Happy Holidays! Brrrrrrrrr!

Happy New Year! I have high hopes for 2010...2009 kind of stunk. I will be healthier and happier this year if it kills me.
It is now 43 degrees outside here in sunny Tampa....and our house temperature is 55. I have given in and turned the heat on (just for a little bit, to take the bite off). My thoughts go once again to the argument for getting a new air/heat system...if $600 electric bills in the summer is the norm for us, there has to be room for improvement in the energy efficiency dept. I know the house is big, and not insulated, but that is still high. My fantasy of replacing all 41 windows and insulating the entire house is just not reality, but if the proposed "cash for calkers" bill gets passed, we can get a 50% rebate on the purchase of energy efficient equipment, so a new system might make sense, especially if we can get our summer electric bills under $500. I am currently in the coldest/hottest (depending on which season it is) room of the house, the home office, formerly part of a wraparound porch or a porte cachere. Not sure why it is so much worse than the rest of the house...perhaps poor construction. I can't feel  my fingers much right now, and the forecast is for highs in the 50s next week. So much for a break in electric bills....snuggie, anyone?

Our Pretty Tree!!

Just after we had done a hard pruning to allow traffic to pass without having to swing out around it (and manged to keep the gorgeous shape intact) a utility truck has clipped a major branch (more like half of the tree) and there it lies in the street.....I think we are going to have to cut it down now....:-(  It had to stay closer than usual to the curb becasue there was a UPS truck parked on the other side of the street.

I remember thinking how pretty a shape the tree had when we were looking at the house and what a nice vista it provided out through the front door......

Tampa Old House Exchange

This is a new experiment for me born from my frustration in not having an architectural salvage yard here in Tampa. There are some cool stores like Sherry's Yesterdaze, Tampa Street Market and that place down by the bridge on Hillsborough I can't quite remember...and some funtional outlets like the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and of course craigslist (and ebay), but nothing that quite fits the bill. What if there was an online clearinghouse for old house people here in Tampa where items could be offerred for sale or trade, items could be asked for, advice could be requested and given with regards to old house projects and experiences could be shared? Heck there could even be a plant exchange. Neighbors helping neighbors. I would love to have feedback....the new blog is located at http://tampaoldhouseexchange.blogspot.com/.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here comes another Thanksgiving here in Florida; I still expect to feel the harsh cold air, and maybe some snow for this day, even after 7 or 8 Florida Thanksgivings. While I can at this moment think of several things to complain about or feel sad about, I know I have so much to be thankful for. The budget is tight, but I'm thankful that I have a budget, many don't. My house is old and needs repairs, but I am thankful that I have a house, many don't. My job is all consuming and overwhelming, but I'm thankful to have one, again, many don't. I am thankful for my husband, my children and my entire family. I am thankful that I can put food on the table and clothes on our backs. Simple, everyday things, but in this crazy world, so many are lacking the simplest of comforts. I am thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Finally, the Chill

Below 60 this morning, now up to 63; maybe fall is finally here! It is freezing here in our home office, the least insulated/protected room of the house....it's always super hot in here when it's hot outside and super cold when it gets chilly outside....not sure why it is worse than the rest of the insulation-challenged house, but boy...it's winter in here! I used to think that it got so hot because it has it's own roof as opposed to being under the rest of the house...but maybe it's just becasue it's so separate from the house....it was originally either a wrap around open porch or a porte cochere; there was something here according to the sanborn maps, but the porch is concrete and ends at the end of the exisitng porch; I'm not sure that they would have hacked away a concrete deck to enclose a room, they would have built over the concrete. Unless the concrete was a much later addition. It is now joists and light pine floors. The room has some structural issues, termite damage, wood rot, water damaged walls...the window sils are 90% dust and 10% wood....it's on our "list", we'll get to it! I guess it just doesn't have the protection from the elements of the house.
I'll just wrap a blanket around myself and don my LL Bean "Wicked Good Slippers" when I need computer time.