Back in the USA

Like we often do, we stopped at Joel's on our way to Arizona.  Joel was planning to build a new wood shed so I had a chance to help him with that while Yvonne spent some quality time with the grandchildren.  It rained for most of our visit but we still had a great time.

Seve announced he had another loose tooth so everybody provided creative advice on how to speed up the inevitable. Milton took out his bow and arrow and described, in detail, what had to be done while Atti reached for his Nerf super-shot-gun and tried to configure a way to tie a string to a foam bullet.  In the end, Seve decided the tooth would be removed by Nerf gun. Not Atti's semi automatic multi-burst rifle but by using his own single shot Nerf pistol. We set up our cameras and waited while Joel tied one end of a dental floss thread around the loose tooth and the other end to a foam Nerf gun bullet. After the third unsuccessful attempt, we turned off our recording devices. It just didn't look promising. The tooth was in too solid.  Seve kept shooting away, trying different angles and suddenly the tooth flew out and landed on the floor halfway across the living room. Sadly, nobody caught the action on film. Tooth in hand, Seve had only one request... Is it possible to get bills instead of coins from the tooth fairy?

Here's Milton with his newest guitar. I've lost count on how many he's had. 

And here's Atti on his way to the Slocan Youth Centre where he and Milton watch movies, eat popcorn and generally just hang out with other school kids. 

We left Joel's house early Sunday morning and arrived in Dillon, Montana in time for supper. We were tired and asleep by 9PM. 6AM breakfast and on the road again. Mid afternoon on Monday, we arrived at our favourite B&B in Panguitch Utah. Pizza for supper and early to bed. Tuesday, we faced a short 6 hr. drive into Phoenix and then to neighbouring Mesa.

After a quick stop at Sprouts and Walmart to pick up a few essentials, we drove into the Leisure World complex. It was around 3PM on Tuesday afternoon and there didn't seem to be a soul around.

Just a regular October day in Mesa. Quite a contrast from what we left back in Alberta less than 5 days ago.

We never know what to expect after our six month absence. Our 4 year old citrus trees are finally producing fruit and doing great. The Washington Navel has a dozen oranges growing and the Arizona Sweet has too many to count. Our old grapefruit tree has it's usual bumper crop of sweet pink grapefruit. The new fan palm tree seems to like it's summer watering schedule. It grew to about 8 ft in height.

Most of our cacti are doing fine but we did have a couple Mexican Fenceposts fall over. If it rains a lot during the summer monsoon season, and it usually does,  these fast growing cacti absorb a lot of water. They tend to grow tall and straight and fatten up in an effort to store water for leaner tines.  In doing so, they get top-heavy for their relatively small root systems and sometimes they simply fall over when the ground gets soggy and the wind picks up.  It's the third time since 2011 that we've had that particular grouping fall over.  Falling over doesn't necessarily mean the whole plant will be tossed out. If the tops haven't been damaged by the fall, I will usually cut off the top one or two feet of each arm with a pruning saw and simply replant them into the ground. Resist the urge to water them. They'll do just fine.

Regarding the house and the rest of the yard, everything was just as we left it last April.  A quick rinse of the front and rear patios and the outside furniture was moved out of the garage and living room.  Sheets draped over the inside furniture were folded up and stored. The house was virtually dust-free after six months of being shuttered. By 6PM it was cool enough to enjoy an IPA on the back patio and light the BBQ.