Sept has finally rolled in and that means some good things on the horizon including the SW Chocolate Festival in Albuquerque and finalizing the details for my park model home before its October build slot.
I took a drive to Highland Lakes Tiny Homes in Kingsland, Tx. Lisa and Mike Morgan are the dealers for Platinum Cottages. They have vacation rentals on their property so you can actually stay in a tiny home there. Lake LBJ is nearby. Lisa helped me finalize some details and it was good to see some of the materials such as flooring or cabinets as I made my choices. Prices still seem to be creeping up, so my fingers are crossed this remains an affordable option for me.
I killed the idea of on- demand water heater as it added about $1500. As much as I love them we’ll have to cope with a regular water heater. To compensate for the loss of cabinet space that will accommodate a water heater, I’m creating a pantry in the kitchen and moving the washer-dryer to the bedroom. In 399 sf you have to think about your priorities and where everything you own will go. I pared down a lot but I bet I’ll still have some “stuff” I won’t quite know what to do with.
It was a beautiful drive to get there, rolling hills and majestic oaks, and I stopped at the Llano Slab ,an interesting part of the Llano river where it has a lot of rock outcroppings, waist deep pools and a sandy “beach” on either side of the road crossing. A refreshing stop in the late summer Texas heat which is actually not too oppressive this year. Lillie would have loved this water spot but it was too hot to take her in the truck so we’ll revisit another time. It’s only an hour from where my new home will be.
The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting some cold temps for Texas again this winter although not the type of weather pattern that created the big freeze and subsequent power outages. Lets hope its not too bad. I moved her partially to escape long winters. A little seasonal change is invigorating but when it hangs on, I get pretty miserable.
I’m getting both antsy and anxious about moving on to a new chapter. I’m ready to go back to work on some level and thought I’d kick that off with an October class on everything caramel. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended any chocolate classes and I thought this sounded fun- caramel many different ways. It’s always fun to take a class by an excellent chef and get inspired so looking forward to creating some new Xmas treats along with classic truffles.
I’ll be teaching a “Bean to Bar “ class for Ecole Chocolat beginning mid Sept so it will nice to be back in the chocolate swing of things.
If you are in Albuquerque, Sept 25/26 please come by the Art of Chocolate booth 510 and say hello. There will be rapid testing at the door (not mandatory). If you do take a test, you will receive $25 in $5 dollar vouchers you can spend at the show. Sounds like a good exchange to me.
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