought them at the salvage store. We didn't get very far, but it was still satisfying to work on the project, partly because of the weather.

Liz brought Cameron back from a walk to the river and we put the chickens away. We had some wine and I made supper: pork chops with peppers and onions, mashed potatoes, and yellow squash. (Liz went home). We really enjoyed it and felt very full, since we have not been eating that way for a while.

Then we bathed, dressed, and rushed off again. We picked up Elisa and headed to Memorial Park for their contra dance. It was really fun. As usual, Ray danced at least twice as much as I did, never taking a break. Saw some people we only see at square dances, like Charlie Jameson. Dr. Kimmich was there and so was Theresa Carson. She admired the photos from the wedding. She seemed pretty good and asked about Gerald.

Elisa wore out early on and we left about 10:15. Ray was in a lot of pain from his hip. He had been to pilates, split wood, built a chicken run, and then danced. But he still hated to miss any dancing.