Saturday

Toby saw this cutie coming towards him and assumed the submissive puppy position and waited for his new friend to arrive.

And continued to play with the little fella on his belly to even things out.

The little dog approached barking, but left happy and quiet with a new buddy. The owner was completely smitten with Toby.

Yesterday marked my first year in Dunedin. Thanks to the pandemic, I arrived 6 months earlier than I had planned. I now have a better idea how the seasons feel in my new hometown and state. From my first year, I'd say that April and May are the most beautiful months; the weather is dry and the temperature moderate, from morning to night time.

 

March is also nice but can be a little cool on some days. Today, for example, the high was 66 and the low tonight will be 52 degrees. We were able to get a morning walk in around 8:30 just before it started raining.

John and I coined a new term for our experience here with the weather. We say that we are now "weather entitled," meaning that we have become so accustomed to beautiful weather that when it rains all day or is cold, we feel put upon, as if we deserve perfect weather every day. Yes, we have become spoiled. Put two cold days or two rainy days back to back and we become downright indignant. Fortunately, that is a very rare occurrence.

We finally got out of the house again around 1:30. Skies were mostly cloudy, but there were a few patches of blue peeking through.

It's difficult to evaluate my first year of retirement because of the pandemic, but the time has flown by and I have not experienced a moment of boredom or longing to work again. I guess if this year has been great, a more normal year will be even better. I look forward to delving into more house projects this year. I think we'll start small with maintenance/updating projects (lights) and then move to large-scale projects (kitchen renovation, landscaping) next year.

I took advantage of the rain this morning to put some felt bumpers in the door jambs so that the doors don't clang when being shut. It's a small thing, but sounds so much better.

I searched the Internet for a Kwikset door handle to match the one above, but didn't have any luck. One of the bedrooms has a replacement lever that doesn't match the others in the house. I like the Greek key design on the existing levers. I found the same style on a door knob, but not a lever. I emailed Kwikset with a picture and a request for help finding a replacement.

 

One other need that we have identified is that we need help with design, interior and exterior. We know what we like, but we don't know how to put it all together for a cohesive look. Everything gets to feeling overwhelming. If we can't pick it up from the street on trash day, we become unsure.

Miles walked: 6.1
Miles biked: 0