We are slowly getting back into life in Dunedin although after two years of rushing to get things completed in the few short summer weeks we have had here in the past, I feel an unnecessary urgency to be busy every minute. Massive guilt still sets in when I have nothing to do.
The last two days have been lots of chasing around getting small things for the house (like a comforter to put inside the duvet cover on our bed), so little visible effort seems to have been done. Strangely enough, after buying the comforter, the temperatures have continued to rise each day.
We have discovered that the vegetables and fruit are great this time of year. We bought two large bags of oranges to enjoy, but when Rick tried to eat one, he found that he had a very juicy mouthful that left seeds and pulp behind. We apparently bought juice oranges rather than navel oranges, so a further expenditure was a juicer so we would not waste our purchase. Rick squeezed two oranges this morning for a fresh although slightly sour glass of juice. Strawberries, right now, also are fat, juicy, and absolutely wonderful. My taste buds love Florida in the winter!
Today started with a thorough dusting of the house followed by my mopping the bathrooms, bedroom, and hallway. Like most houses, this one constantly needs cleaning, but at least the terrazzo floors make that effort not too bad of a chore. I would never, ever have a carpeted house again. I have the laminate floors up North and the terrazzo here, so when I clean, I know that there are no hidden grains of sand or dirt nestling in the carpet fibers.
This morning we went to the Palm Harbor Nursery to look at a replacement tree for the rotten tree we took down last year. Once again, we walked away with nothing. The woman at the Nursery -- who had a delightfully wicked Scottish accent -- talked us out of a crepe myrtle because she sensibly said that it would be beautiful all summer when we were not here and would be a messy, boring, colorless tree all winter when we are in residence. She also said that we should come down early next year (read September or early October at the latest) and immediately plant a tree and shrubbery that we could water for the entire winter. Trees and bushes need at least six months of daily water in order to survive in this climate, so coming early may be the only way we can insure that our expenditures would not die due to dehydration.
Noon found us at Dunedin Brewery to help Steve celebrate his 21st and 1/3 x 3 birthday. We found the Brewery a couple of years ago when Lindsay bought us a gift certificate for the place. We have never been there for dinner, but we enjoy their food and the atmosphere, and apparently their ales and lagers are great. (I hate beer, so I cannot vouch for the taste, but Rick likes their Pale Ale.) The Brewery is the oldest microbrewery in Florida, and when one visits the place, one dines right next to the giant tanks of beer. We had an enjoyable lunch, and for the price I brought half of my lunch home for tomorrow.
Another chore today was to wash all of the windows in the house. Let me laud the fact that we have a one-story house, so windows are all within reach without the need for ladders. Rick soaped and squeegeed the windows while I washed around the frames and removed all of the dirt from the window ledges. We definitely are going to have to add some paint to this house soon. Like most Florida homes, our windows are deeply set with wide cement window ledges. The cleaning today revealed enough peeling paint to tell us that they used to be painted a bright turquoise, and that we need to refresh the white paint that covers them now. The evenings still have been cool enough that paint may have to wait another month or so, but I know that we will soon be outside tackling that chore.
Our "ouch" today was to pick up the truck that we took into a garage yesterday. After the truck sat here last winter, we noticed that the airbag light came on when we came down in October. A blown airbag sensor and a new fuel filter cost us $754! Oooouch! We had other plans for that money, but what could we do? We could not risk driving the truck home this coming May with no airbag.
As temperatures climbed to 79 today, Rick changed into shorts, I dug out the helmets, shoes, and water bottles, and we almost killed ourselves pumping up bicycle tires. Let me amend that -- tricycle tires. Since we both have trikes, we have a grand total of SIX tires rather than four to inflate. Whew! I can put in the first 80 pounds of pressure, but that last 5 pounds is a killer. Rick's trike takes 100 pounds, so that one is totally beyond my muscle power.
We felt like we had a complete workout by the time we finally were able to sit on the trikes. OK, yes, I admit it: we are totally, undeniably unfit and overweight. Since we now cannot use the weather as an excuse not to exercise, the riding has to be a daily affair. I know we will both feel better if we are not lugging around the extra blubber we both have added on. You'd think we were bears beefing up for the winter! No excuses.
Once on the trail, I truly felt like I was once again in Florida. The Pinellas Trail is a 37-mile paved walking/bike trail that used to be a rail line. It is mostly flat, so we have no excuses not to enjoy the relatively safe (we still have to cross some streets, and not everyone likes bikers), nicely landscaped trail. Steve had mentioned at lunch that, like the old surfer movie "Endless Summer," we "snow birds" now can live the dream of having summer most of the year. That fact still astounds me: this is January 8, my husband is wearing shorts, and I was outside watering my few remaining flowers in the yard before I took a trike ride. Unreal.
This is what we have worked so hard for. We now are able to come here in the winter, to get exercise and to eat healthy, and to enjoy the ambiance of Gladys. We cleaned her shoes and her face today, so she is looking pretty good right now. We still have lots of projects to do, but as Rick said, we are no longer embarrassed when someone comes into the house. We are moving forward slowly and steadily. Tomorrow is a new day, so we'll see what opportunities the new day brings to us.
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