Grout to Cheesecake--Catch Up Week at Badboulder

This week has been devoted to tying up loose ends and there have been plenty of those.

We made a Prescott run to Lowe's for more building supplies and needed to stock up on ingredients for library fundraiser treats. Those shopping trips always take a lion's share of the week--a day to locate the items, load the heavy ones, and moan over the speciality screws that weren't stocked. Then, it takes a half/day to carry the heavy building materials up the hill.

Bringing home the bacon in one hundred degree temperatures for forty miles requires juggling coolers, ice and polar packs. Can't imagine doing this riding on a burro's back or sitting in the comfort of the old chuck wagon!

Actually the White Spar portion of Highway 89 is one of America's ten most scenic drives and it is indeed spectacular. Because we load our old Chevy wagon to the max, we drive slowly and pull off the curvy road to let traffic pass on this sparsely traveled road. Sip coffee, listen to classic country and admire the beauty of the mountains--one quickly forgets the tediousness of supply shopping.

Grouting was the task of the week for me. Grouting was the finishing touch that brought tile, pebbles, mirror, and stained glass to a completed state in our master bath. The peacock mosaics are done! The back-splash wall of the bathtub surround is done! Catching up is so rewarding.

Thanks to Ghiradelli chocolate company the brownies have been baked. The amaretto cheesecake is cooling. I'm ready for Yarnell Library's fundraiser. I am excited about the cheesecake. Usually I bake a cheesecake in a pie plate however retirement provides the luxury of time and I baked this one in a deep spring form pan. I'm just a bit apprehensive about popping the sides off the pan.

A few spare moments was devoted to iris beds and fall cleanup that provides a bit of wildfire protection.

To top off the week, I managed to harvest the biggest prickly pear fruit we've seen here at Badboulder. I transplanted this particular cactus years ago, it has benefited from irrigation of nearby shrubs and escaped the marauding javalinas. The stately cactus rewarded us with four quarts of prickly pear/jalapeno syrup.

A catch up week that welcomed October, provided tasty food from Badboulder's land, saw the bathroom headed toward completion, and assisted our community hub-- the library-- was a DIYer's dream.

FROM THE KNOTHOLE: Well, here I am again, snug in my little knothole, but with an ever watchful eye on Badboulderlady. Do you remember "Come Saturday Morning" by the Sandpipers, sometime in the '60's? I think that is Badboulderlady this morning , free as a butterfly, out with her friends, doing what she wants, having a good time, just being alive. But, earlier in the week, we were as busy as beavers. We took the white beast, otherwise known as the Home Depot wagon, through the mountains along U.S. Hwy 89 to Prescott to round up some supplies. The white beast came from the Yavapai College motor pool where it hauled students and professors, but is now reincarnated into a new life of hauling studs and vittles. Now the canning cactus jelly, grouting tiles and pebbles, digging iris, baking goodies for the library, and running a digital treasure hunt to raise money for the local library will have to come to a halt. We are headed to Fort Jackson, South Carolina to attend the graduation of our daughter from Basic Combat Training in the U.S. Army. From there our daughter will go on to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, for further training.

a parting shot from bbman: i'd walk a mile for a mild , mild camel. viceroy, with the health tip. wiston tastes good, like a cigarette should. chesterfield king, the king that has everything. early tobacco ads.