Tuttle Roofing bill paid.

 A new roof costs a ton of money, and material and labor shortages add to that cost.  Insurance covered the bulk of it, and I am glad to pronounce the roofing bill is paid in full.  It required a degree or two in accounting in order to reconcile all the figures spread out on my counter yesterday morning for a couple of hours.  And again this morning on the phone to compute a number or two for Tuttle’s numbers guy.  At one point my husband declared to me what he believed to be true.  (Yes, you’ve probably heard this story.)  He told me that he wasn’t worried about me having to handle everything on my own at some point.  Except for the taxes.  This ran through my mind a time or two yesterday.  (Are you really sure about that, John?)  There are a few finishing details yet to be done here.  Electrical outlets, ceiling fan, rehanging blinds.  It all looks good, I’m happy with the workmanship.  A lot of stress and worry over the last six months, of course.  But it’s also been a confidence builder.  Also, I had a lot of help — truly a lot — so I cannot claim to have handled it alone.  And I barely had to use my new toolbox.

Spring Beach

 No, I am not back in Michigan yet.  Though — stay tuned, that’s coming up soon.  April is a transition month and I’m usually home early for the girl’s birthday and such.  This year I’m finishing up details on hurricane repairs and insurance issues, so one more back and forth remains in my travel plans.  However, my friends and neighbors who visited me in Florida this month have arrived back at their home and JZ sent me a few photos of the beach taken around sunset last night from the association deck.  Also known as Norah’s beach.

There’s no place like home.

Things I do for no apparent reason

 Bloggable topics have always been the hardest part of maintaining this blog.  Words are easy, I have lots of those.  And storytelling seems to come easily in my gene pool. Today I’m logging on with an assortment of unrelated stories, hopefully they’ll provide context for the larger story, if nothing else.

Yesterday I rode my bike to Kiwanis Park, stopping longer than usual to inspect some damage left behind by Hurricane Ian.  It’s been almost exactly six months since its eyewall sat over my house for hours and hours.

Six months later and the amenity/playground  is still closed.  Meanwhile, my drywall project is done, ready for paint.  Which may or may not be happening today.  I have a new roof, soffits, fascia, gutters and a new air conditioning system. Most citizens have not been so lucky.  Blue tarped roofs dot the landscape.

I’ve been tending a small pot garden on my porch for a while.  It’s had mixed results.  The tomato plant has not done well.  Perhaps not enough sun, maybe bugs. The herbs have done really well. Parsley, basil and oregano.  It doesn’t look like homemade spaghetti sauce is in my future.  Entertaining in a lower case sense though.

I’ve been watching a lot of NCAA basketball— LH was NCAA faculty rep for Hope for a decade or more.  Last year our women’s team was Division 3 national champs, this year they lost in the first round of the tournament after a very good season.  We moved on to Division 1 men’s basketball from there, and since she and JZ left last week I’ve been watching the Madness with my next door neighbors.  My painter just arrived, so here endeth the gospel for today.

Seawalls

 Every mention of seawalls reminds me of my granddaughter at two years of age, watching the construction of our seawall at the beach and commenting, “men workin’ on the wee wall.”  A good memory to have on repeat.  The Florida seawall has no such story attached to it.  And that 2 year old will be 28 years old very soon.  Time flies.

Here are photos of some washouts behind the seawall here — Hurricane Ian left a lot of seawall damage behind it.  Mine is minor compared to many, including one of my neighbors.  Here’s a before picture.

Here are some after photos.

I had some help, but I did most of the digging and filling in with sand and seashells myself.  I like to think that I ask for help when I need it, and I only needed a little bit of help for this.

Food Truck

 I wish I’d taken a picture.  My neighbors from down the street, Don and Audrey, own a food truck.  Yesterday my next door neighbors and I went there for lunch after I got back from a standard 10.5 mile bike ride.  Burgers were eaten, as were fries.  All tasty.  Lovely ambiance, the parking lot of a gas station, across the street from ABC Liquors.  The food truck is a big red trailer, not a truck, apparently this is a common thing.  Lunch at the truck/trailer was fun, probably because of the company aided by biking endorphins and that I’m easily entertained.  Later the girl next door and I took a 2 mile walk around the local neighborhood — in spite of a nearly 20 year age difference, we’re oddly compatible and enjoy our walks.  The day finished up with a sunset viewing where our little group grew to 5 people.  A little first day of spring thing.

Today my plan is to fill some holes developing behind my sea wall with sand and seashells.  Seems like a bloggable activity. And worthy of recording for historical purposes.  We’ll see if that actually happens.  I have the sand and the seashells.

Ollie’s Pond Park by bicycles

 Yesterday (Saturday) was the last biking day for our group of three.  JZ commented that we had not yet ridden to Ollie’s pond on our bikes, though LH and I had driven there and walked the path around it sometime last week.  It was the last day of “mudding” the drywall in the breakfast nook, and that made for some interesting conversation with my contractor before we left.  But  successful, I think.  Eventually we zoomed off — well, I pedaled, they zoomed.  NTSD (not the same deal).  Wind from the SSW at 15, gusts to 21.

I spotted a black ibis, officially a glossy ibis — I’ve only ever seen them before at the Myakka River State Park.  I scared it off before I got a photo, but I’ll be back to check for it in a few days, or at least that’s the plan.

Today is the last day of my friends visit — they’re off early tomorrow morning for Orlando and other points north.  It’s been a good two weeks, the three of us have traveled and vacationed together before, and we know how to do it in a civilized manner.  Yay, us!

Section Biking the Legacy Trail, day 2 - Oscar Scherer State Park and north

 And the end of it, at least for now.  I’d like to see the rest of it, but — as I have done with several other rail to trail trails — I will leave the rest for another time.  Perhaps even another lifetime.  

Before I tell the day 2 story, here’s an update on what’s been going on at my house while we’ve been section biking the Legacy Trail.

Drywall!  The spare bedroom is well on its way to full restoration.  It’s been a mess, but a necessary mess, and I am very, very fortunate to have found a good crew to do this.  So many people need their skills, and even the materials are in short supply.  To be whole again, about 6 months after the hurricane, is rare.

Photos from the bike ride.  The usual suspects were my companions.  Their e bikes make their day much different than mine.  In spite of a decent average speed on my geared bike —

Specialized — triple chain ring, 9 speed cassette — they have trouble riding as slowly as me.  This annoys me, but I try to control my tendency to be snarky.

Lunch, very late.  But a spot near the water on the intra coastal.  Back by 5, with a sunset viewing about 7:30 and FaceTime with the fam before bed.  It’s been a 5 day streak of biking.  My legs are tired, my friends don’t have that issue.  And that, of course, is my point. (That may have been snark.)

Section biking the Legacy Trail. Day 1, Venice Depot

 My guests brought their e-bikes with them from Michigan, and have been making good use of them locally.  Yesterday we branched out to ride a trail that had been recommended by LH’s cousin, called

the Legacy Trail.  It’s a rail to trail that starts in Venice, Florida and runs north to Sarasota, with extensions, a bit over 18 miles.  That sounds flat, and it is.  However, running a bike trail through a busy city required some creative thought.  Highways cross over the old railroad bed, not an ideal situation.  The solution was bridges that run up and over the highways.  The 4 lane highway 41 overpass was both steep and long.  Challenging on a geared bike, not so much on an e-bike.  Oh, and did I mention it was chilly (by Florida standards) and spitting rain off and on.  We persevered for a total of 10 ish miles.  Today we’re considering going back for more.  I do dread those bridges….

Pi Day activities.

 Pi Day seems like it’s my own special holiday.  My grandkids put that down to my affection for numbers, sort of an accountants national holiday.  It comes with warm, sweet memories of Pi Days past.  Some of those are recorded in the archives of this blog.  This year the pie choices were lemon meringue and wild berry, courtesy of Perkins.  Both well tested at free pie Mondays over the last couple of years.  My guests and I took a bike ride early, exploring the waterfront in Punta Gorda.  Lunch at the Tiki Bar between the bridges.  Sunset with the neighbors, then pie for the 5 of us at my new table.  A little NCAA basketball, and we called it a day.  Here are some random photos from the day.

New Air Conditioner

 Lots of activity to record here.  The insulation in the ceiling of the spare bedroom has been installed, as well as a three ton air conditioner to replace the one that was blown off its pad during Ian.  LH and I walked around Ollie’s Pond this morning, sunset happened last night, JZ continues to work on tech stuff—a new smart thermostat, a new smart tv, adjustments to my cable plan….

And I bought myself a toolbox to replace the silverware tray I was using to store tools.

Guests on E-bikes

 We took a break from hurricane cleanup (yes, still) and did some touristy things.  Faces should be familiar.

It’s time to take a break from the eating festival here.  A long break.

Key Lime Bistro, Boca Grande

 Yesterday we met neighborhood  friends from Idlewood (Michigan) for lunch.  They are staying at an Inn called the Innlet on Gasparilla Island.  We met them at a restaurant called the Key Lime Bistro whose specialty is, perhaps obviously, key lime pie.  A good time was had by all.

An A+ for presentation, but it was a bit disappointing to me.  My preference in key lime pie runs to the tangy side, and this just wasn’t tangy.

Demolition Completed

 It’s gutted all the way down to the studs.  Such a sigh of relief for me — everything looks good, no active mold or dry rot or termites.  We’ll treat it with the mold spray anyway, though my biologist friend assures me it’s not necessary.  Drywall installation begins the 20th of March, as does the installation of the new air conditioning system.  My insurance company has been decent through this whole process.  Here are some photos to document the process.  Oh, and my demo guy is 40, not 12.  And highly entertaining.

Elwood bought me pizza yesterday afternoon. Okay, he was getting it for his crew.  He owns the gutter installation company, and new gutters were installed yesterday.  Who knew there was going to be pizza involved?

Shingles then Demo

 Two big days in a row — finally it feels like we’re in hurricane recovery mode.  I’d nearly reconciled myself to having to return to Florida in mid summer to supervise reconstruction.  The timing isn’t perfect, but when is it ever?  And my gutter/interior demo/drywall guy is named Elwood. Super nice guy.  About 12 years old, at least to my eye.  The energy level of youth!  So at last a photo of my house with new shingles.  Gutters are scheduled for today beginning at 9:00 am.  Elwood was here last night until nearly 10:00 doing the demo on the ceiling in the small bedroom.  His take was that he found very little mold, no more than he would have expected in a Florida house that hadn’t suffered hurricane damage.  His well trained nose says it’ll all be fine.  It’ll be treated with mold killer (white vinegar followed by something something) and allowed to thoroughly dry before new drywall goes up.  Just YAY.  A couple of pics.

Leaning into March

 It’s been a quiet week here — that will end very soon.  Round two of roofing begins today with shingles to be followed by new gutters all around.  There’s an appointment to get an estimate on the interior dry wall after all of that.  I have no idea how deep into the summer this will take me.  Oh, and company arrives in a few days for a couple of weeks.  Friends and neighbors from Michigan.  Stay tuned for that, their faces will be familiar to you.  Now, some photos.

Sunsets and bird watching.  A congregation of ibis. Bougainvillea and hibiscus.A great blue heron.