Friday, February 29, 2008

Leap Day

I've decided that today is a special holiday. I get to count this as an extra day, and I'll just do whatever I darn well please with it.

Which, translated, means: "I don't feel like packing up to leave my winter home yet."

Naught to be done about it, our work season begins. Phil is already in Todd Mission, and I'll join him this weekend ... if I ever get the van packed. We're constructing another fruit booth at TRF, and we'll fly to NYC for a food show next week. All of this means that the lounging season has ended. No more walking outside to pick a grapefruit for breakfast every day.

Usually about this time Phil and I start saying that next year, we're going to get here earlier, and leave later ... but it doesn't tend to work out that way. We tend to be drawn to where our projects are. Our current plan is to create winter projects here. We'd both like to make the house more energy efficient, and we really dislike the weird carport-closed-in-to-be-a-porch thing. So the plan for next year is to redesign the porch to follow the lines of the dormer above, put on metal roofing, and maybe get half of the windows replaced with more efficient models. Oh, and a solar batch heater for water.

The long-term plans involve wrapping the house with rigid foam insulation, then lathing and stuccoing to make the house not only super-insulated, but to also help it fit in culturally with the local architecture. All of the windows will have to be replaced before that can happen, so I don't have a time-frame for it ... other than the idea that Phil and I would both like to have these things done before we are thinking about retirement.

I'll be sure and let you know about any changes.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Bikes on the Beach


No, it wasn't a biker fest ... it was Phil and I on a GORGEOUS day off.


When we're in LaFeria, we live about 1 hour from South Padre Island. I guess I'd never gone when the weather was perfect, because it didn't seem worth the drive. I mean, I know it's beautiful out there, but the drive is kinda boring, and our yard is so fabulous ... why leave?

Today however, it was 85, with just the slightest onshore breeze. Also, while it is off-season, it was the weekend, so there was some good people-watching to be had, without having to deal with crowds. I don't know if SPI is ever *really* crowded, but we had no problem biking along the firm part of the beach, right at the edge of the receding tide.

We biked for an hour, then ate a nice lunch, then biked for another hour before coming home. It was a great way to spend the day, and we got good exercise out of it as well.

I have a great life.