Entering the last week of January

We’re now entering the fourth and last full week of January. It’s hard to believe this much of January has elapsed already. It seems like last week we were still enjoying the holiday decorations and foods but in fact a few weeks have since passed.

The coast off of Fort Bragg on my Sunday bike ride.

I’ve stuck to my 30/30 challenge, riding my bike, mostly the indoor bike on a trainer, every day for at least 30 minutes. I’ve gotten outside a handful of times - once to ride laps around our vineyard which is a mostly graveled track, once to ride on some trails with friends in Jackson State Demonstration Forest, once to ride on trails on my property (still quite wet and muddy) and yesterday to Fort Bragg to ride with a friend there on the haul road. Yesterday was extremely windy - we had to push hard into the wind as we rode north from the Cypress Street access point up to Cleone and Ward Avenue where we turned around. The ride back was fast - the wind pushed us right along and it almost felt like riding an e-bike. In fact my fitness app actually asked me if it wasn’t an e-bike ride!

The downstairs of our house has been getting a paint refresh for the past couple of weeks. Joshua Treespirit and his assistant, Sierra, have been updating our tired paint with a fresh coat of a whiter, brighter color. It’s been hard work at times even for us as we’ve had to move things around to accommodate the painting. This brings us to re-evaluate the items in the house and make decisions about what to keep and what to find new homes for. Also, some things have sat so long the dust has accumulated and so there’s been a fair amount of cleaning too. I think we’re winding down to the last few walls now and in a week or so we will have the house back to ourselves. Then we will have one last push to go through items, clean things and possibly move some items around. Overall, while it has been a disturbance in the house, I’m so happy we decided to move ahead with the new paint. It’s been a great way to start the new year and I’ll have lots of time to enjoy the new freshness for a while. I am very happy with the good job Joshua and Sierra have done.

Real estate has picked up a little; I’ve had daily calls and emails, which is an uptick after the weeks of quiet during the holidays. Most of the interest is in the lower end - homes under $500,000 and land under $200,000. This is good news for those properties, but not such good news for the higher end properties also on the market. I think everyone is adjusting to the interest rates, which only seem high compared to the extreme low we had since 2008. Also, real estate remains a good hedge against inflation - and as the saying goes, they aren’t making any more land (well, yes, I know, they are in some distant countries).

The sun is out and will be for a week or so. I am hopeful more rain is coming but in the meantime, I hope to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather while we have it. I hope you are able to do the same.