Last Sunday was Baby Erwin’s first birthday. Certinly the most meaningful birthday I have ever attended. The memories of her birth came flooding back. It was nothing like we had imagined, but it was an exceptional experience.
We woke up at 2am, and she was born 2 hours later at the foot of the bed. I, two midwives, one neighbor, two sons, a cat, and four paramedics were in attendance. A massive thuderstorm marked her entrance. By sunrise, the house was quiet and we were all sleeping. We woke up a family of five.

This image is the result of about an hour of driving 10 or 15 blocks. Maybe about 10% of Crestview. By the time I snapped that last pic, they boys were taking turns slapping each other in the back seat, the baby still would not sleep, and Christiane and I were seriously car sick. Research is not easy.
Normally I take photos of unusual designs, but this time I took a photo of every wood veneer door with inset windows we went by. Pretty easy to see which design was most popular.
Note the variety of the “Grover” design. The size, aspect ratio, and placement of the windows is different on all of them. The one on the bottom left has windows the size of sheets of notebook paper. The one on the top right is it’s evil twin with small narrow windows arranged high on the knob side.
Which one is the real “Grover”?
If any one is counting: 31 high on the hinge side, 5 high on the knob side.

In the past two weeks we have had one car wreck, one case of German measles, one outer ear infection, one dead owl, one dead squirrel, and two dead fledglings. We built a fence, shipped 2 doors, and built an e-commerce website.
Last weekend I got all fearless with a 20″ chainsaw rented from the local Big Box. I took out 4 dead and/or broken trees. One of them, the biggest one, fell in the wrong direction. It took out a section of the new fence and a small tree I had planted about 4 years ago. I was pissed until I realized the three other directions it could have gone. 1. Across a busy road. 2. Through power lines 3. On me.
If it had fallen due South, it might have hit all three. Would I have dropped the chainsaw and stepped calmly to the north, or would I have run screaming into the street revving the chainsaw Rambo-style with a cascade of sparks, sticks, and cars behind me?

I have so much to say, I don’t know where to start. In no particular order.
1. We’ve sold all 12 doors and we’re pausing production until July.
2. Having built and shipped 5 doors, I know my costs much better. I updated the price range on the web site to $1500 - $2500. Most doors will be about $1700 including shipping. Local doors in Austin, TX will be less.
2. I’m sending cutouts from the doors to new buyers as soon as they order a door. These can be used to test stain and to show off to friends. They have a nice feel, like a thick book.

3. I’ve been learning about crating and freight. It all cost more, weighs more, and is a lot more work than I thought it would be. Luckily, the 300 pound crate just fits into Winona (our minivan). And I can get 3 crates in her before her fenders touch her tires. Though, she looked a little scared as the forklift pulled up to her backside.


4. I tried to fire the glass shop, but the other ones are much worse, use the same suppliers, cost more, are farther from my house, and their materials suck. Look at these two reeded glass samples. The shop I’m using has the luscious stuff on the left. Everybody else uses the stuff on the right. Ick.


5. The illustrious John Park of Park Haus ordered a door. I had told Christiane, just the day before “We gotta get someone with a cool blog to order one of our doors.” John, seriously, who told you about our production company?
6. We made a “Grover”. I spent days and days designing and redesigning and second and third guessing all the proportions. At one point I found myself with a polynomial defining the height and width of the windows and I had to look up the quadratic equation to solve it. There is such a variety in that design at the vernacular level that it is difficult to define the whole style with just one design. The “Grover” is our signature door. I think this one came out perfect.
7. I wrote a Crestview Doors values statement. First draft is below the fold. Most statements like these boil down to “More good, less bad.” I’m making ours real, specific, and blah-blah-blah-free.

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