Fall Creeper...

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  Click on photo to enlarge
  
  A lone leaf, in fall color, hangs by a last thread from the Virginia Creeper on the vegetable garden fence.
  
  Somehow the fall chores are getting done, the cordwood is stacked, newly planted fall/winter greens are sprouting in the raised beds and the deck is freshly varnished, ready for snow, and lots of it I hope.
  
  I also hope to get a coat of paint on the east & north facing sides of the house during the next couple of days and then we're ready to start working on new flooring in the house.
  
  Since 1969, when it was hand built by the previous owner, our little cabin has been carpeted with ugly lime green hi/lo carpet accented with chartreuse linoleum in the kitchen, bath and entry, I mean really ugly stuff!
  
  In fact the colors were so ugly I almost passed on buying the house, which was close to ideal for us otherwise.
  
  Unfortunately, the floor coverings were like brand new when we moved in, and one of the mottos we live by around here "Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make Do, Or Do Without" requires that, when we wear something out, we wear it out all the way!
  
  Consequently, we put up with that putrid green dust magnet ugliness for 25 years, until it was so grimy and worn out that even old Bohemian types like us couldn't stand it anymore.
  
  Peggy and I always knew we preferred wood floors but didn't like the idea of using up more of the world's dwindling hardwoods just to walk on, so my first idea at floor replacement was to make a sort of mosaic patterned floor with 1 inch thick rounds cut from cords of readily available firewood, but I would've had to fill the gaps between the rounds with some sort of fiberglass or plastic resin which didn't agree with my ecological sensibilities, and I surely didn't want to use toxic substances inside our house.
  
  So we decided to install wide planks of common pine (11 1/2" wide) over the plywood subfloor and, after doing some research on the internet, I found a non-toxic adhesive (Taylor 2071 Tuff-Lok X-Link Wood Flooring Adhesive) and a non-toxic floor finish manufactured in Germany (Osmo Hardwax Oil) that we will use on our floors.
  
  We finally tore out the downstairs carpet on the weekend of Jimmy's accident (and Hurricane Katrina) and have been living on rough plywood under-flooring every since, no big deal really, but there's also the 16' long pine planks stacked in our small living room, saws, tools, buckets of glue & hardwax oil where once was a couch, coffee table and dining area, and any day now, I'm actually going to begin installing our new floor.