hike on the beach as the sun went down. The tide was low and I was amazed by the number of turtle nests, in fact the largest number I can remember in a very long time. Great to see and I wonder why so prolific this year? Are the measures that have been taken beginning to work?

Red tide update from: redtide@MyFWC.com

No water samples have been received this week from northwest Florida.

On the east coast of Florida, no Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected in a water sample collected alongshore of Martin County.

In southwest Florida, no Karenia brevis was detected in water samples collected alongshore of Sarasota and Collier counties or offshore of Monroe County.

Sampling will continue this week, and complete results will be available in the next scheduled status report on Friday, July 24.

Red Tide status is still looking good and I would think partly to the lack of rain. If anyone would like this information directly just go to the FWC link below....

Weekly Red Tide report from FWC.

EAST COAST

No Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected this week in water samples collected alongshore of Brevard, Indian River and St. Lucie counties or offshore of St. Lucie and Martin counties.

NORTHWEST COAST

No Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected this week in water samples collected offshore of Franklin, Taylor, Levy and Hernando counties. Counts from samples collected inside of St. Joe Bay (Gulf County) ranged from not present to very low a.

SOUTHWEST COAST

No Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was detected this week in water samples collected alongshore between Pinellas and Monroe counties or offshore of Sarasota and Monroe counties. One sample collected offshore of Pinellas County contained background levels of K. brevis. Discolored water in Tampa Bay (extending from the Gandy Bridge to Oldsmar) is due to a bloom of the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense. No impacts have been reported from this bloom.

Visit Florida Red Tide Current Status and select the statewide summary or a region of interest for more information and sampling details

Here's one for the Green Blob. A really good use for it... :)

Recovery Act Announcement: DOE Announces Recovery Act Funding of up to $85 million for Algal and Advanced Biofuels July 16, 2009 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the availability of up to $85 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the development of algae-based biofuels and advanced, infrastructure-compatible biofuels. DOE is seeking to bring together leading scientists and engineers from universities, private industry, and government to develop new methods to bring new biofuels to market in an accelerated timeframe. Full story

This service is provided to you at no charge by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE). Visit the Web site at http://www.eere.energy.gov.

Yes on the double glazing at least to some degree. Sliders are prohibitively expensive and we have good 2' overhangs that shade the windows too. So we are only going to do the ones that leak air, reduce noise or are beyond any help! These will also meet the new Federal requirement for efficiency, so hopefully some rebate :)

Water clarity much improved

Early morning Paddle-board. The water clarity has improved considerably and is very clear, I guess the current is running south. I'll have to check. Some drift algae.

NM Cool Today had their video team by for a testimonial on our new Carrier 18.2 SEER A/C with heat exchange for the hot water. And the production was pretty interesting too.

Main point though was the reduction of our energy usage despite the hotter weather! We haven't even broken the $100 mark yet and last month were we in the $60's! Not bad for a 1991 house with just under 2000 sq ft, mostly vaulted ceilings, no dual pane windows either and plenty of sliders!!

Other points were the dramatic reduction of noise (saved having to replace the windows in the guest room :)), no hot or cool spots and a much more comfortable even temperature. 80 degrees and low 55% humidity for the day and 79 degrees at night... our Nirvana. For the future though it brings the opportunity of 'getting off grid' much closer and investing in our roof. :)