On the Ground Floor

Installing the flooring around our peeled poles left a bit of an awkward gap, which Gerald addressed with a strip of composition ornaments of the type he uses in manufacturing art frames.

But the main objective was to get a floor down in the utility room. We weren't able to find the colors of linoleum tile we wanted and we had quite a bit of oak flooring left, so we decided to install the oak there. Gerald started with the moisture guard.

With that in place, he began installing the oak.

The final step was to install the base moulding.

Birds, Pests and a Prize

The small generator had been hissing a lot, which meant the regulator was going. It eventually gave way entirely.

We weren't worried, though, because we still had the large generator in the garage. The only problem was that a pack rack had gotten to it and chewed a wire. But it was a while before we were able to figure that out because you needed a special tool to get into the darn thing.

Fortunately for us our neighbor, John, was working in the Valley and picked up the right tool to open it up for us. We were able to get a new regulator on our next trip to town and Gerald got them both working again.

Meanwhile, our hummingbird feeders were in high demand. The birds made an awesome sight in the morning and early evening, but we hoped it was just the fall migration that brought them in such numbers because they were going through nectar (and we were going through sugar) at an alarming rate.

As we often do, we met our good friends Kathy and Swayze McCrain of the 7Up Ranch when we were in Prescott on Sunday. Their cattle operation is officially called the Camp Wood Cattle Company. Gerald had seen Swayze wearing a denim shirt with that embroidered above the pocket and the brand embroidered across the back.






On our way out, we noticed this sunflower, which delighted us. We had planted a bunch of seeds and thought none of them had taken. Looking around, we saw another that hadn't yet bloomed, but looked like it had a couple of flowers ready to open any day. Unfortunately, we returned to find that some creature had found them tasty. Nothing was left but the broken stalks and a few yellow pedals.

  

Yarnell Community Garden Project

All summer long, we'd been buying fresh produce from the Community Garden Farmers Market. We learned that a guy named Frank Ryan came up with the idea three years ago after reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's entirely supported by volunteers and donations.

Every Friday, they pick whatever is ripe and "sell" it at the farmer's market for donations. You simply pick what you want and put whatever you want to or can afford to in the jar. Gerald and I finally decided to go down to the garden and check it out. We found it charming.

We ran across these guinea hens bedded down in the squash. Turns out they keep the grasshoppers in check.