Good-Bye, Mr. Squeaky...

 I blogged about it when we bought it, took pictures of it, and today, it went in the trash. Such is life. After a huge storm, the thing was destroyed. All the fins on the windmill snapped and the mechanism that allowed the contraption to turn separated so it didn't turn any more.

This morning, as we were outside weeding, the garbage truck went up the street. Before it came down, I took the top off the windmill and threw it in the can. 

I suppose we could just go buy another windmill, assemble it, and set it up where the old one stood. I don't even know how much they cost. The best part of this one is that we found it at a yard sale. The seller had purchased an even bigger one and didn't have use for its little brother. We were happy to give it a new home.

I know one person who will be happy it's been taken away in a big white truck. My daughter. Her room is the closest to where we had the windmill outside. And because it was an aging piece of exterior yard decor, it squeaked...squeaked a lot, and because of where we live, the wind blow, blows a lot. It even squeaked as a non-functioning windmill.

Tomorrow we'll plant something in the now empty spot, something that will hopefully grow year after year, and maybe we'll come across something one day that we'll love, blog about, take pictures of to.

Until that day, however, we'll try something new. Here's to new things.

We Found It...Exterior Yard Decor!

 Ever since we moved about a year and a half ago, we've been looking for something...something to put in our front yard...something not too flashy, but interesting and will move when the wind blows.

We wanted something that moved in the wind because, well...because the wind is pretty much constant up here.

Thank goodness for yard sales.

When my wife and I would visit hardware stores or nurseries, we'd be drawn to the exterior decor. So many incredible artistic creations! Many of them are locally made from local artists. If we had an unlimited budget, we'd be the exterior yard decor destination of Northern Box Elder County.

But alas, we would look at the items, and walk away thinking one day maybe we'd be able to find something. It wasn't until my wife and I were driving to the hardware store the other day to pick up yet more plumbing supplies when we spotted the sign. It was small with two bits of information--the words: Yard Sale, and the address. We actually drove passed the sign, then turned around.

The sale was actually in a mobile home park, a well-kept park. We parked the van and noticed right away this one was different. It didn't have clothes or a lot of furniture. Most of the items were intended for the yard. That's where we found the windmill for about 1/3 of the price of new. 

Score!

We bought the windmill and set it up as soon as we got home. It instantly began to turn and it's a rare moment when it stops...

If only we could generate electricity from the thing.