I'm a retired educator (teacher/principal) who moved from Northern California to Payson, Arizona in September, 2010.
This blog will chronicle my adventures as I explore a different ecosystem and build my new home.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Trip to Globe for Worms

We took a road trip to Globe today......76 miles from Payson. It's where you have to go if you are lucky enough to get jury duty. But we were on our way to get worms.....I'll explain.


We drove past Roosevelt Lake. It's the largest lake in Central Arizona, consisting of 112 miles of shoreline and 22,000 acres of surface water.


There is a large marina where you can store or rent boats. There were a number of motor boats, house boats, and even some sailboats in the marina. They have a bass fishermen tournament here every fall.


We met an interesting guy at our gardening class who makes Worm Hotels. I have been kinda missing the worms that we had at Silveira and we have been throwing away a lot of good vegetable and fruit compost so....we went to Fred's house in Globe. This is his greenhouse where he makes the Worm Hotels. He has got the design down!


He was given this manufactured Worm Hotel (worth $500!) and decided he could copy the design and make it cheaper for folks.


Here is the great worm "tea" at the bottom of the "hotel." Fred waters all of the plants on his patio with worm tea. (They looked very healthy.....he even had two pineapple plants.)


When we got there Fred was in the middle of grinding up this watermelon for the worms. He calls these blender concoctions, worm smoothies.


Fred has graduated from small bin vermicomposting to mid-scale vermicomposting. He has three bins going at all times. The one on the left is almost ready. The one on the right is new.


Fred also has great tomato and pepper plants in this long cinder block bin. He lowers the lids when it gets too cold. He boasts that he has fresh tomatoes in January.


This is the Worm Hotel. Note the spigot at the bottom to let out the worm tea.....great stuff for plants!


It has two levels.....dirt, shredded paper, veggies on each level. And Fred adds a little sand (very fine sand...not beach sand) for the worms.....they have gizzards just like chickens and need the grit.


And.....the lightning rods are all hooked up and ready for a jolt......hopefully not but we feel prepared now.


Sunday, August 21, 2011

Solar Panel Project Begins and Nature Shots

Terry and Roland came by on Saturday with the rails for the solar panels. They expect that the panels will be here by the end of the week.


We hope the panels will reduce our electricity bill considerably. It has been hot and we have had to run the air conditioner more than we thought we would need to....but this has been an interesting year weather-wise all over the country.


Randy has been working on close-ups with his camera.


I've seen manzanita branches for sale online.....$35 for a sanded branch. I might try it as we have tons of it.


Juniper berries....


He got the bee in this shot.


Monday's project: installing lightning rods. Arizona is second only to Florida in the number of lightning strikes it gets per year. Last year 17 homes in the greater Payson area were struck by lightning. There was a strike near us on Friday...less than a quarter mile away. We have decided that the rods might be worth the $$$.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Rain and a Rainbow

We had a nice rainstorm yesterday evening and this is what we saw when the storm was finished......the most beautiful rainbow that I have ever seen. The colors were so vivid.


We have beautiful skies almost daily....lots of clouds and pink/orange sunsets. The clouds after the storm were just lovely.



The sun came out and highlighted the rocks that we see from our south facing deck.


I love having the time to enjoy the nature that surrounds us.

We had our final inspection today......everything is signed off!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Precipitation and Hiking on the Rim

Last night we got almost a half inch of rain. Whoopee! The rain cooled things off a bit.


Cooking with zucchini flowers.....anyone have a good recipe?


Today we thought we would go up to the top of the Rim and enjoy some cooler weather.


Woods Canyon Lake is a beautiful spot to hike, fish and camp. (And only a 25 minute drive from our house.)


It's quiet and peaceful AND 20 degrees cooler than Payson as the elevation is 7500 ft.


There are all kinds of wildflowers in bloom now.



I tried taking photos with my small camera......it's just not good enough.


This one is in the orchid family. Just exquisite.



This fellow was sitting in a tree by the side of the lake.


Young golden eagle (probably about a year old).


Cooper enjoyed himself. He stayed right with us even when other dogs were on the trail.


Thanks, mom for the new entry way cabinet.....


It's narrow and fits very nicely.


We completed all of the paperwork for the solar panels.......installation should happen this week.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Llama Poop is Amazing and Misc.

These squash/pumpkin plants were put in the ground just about 35 days ago.....llama poop is great stuff.
Randy got some young tomato plants from our cabinet maker and he plans to put them is 10 gallon sacks with some added llama poop....not too much as the plants will look good but not produce many tomatoes. He will have to experiment in order to get the right proportions.



Randy set up an automatic waterer for Cooper. It's big enough for 6 dogs! No...we are not going there.


Miscellaneous shots around the house......my office.


Guest bedroom

Guest bath


Great room

I call these chairs the "brown turds." They are comfortable but I sure wish we had ordered them in another color.




Upstairs powder room

Kitchen



Laundry

We went to Scottsdale at the end of last week and ordered a new coffee table and entry way cupboard.....will have to wait several weeks for them to arrive. Thanks, mom! (They were a gift from my mother.)

Solar electric panel installation is scheduled for tomorrow!