May 5-11, 2025

Weather | 5/5, cloudy, 43°, 63° | 5/6, sunny, 45°, 70° | 5/7, sunny, 52°, 75° | 5/8, p. cloudy, 52°, xx° | 5/9, xx°, xx° | 5/10, xx°, xx° | 5/11, xx°, xx° |

• Monday, 5/5: Slow Mail & Beating Back Grass
  • The U.S. Postal Service has tanked this month. For the first time, ever, we haven't received utility bills in the mail by the fifth of the month. Traditionally, the fifth of each month is our bill paying day, so all utilities get paid on time. Packages sent by mail are traveling back and forth between sorting stations. We are seeing packages bouncing around between multiple locations in St. Louis or Chicago. I have a package of fly tying items that was sent from St. Louis to Hannibal, and then back to St. Louis. As much as possible, we will be forced to go with automatic bill paying and forget paying bills via mail. One bill, which was garbage, was paid today, because it never changes, so we knew the amount to pay.
  • Mary mowed the rest of the west lawn. Grass clippings were used to mulch the five blueberry plants, two small apple trees in the west yard, and the newest cherry tree.
  • I cleaned out grass growing inside the hardware cloth cage around the Antonovka apple tree. I also temporarily removed the cow panel and used the trimmer to knock out tall grass, then reinstalled the panel. I did the same chore on the Goldrush apple tree, along with thinning fruits on Goldrush (see photos, below).
  • We heard coyotes yipping and howling nearby in the east while walking Plato at night.

Grass trimmed on the Antonovka apple tree.
Goldrush & Granny Smith are in the background.

Untrimmed grass around Calville (right) & Roxbury (left).

• Tuesday, 5/6: Grass Work & Birds
  • Mary did more mowing and got partway through the east yard. She mulched the sweet cherry tree with grass clipping. That tree still has blossoms on it.
  • I removed cow panels, weedwhacked tall grass and culled fruit on the Calville Blanc d'hiver (which translates to White Winter Calville) and Roxbury Russet apple trees. The Calville had a lot of tiny apples, but the Roxbury had very few, even though both bloomed profusely. I also raked tall grass that I cut and stuffed it inside cow panels around trees.
  • Mary saw a rose-breasted grosbeak, which was the first of the year.
  • She also noticed a ruby-throated hummingbird going bonkers trying to protect all of comfrey flowers on all sides of house.
  • Gnat season has begun. An ample supply of bug dope dabbed on ears, the neck, and parts of the face keeps them at bay, but they still bounce off your face.
  • More parsnips are sprouting in the near garden.
  • We ate some acorn squash with leftover turkey pot pie. It's amazing how long

• Wednesday, 5/7: Outside, Again
  • Mary mowed the rest of the east yard and put grass mulch around a small pie cherry tree and a new apple tree called William's Pride.
  • Mary and I examined the three new trees. We're seeing a tiny bit of movement on a couple buds on the two new apple trees, but not much of anything on the Seckel pear tree. It's obvious that Fedco left our trees in the dark. They sprouted some leaves that never saw sun and are yellow. Those leaves are now dead. It wasn't a good job done by Fedco. They say they had help issues and obviously our box of trees was one of the issues. I plan to get back to them about it.
  • I weedwhacked circles in the tall grass for two new planting locations in the south orchard. I want to transplant two small Sargent crabapple trees. I'll let one grew up and graft McIntosh buds on the other sapling. I also weedwhacked paths between all of the trees in the south orchard.
  • Mary heard a common yellowthroat warbler, which was the first of the year.
  • A male house wren stuffs sticks on top of the electric fencer unit every spring. Sometimes a female wren turns the mess into a nest, but usually our outside activity forces a female wren to ignore the male wren's stupidity and goes elsewhere. I'm joining forces with the female wren and removing the sticks. I've done it for three days, straight. Today, I removed sticks twice in the day. We'll see how long this contest continues.
  • I watched the Winnipeg Jets/Dallas Stars NHL playoff game. The Stars won, 3-2. Boo...I'm rooting for the Jets.

April 28-May 4, 2025

Weather | 4/28, p. cloudy, 55°, 81° | 4/29, cloudy, 53°, 66° | 4/30, 0.21" rain, 49°, 56° | 5/1, 0.24" rain, 55°, 71° | 5/2, sunny & cloudy, 0.18" rain, 47°, 67° | 5/3, cloudy, 41°, 59° | 5/4, p. cloudy, 39°, 69° |

• Monday, 4/28: Three New Trees Arrive
  • Trees that we ordered from Fedco in January arrived today. We usually get them in March. I asked on April 21st if they still had our order and the following day they explained that staff shortages meant they were behind in sending out orders. Fedco sent the package on April 23rd. Fedco is in Clinton, Maine. The new trees are a Black Oxford apple tree, a Williams Pride apple tree, and a Seckel pear tree (click the previous tree words to see descriptions).
    
  • Mary located a place to plant the new pear tree, north of the small Bartlett pear tree and west of the chicken run. She took the tall grass down with a scythe.
  • While cutting tall grass, Mary noticed that the summer tanager came home. She heard it west of her and then in the raspberry patch where it hangs out in summer months.
  • I walked east to the old cow barn and grubbed out a cow panel that was once part of a corral Mary's Uncle Herman built for handling beef cattle. It was tacked to a 4" x 6" green-treated post at one end and wired to an Osage orange post at the other end. Part of the bottom of the cow panel was buried in about four inches of clay, so I walked back home to get shovels and the tractor. On the way home, I threw a couple dozen ticks off that were scrambling up the outside of my boots and pants legs. They were bad! I performed a thorough search through all clothing when I got home. I drove the tractor back, dug up about four feet along the cow panel, then yanked the rest out of the ground and loaded it on the trailer behind the tractor. Mary helped me take it off the wagon near where we'll plant the pear tree. It will protect the tree from deer, who love gobbling up fruit tree branches.
  • We saw the same female turkey that we photographed yesterday walking by on our lane. I watched it walk into the north woods.
    
  • Bill called in the evening. We talked for about an hour. He's still learning his job. Bill wants to visit us May 10-11 and then Memorial Day Weekend.

• Tuesday, 4/29: Winemaking & Onion Seeds
  • I made the must for the dandelion wine, which takes quite some time. I added the zest of a lime, an orange, and two lemons to the dandelion flowers that soaked in seven cups of water for two days, then set it on a low boil for an hour. I diced a pound of golden raisins, six inches of a stick of ginger, and all of the fruit after removing the outer covering of pith. All ingredients went into the nylon mesh bag. I added seven more cups of water, 0.2 grams of Kmeta, and 0.7 grams of diammonium phosphate (DAP). It now sits in the pantry overnight.
  • Mary planted Red Bull, White Wing, and Patterson onion seeds and Matador shallot seeds in the near garden. That finishes all rows of the near garden.
  • We saw half of a robin egg on the lane, so baby robins hatched. 
    
  • Mary heard a Baltimore oriole, which is the first of the year.
  • She was also bombarded by a hummingbird while wearing a hot pink shirt. They always like that shirt.
  • I watched two hockey games at night. One was the Minnesota Wild/Vegas Golden Knights playoff game and the other was the Edmonton Oilers/LA Kings game. They were both playing at roughly the same time, so I'd watch one for awhile, then switch to the other game. Vegas won, 3-2, in overtime, and goes up 3-2 games over the Wild. The Oilers won, 3-1, and lead their series, 3-2. I'm rooting for the Wild and the Oilers.

• Wednesday, 4/30: Turkeys & Winemaking
  • It was a rainy and foggy day, so we hibernated inside.
  • I added a half teaspoon of pectic enzyme to the dandelion wine. Prior to adding sugar, the specific gravity (SG) was 1.040. I added 1.5 pounds of sugar and another quart of water (grand total of 1 gallon, 2 cups of water) to raise the SG to 1.087. The pH was 3.5, so no acid blend was added. I worked up a starter batch of Red Star Côte des Blancs yeast and pitched it into the brew bucket 11 hours later. The yeast started working immediately, filling the pantry with a nice, fruity aroma.
  • We watched two turkeys walk by the house today. First, we watched our familiar female turkey friend saunter by on the lane. Then, we saw a male turkey walk through the yard south of the house (see video, below). We noticed that they grab bunches of dandelion seed heads as they walk along. Later, while walking Plato on the lane, we noticed that all dandelion seeds are gone. Mary says that sparrows, who haven't flown north, are eating dandy seeds, too. Turkey hunting season is on, but we let them walk on by and only shoot at them with camera lenses to get images. Eating a chunk of 2x4 pine is more appetizing than chewing on a tough wild turkey, so I see no reason to hunt them.
  • While putting chickens away for the night, we heard the first wood thrush singing in the timber north of the chicken coop.
  • I watched the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-3. The Blues got away with several smash-mouth checks that should have been called as major penalties, but weren't. Referees were in La-La Land!
  A male turkey (Tom, or gobbler) walking by the house.
  

• Thursday, 5/1: Bunny Intruder in Near Garden
  • A check of the dandelion wine revealed a specific gravity of 1.067, so the yeast is progressing nicely. It's bubbling and giving off a fruity and floral aroma.
  • We think the parsnips are starting to sprout. It's hard to tell, due to so many weeds sprouting at the same time. There are several blossoms on the strawberry plants. Some have slightly yellow leaves, so Mary added fertilizer.
  • I removed the wire ties, opened up, and moved the cow panel cages around two dead apple rootstock twigs where we'll transplant new apple trees.
    
  • I watched Vegas beat Minnesota, 3-2, to advance in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. I also watched Edmonton beat LA, 6-4, to also advance. Bill and I texted back and forth during the first game.
  • When we walked Plato on his final outing, I chased a rabbit out of the near garden. It's been eating snow pea sprouts. The bunny ran east and right through the chicken wire fence. I roared as it bounced north through the brush. My voice echoed loudly off the trees, probably waking the neighbors. After putting Plato inside, Mary and I investigated the fencing and found a hole in the chicken wire that I temporarily fixed by twisting a few wires together.
  • Dave Parmeter, a Homer High School classmate, saw that I wished Mary (Owens) Burdick (another classmate) a happy birthday, yesterday, and told me that she died from a heart attack earlier this year. I didn't know. He said Karen (Babcock) DeVaney (also a classmate) is in bad shape. I think Karen has Alzheimer's.

• Friday, 5/2: Planting Three More Fruit Trees
  • In the morning, Mary and I planted the three trees that arrived earlier this week. First, we opened the box the trees came in and put their roots in buckets of water. I whacked tall grass down at the two planting sites in the south orchard while Mary dug a hole for the Seckel pear tree west of the chicken yard. Then, I helped hold the pear tree at the proper height while Mary added soil, which was very clay-bound for the pear. Compost, sand, and cut grass also went into that hole. A plastic tree guard tied to a rebar stake was added, along with a cow panel bent into a circle around the tree. The two locations in the south orchard received soil amendments last year, so not as much was added, and Mary's digging was easier and quicker. One of those trees also has a quarter-inch hardware cloth guard around it, which keeps rabbits out. I need to add additional ones to other trees. While we put tools away, rain started falling.
  • While we were getting ready to plant trees, we saw a pair purple martins on the electric wires next to the house. Mary said she hasn't seen them since 2011. We also watched a bald eagle fly low over us near the end of our tree planting session.
  • After a waffle midday meal, Mary cross stitched.
  • We did evening chores early because rain was predicted and it started raining at the end of chores.
  • I watched the St. Louis Blues defeat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2. The Blues scored four goals in a little over five minutes in the second period. The series is tied at three games, each. The final game will be on Sunday in Winnipeg.
  • An afternoon check of the dandelion wine gave me a specific gravity reading of 1.030. I'll be racking it tomorrow.

• Saturday, 5/3: Wine Day
  • Mary rubbed the pipe over the woodstove with mineral oil. This preserves it through the summer so it doesn't rust. We haven't replaced stovepipe since she's started this practice over 10 years ago.
  • Mary did some cross stitch work.
  • We listened to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
  • It was wine day for me:
    
    • The dandelion wine's specific gravity was 1.015, so I racked it for the first time into a gallon jug and a 1.5-liter bottle, giving both containers plenty of headroom for bubbling and foam expansion (see photo, below). The aroma of this wine is really nice.
    • After a week beyond two months of sitting in the pantry since the last racking, the second batch of spiced apple wine cleared...well, it sort of cleared. About the bottom fifth of all containers held murky wine. So, I siphoned off the clear stuff, added a full compliment of Kmeta, which was 0.5 grams, and filled 12 bottles after this fifth racking. The specific gravity was 0.997. Then I collected all of the cloudy wine, added 0.1 gram of Kmeta, and filled 2 bottles. There is quite a difference between the clear and cloudy wine (see photo, below). I had about 675 ml of leftover cloudy wine, which is too little to fill a bottle, so Mary and I drank it. This isn't quite as spicy as spiced apple wine, batch 1, but it tastes very good and tart. After corking, all 14 bottles went upstairs to sit upright for three days before I label them and store the bottles on their sides in coolers.
      
  • In an online search, I discovered that the new cellular tower south of us belongs to US Cellular, which is our cell provider. When that fires up, we should get excellent service. It's now flashing white lights during the day and red lights at night. Fortunately, tall oak trees block us from seeing flashing lights from the house. We only see them while standing on the lane, looking south. According to maps, it's exactly two miles due south of us.

Dandelion wine after 1st racking.

Cloudy spiced apple wine (left) & clear (right).

• Sunday, 5/4: Mowing & Hockey
  • Mary noticed that the parsnips are sprouting while she watered the garden twice today. She can distinguish them from various other weeds, because the parsnips are in a straight line. There are also lots of strawberry blossoms.
  • We had smoked scrambled eggs and sweet potatoes for our completely homegrown midday meal.
  • Mary mowed part of the west yard and mulched the two small pear trees...a Bartlett and the new Seckel tree. I mowed the lane.
  • We saw a bald eagle. A new chimney swift showed up, so now there are three flying cigars zipping about. Mary saw an eastern kingbird, which is a first for the year. We noticed a turkey vulture kettle that was way up in sky.
  • I watched Game 7 of the Winnipeg Jets/St. Louis Blues NHL playoffs. It was amazing. Down 3-1, with just 1:56 minutes left in the game, the Jets scored to make it 3-2. With 1.6 seconds left in the game, they scored again for a 3-3 tie. Well into the second overtime, the Jets scored, again, to win, 4-3, and advance to the next round of the playoffs. All kinds of NHL records were set in this wild game.

April 21-27, 2025

Weather | 4/21, sunny, 1.23" rain, 45°, 66° | 4/22, sunny, 51°, 81° | 4/23, sunny, 53°, 79° | 4/24, sunny to .12" rain, 52°, 81° | 4/25, 0.04" rain, cloudy, 56°, 73° | 4/26, cloudy, 50°, 63° | 4/27, cloudy, 49°, 60° |

• Monday, 4/21: Misc. Outdoor Activities & Hockey
  • Overnight rain took out lots of fruit tree blossoms. Several garden seeds are sprouting. Lettuce, radishes, peas, and spinach are showing in the near garden. Also, peppers are sprouting in their Styrofoam cups.
  • Mary weeded around all of the garlic plants in the far garden and pulled a few weeds in the near garden. Garlic plants look nice and healthy.
  • I took white lace curtains off the strawberry plants. Out of 46 plants, there are only two that didn't make it through the winter, which is much better than in past years.
  • I cleaned up tall grass and rose bush branches that were near and partially covering the fencer unit.
  • The plastic snap that secures the waterproof cover on the outdoor electrical outlet broke a few days ago. I found a six inch long nail that had about one inch of the end bent over at an acute angle. It fits perfectly in a hole in the bottom corner of the cover and keeps it closed.
    
  • I tested lights at the trailer fitting on the bumper of the pickup. When I bought the trailer on April 7th, lights weren't working on the trailer. Since it was daylight, I zipped home without a problem. Everything worked fine today, both with a test light, and after I hooked up lights on the trailer. I don't know what was the problem two weeks ago. I measured and determined that I need 18 feet of wire loom to properly handle the wiring of the trailer lights. A grandson of the guy who I bought the trailer from strung up new light wiring under the trailer and the wires are just dangling from rough holes punched through angle iron with a gas torch. That will all wear out in a heartbeat. Also, he used indoor wire nuts to connect wiring. I need to restring the wiring, use wire butt connectors soldered together and covered with heat shrink in order to have trailer wiring that lasts more than a few days.
  • I watched two NHL playoff games. The Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 and the LA Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5. The Oilers were down, 4-0, and came back to tie the game at 5-5, then LA scored with 42 seconds left in the game. It was a nutty final period. It was also too much TV time, so I'm taking a break from it all, today (4/22).

• Tuesday, 4/22: Trailer Licensing
  • Mary and I walked Plato to Bass Pond. We saw several schools of fish in the pond. Some of the bass were nice eating size. After the walk, we pulled 20 ticks off Plato. Mary and I found a handful on us. 'Tis the season.
  • Our resident red-shouldered hawk was disturbed and squawking due to a stupid cropduster flying in and out of the airstrip at the dairy west of us all day. Of course it makes great sense to spray killing juice over everything on Earth Day. The silly jackass was even spraying after the sun set beyond the west horizon. Someday he will plant that airplane into the ground. We hope its not on our property. 
    
  • I ordered a large 500-gram package of Red Star Premier Côte Des Blanc wine yeast from Winemaker's Depot in Tumwater, WA. It's the yeast I use the most. I keep all wine yeast in the freezer, so it lasts indefinitely. This package gives me enough for 100 batches.
  • I drove to Monticello, our county seat, and got the trailer licensed, and a license plate for it. There always is a long wait anytime you get a vehicle license. This time, a Spanish-speaking young man who is a student at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO, was getting a driver's license. He needed several documents that he was downloading on his cell phone, which took quite a bit of time.
  • After I got home, I installed the plate on the trailer.
  • Mary mowed the north yard, or what she calls the mush pit, aka, the seventh circle of hell. It's rather soggy after two inches of rain.
  • More plants are showing in the spinach and pea areas of the near garden. Mary fertilized the strawberries with fish fertilizer after seeing signs of nitrogen deficiency.

• Wednesday, 4/23: Shopping
  • On our morning walk with Plato, we noticed that our resident catbird came home. It was picking a fight with a house sparrow in forsythia bush just outside our door. The catbird drove sparrow away. Two pairs of catbirds nest in that bush.
  • We went shopping in Quincy. In an initial stop to Cross Country Trailer Center, I bought a trailer coupler, a tongue jack, 19 feet of half-inch wire loom, and some wire clamps. I was tickled to find these items, locally, at reasonable prices.
  • We got a new comforter for a new dog bed for Plato and a Mills Brothers record at Salvation Army. 
  • I picked up fluorescent pink and purple nail polish, along with bright colored pompoms for fly tying purposes at Dollar Tree. Mary and I got into a giggle fit when I put those items and a package of Band-aids on the checkout counter (see photo, below). The combination looked funny, especially when plunked down on the counter by a guy.
  • We got receiver and coupler locks for the trailer at Lowes.
  • We met an elderly couple, Diane & Chet, at Sam's Club who with their dog, Harley, was one of my dog training recipients when I worked at Petco. They recently moved from an old multi-story house with stairs to a home built with everything on one level, because Diane finds it hard to maneuver up and down stairs. It's a main reason we want to build a one floor home...to get away from steep stairs.
  • We made it home by 4:30 p.m. Mary immediately watered the garden while I unloaded the pickup.
  • After eating, we watched a movie...no NHL for me. I figured it's good to get a break from hockey games.

  

  It's for fly tying...really!
  

• Thursday, 4/24: Freak Thunderstorm
  • Autumn olives are blooming and their fragrance is so strong that it's almost sickening. They're pretty invasive and I need to clear them out.
  • While walking Plato, I took a photo (see below) of the catkins hanging off a pin oak tree in the north yard. It's the reason we're noticing a yellow dust on our green pickup.
    
  • I mowed between the far garden and the compost bins, between far garden fences, and halfway around outside of the far garden electric fence. I'm almost done putting mulch down around the Empire apple tree.
  • Mary started mowing the east lawn north of the near garden. She also started mulching the rows of lettuce in the near garden.
  • Mary took photos (see below) of violet flowers in our lawn. Imagine this times several thousand and that's what we have throughout our lawns. They're very beautiful.
    
  • Mary sensed that rain was coming and put her mower and wheelbarrow away. I followed suit, and sure enough, as I put my wheelbarrow away, a clap of thunder roared overhead. We had a thunderstorm develop on us, dump a downpour of rain, then dissipate completely. It was really weird and very uncommon. We usually see weather evaporate away before getting to us.
  • Mary saw a ruby-throated hummingbird and heard the chimney swifts. That means no more fires in the woodstove, not that we're firing up the stove when temperatures are in the 70s or 80s.
  • We're noticing small developing fruit on the Liberty apple tree and the large pie cherry tree.
    
  • I watched a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Webex presentation on mushrooms. The speaker was Mike Snyder. He's really knowledgeable about 'shrooms! It was a fun session and very interesting.
    
  • I watched Game 3 of the Blues/Jets NHL playoff series. The St. Louis Blues dominated with a 7-2 win. The game was played in St. Louis' Enterprise Center. It was fun to watch. The Winnipeg Jets are still ahead two games to one game.
     

  

  Catkins emitting pollen from a pin oak tree.
  

A blue violet flower in our lawn.

A white violet blossom in our lawn.

• Friday, 4/25: Mowing
  • Since the chimney swifts arrival means we aren't using the woodstove, Mary moved the little bit of firewood to the woodshed and took the metal wood rack out to the machine shed.
  • Today was a big mowing and mulching day, since it was cool and cloudy...great conditions for outside work. Mary mowed the lawn east of the lane. She delicately mulched next to the tiny plants of spinach, lettuce, radishes, and snow peas. This meant all white laced curtains are gone from the near garden.
  • I mowed the rest of the area outside the fence of the far garden, then inside the south end of the far garden. I then helped Mary by mowing what remained of the east yard beyond the lane so she could concentrate on just mulching the near garden. I mowed the east yard between the house and the lane. I finished mulching around the Empire apple tree and under two cherry trees.
    
  • A strong northwest wind blew thousands of maple keys into surrounding areas. They came down like snow into all of the gardens. We would hear a gust and the whirring, helicopter-like sound of keys coming down. They travel an incredible distance with a strong wind.
  • We saw the pair of chimney swifts flying around in the late afternoon.
  • At dusk, I heard a hiccuping barred owl. Their call is "who cooks for you, who cooks for y'all." HERE is an audio of their call. The owl I heard repeated the first part of that call about three times.
  • I made a point of not watching the Edmonton Oilers/LA Kings NHL playoff game, so I wouldn't jinx the Oilers. It must have worked. The Oilers won 7-4.

• Saturday, 4/26: A Day Off, But Not From Hockey
  • I took the day off...too many days of pushing lawnmowers.
  • Every morning we hear the pounding of squirrel feet as one crosses the machine shed's metal roof. Mary noticed that it's eating elm seeds off a tree on the south side of the machine shed.
  • I ordered a gallon of concentrated herbicide containing ammonium nonanoate. It's a broad spectrum herbicide which is naturally derived and biodegradable. This herbicide is recommended by Lee Reich, a former scientist for Cornell University and gardening author.
  • I also ordered four dozen dumbbell or hourglass weights, some with painted eyes, along with some Krystal Flash, for fly tying supplies.
  • Mary baked a small turkey, a bean casserole, potatoes, and gravy for our midday meal.
  • I watched Game 4 of the Minnesota Wild/Vegas Golden Knights NHL playoffs. Vegas won in overtime, 4-3. It was a very close game.
  • While Mary watered plants in the near garden this evening, she noticed that all plants doubled in size in one day after applying grass mulch alongside them.

• Sunday, 4/27: Two NHL Games
  • We had a rather cool day, outside.
  • Mary cross stitched while I watched Game 4 of the St. Louis Blues/Winnipeg Jets playoff series. The Blues won, 5-1, to tie the series at two games, each.
  • Mary took a video of a wild female turkey strolling up our lane (see below). We suspect it has a nest somewhere to the east.
  • I started a batch of dandelion wine. The only thing I do initially is to pour seven cups of boiling water onto dandelion blossoms that are put into a nylon mesh bag. I also added 0.2 grams of Kmeta. This now sits for two days in the pantry.
  • I became an ultimate video blob and watched even more hockey in the evening. This time it was Game 4 of the Edmonton Oilers/LA Kings playoffs. The Oilers came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game, 3-3, with 29 seconds left in the game. Then, they scored in overtime to win, 4-3, with a powerplay goal with less than 2 minutes left in overtime. The series is tied at 2-2. It was an amazing game, but extremely long. I guess I was shouting a lot, because Mary said all pets were with her, upstairs, in the north bedroom. Part of the problem was a weak wireless signal to our router, giving the TV an on-off-on and stuttering video at the end of regulation play. Despite this, I was able to catch all goals. I restarted all electronics at the intermission before overtime, and everything ran fine. I was so hyper after the game, it took a bit to go to sleep.
  A female turkey walking up our lane and in front of the near garden.
   

April 14-20, 2025

Weather | 4/14, sunny, 53°, 61° | 4/15, sunny, 37°, 59° | 4/16, sunny, 34°, 73° | 4/17, cloudy, 55°, 77° | 4/18, cloudy, 0.01" rain, 63°, 75° | 4/19, cloudy, 0.05" rain, 41°, 59° | 4/20, cloudy, 0.77" rain, 43°, 59° |

• Monday, 4/14: Deer, Dandies, & Gardens
  • We saw eight deer during Plato's morning walk right at sunrise. Three ran off to the west in the south field. Another five snorted from the southeast field and ran off to the east. There's no shortage of deer around here.
  • Our resident barred owl landed on a couple tree this morning, just south of the house, while looking for breakfast.
  • I picked more dandelion blossoms, putting in two hours and adding 47.4 grams to the bag in the freezer for a grand total of 128.6 grams. I'm 48 percent done.
  • Mary turned over the rest of the soil in the north row of the near garden.
    
  • I mowed grass inside and outside of all fences in the near garden. I also mowed grass inside the south end of the far garden, where three rows of garlic plants are growing well. I saw where deer stomped down the chicken wire fence in two places surrounding that garden.
  • White blossoms in the McIntosh apple tree and the Sargent crabapple tree are buzzing with bees, despite 30 mph gusts.
  • Bill told us that he won a ticket in an inter-company drawing to the 4/15/25 St. Louis Blues vs. Utah NHL hockey game. He will be viewing the game from the McBride Suite, which is nearly at rink level, right behind one of the goals (see image, below).

  

  The blue area will be Bill's seat in the game.
  

• Tuesday, 4/15: Bill at Enterprise Center
  • I picked dandelion blossoms all day. My total for today was 60.2 grams out of 14 dozen flowers for a grand total of 188.8 grams. I have 70 percent that I need for a one-gallon batch of dandelion wine.
  • Mary turned over more soil in the near garden. She dug up enough of the southern row of that garden to plant what she's planning for this month.
  • We had wind gusts to 30 mph, but it didn't keep bees out of the fruit tree blossoms.
  • Bill attended the NHL game in the St. Louis Enterprise Center, watching it from the McBride Suite (see photos, below). He suggested that the next time the Winnipeg Jets play the St. Louis Blues, I should join him in watching the game. Well, as a result of St. Louis beating Utah 6-1 in this game, the Blues face the Jets in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I joked in a message to Bill, asking him if the next games count for his suggestion. He said yes, but I told him I was only joking. I'm sure tickets to a playoff game are much higher priced, as compared to regular season tickets.
  • Mary and I shared a 2023 bottle of spiced apple wine. It tasted great. Apple from the Empire apple tree are so-so, but this wine made from those apples is wonderful.
    

Bill's view of the ice sheet from the McBride Suite.

He said the suite even comes with a buffet.

• Wednesday, 4/16: Dandies Picked & April Seeds Planted
  • We heard a house wren for the first time this season. It only spouted off for a few minutes in the morning, then was silent for the rest of the day.
  • I finished picking dandelion blossoms with an all-day push to get it accomplished. I picked 21 dozen flowers, gaining 84.4 grams for the day, with a grand total of 273.2 grams. I now need to buy some other supplies (fruit, yeast, ginger & golden raisins) to make this wine.
  • Mary planted seeds she has scheduled to sow in April in the near garden. They include snow peas, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and parsnips. She watered all seeds and covered the snow pea seeds with lacy white curtains. This is needed to keep robins from uncovering the seeds. Robins don't eat the seeds, but blue jays do once the seeds are uncovered.
  • I checked the strawberry plants. The leaves are mostly green, with a few stripes of yellow in some leaves. We'll keep the lace curtains over them for a couple more days, then open everything up.
  • When I was near the Sargent crabapple tree, it was buzzing with bees in the blossoms. All pear trees are thoroughly green, absent white blossoms. The lilacs are starting to bloom, giving off an amazing aroma.

• Thursday, 4/17: Mowing & Birds
  • Mary and I walked Plato down the Bobcat Trail, and then around the west field. We looked at a number of redbud trees blooming in the woods. In nature, they prefer to grow as undercover trees within tall oak and hickory timber. Their tiny red blossoms show up, because most all other trees haven't developed leaves, yet.
  • I mowed the lane, then part of the front yard, where grass was exceptionally thick and tall. I collected the front yard grass clippings and put them under the Empire apple tree.
  • Mary mowed the lawn between the woodshed and the machine shed, along with the west yard.
  • In the morning, we heard a bald eagle cry to the north, then we saw a bald eagle fly overhead around noon. We wonder if we might have a bald eagle nest in the northeast part of our property.
  • For two evenings in row, a wood duck hen motors overhead, squawking like crazy, as it flies to the northeast.
  • Mary watered the newly planted seeds, while I did a strawberry check. The strawberry plants are greening up very nicely.
  • On our last walk with Plato, we saw lightening in the sky from thunderstorms west of Des Moines, Iowa, which is about 220 miles to the northwest. Nighttime lightning flashes can be seen for many miles.

• Friday, 4/18: Mowing, Rain, & Fred
  • I walked Plato halfway down the trail to the ponds. A meadowlark was in the top of a honey locust tree singing his heart out.
  • The Kohler engine in the old mower Mary uses was surging up and down in RPMs yesterday. I checked the air filter and vacuum hoses. They were fine. A governor spring was loose. I remembered that I replaced springs on an even older mower we no longer use, so I swapped those springs. That fixed the problem and the engine now runs smoothly, without surging.
  • Mary mowed north of the house, around the machine shed, and the lawn east of the machine shed. Several small cherry trees and violet flowers got lobbed off.
  • I mowed the south lawn where it was allowed to grow tall last year. I had to run over all areas twice in order to munch down tall chicory stalks. Mary and I endured high mounds of earth pushed up by moles. I put clippings under the Empire apple tree. With each deposit of grass clippings, I heard lots of bees visiting the apple blossoms.
  • Mary and I were rained out of our lawnmowing efforts. We had a quick downpour. Mary already had her mower under cover. I put my mower away VERY wet.
  • Our resident barred owl, whom we call Fred, was in a small maple tree in the east lawn at dusk while hunting for dinner (see photo, below). This owl lives somewhere nearby and hunts regularly within eyesight of the house.
  • We noticed several white crabapple blossom petals under the Sargent tree when we walked Plato at night. They really show up under the bright glare of a flashlight, especially when several on on the ground.

  

  Fred, our resident barred owl, in east yard.
  

• Saturday, 4/19: Hockey Playoffs Begin
  • I woke at 3:23 a.m. for a bit. Rain water was dripping off the roof. When we got up later, everything was dry, except for a little water in the rain gauge.
  • We had a lazy day, inside.
  • I watched Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the St. Louis Blues and the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets won, 5-3. I was rooting for both teams, which makes it easy, because no matter the outcome, you're always a winner. The Blues led a couple times, but the Jets played really hard in the last half of the game. Winnipeg fans wear all white clothing and wave white towels, which they call a blizzard. It's quite a visual effect.
  • I lit a fire after the game. A bunch of wood chips fell to the floor while I moved firewood into the woodstove. When I swept them up and took the chips outside, several deer ran into the woods from just west of the house.

• Sunday, 4/20: Rain, No Tornadoes, Foam Fly
  • We received a lot of much-needed rain, today. In the morning, we had 0.77 inch in the rain gauge. After doing evening chores early, sheets of rain came down and this morning (4/21), there was 1.23 inches in the rain gauge. That's exactly 2 inches between the two readings. It should help raise pond levels and ground moisture.
  • Mary and I closely watched weather radar all day. There were confirmed tornadoes on the ground south and east of us, but none got anywhere near us, thank goodness.
  • We had nice rainbows to east when the sun was setting.
    
  • I want to increase fence heights to deter deer and reviewed ideas online for how to do that. I plan to test out some ideas.
  • Mary saw a northern harrier hawk for the first time this year.
  • I made a foam spider that looks more like a beetle (see photos, below). The head cement I used for attaching eyes made them look glazed over. I have more ideas for this fly, which is supposed to be good for catching bass.
  • Mary and I enjoyed a bottle of 2022 blackberry wine. It's very good. Of all the wines I make, blackberry has the closest aroma to grape wine. One excuse we used for drinking this bottle of wine is the fact that I need four more empty bottles in order to bottle batch two of spiced apple wine that is in the pantry aging in gallon jugs right now.
  • I watched Game 1 of NHL playoffs between the Minnesota Wild and the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas won, 4-2, but it was a much closer game than the final score indicates.

Top view of my first attempt in tying a foam spider.

Bottom view of what really looks like a beetle.

April 7-13, 2025

Weather | 4/7, sunny, 33°, 49° | 4/8, sunny, 21°, 53° | 4/9, p. cloudy, 0.01" rain, 40°, 70° | 4/10, 0.05" rain, cloudy, 37°, 65° | 4/11, 0.03" rain, cloudy, 40°, 59° | 4/12, sunny, 35°, 65° | 4/13, thin clouds, 51°, 80° |

• Monday, 4/7: New Trailer
  • While Mary and I took Plato on a morning walk on a short loop through the woods just north of the machine shed, we watched a pair of bald eagles glide overhead to the northeast.
  • We checked out the redbud tree in those woods and next to the north field. Mary took a photo of the blossoms (see below).
  • I've been looking for a trailer large enough to haul 4' x 8' sheets of plywood and other building materials...supplies for a future home. It needs to be something I can pull with the pickup. I found a 2009 trailer that seemed good, yet at a reasonable price ($900) on Facebook Marketplace. I texted with the owner, who is at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and decided to buy it.
  • I drove to Lewistown and bought gas ($2.95/gallon), then to our bank in Quincy to get cash for the trailer. Next, I drove to Mt. Pleasant, which is 72 miles north of Quincy, or 82 miles from our house.
  • A very strong northwest wind was blowing. I really felt it in our pickup. It's amazing how rough paved highways are in Iowa. They build all highways with concrete and no asphalt. Even patches are concrete. Then they plaster tar over cracks that's about two inches high. In an old pickup, driving over that mess feels like your molars are going to fall out!
  • The trailer looked good (see photo, below). It has a tilt bed, so ramps aren't needed. The trailer is 6 foot wide by 10 feet long. This guy's grandson "fixed" the trailer lights. The new lights look okay, but the wiring job won't last. The jack at the front needs replacing. Other than those things, it looks solid. I paid for the trailer, hooked it on the pickup, and drove home. 
  • The trailer tires travel beyond the width of the pickup, so diligence is needed while towing it, especially on narrow county roads. While running empty, it bounces a lot. I returned home just before sunset.
  • Tonight's forecast is for cold temperatures, so Mary covered the winter greens.
  • We drank a bottle of 2023 apple wine. This was bland right after bottling it, but after a year of resting, it tastes really good. It has a good apple flavor and it's very tart...YUM!!!
    

Mary's photo of redbud blossoms.

The new trailer. The old red trailer in the background
is too small to haul 4'x8' plywood. We'll sell it.

• Tuesday, 4/8: All Fruit Trees are Fine After Freeze
  • We experienced a solid freeze with a 21° low at 6:30 a.m., just before sunrise. Mary and I did a check of all blossoming pear trees and nothing was harmed. One or two blossoms are on the big cherry tree and on the McIntosh apple tree. Tons of blossom buds are showing on the Sargent crabapple tree and the small Liberty apple tree.
  • Several honey bees were in all of the pear tree blossoms at noon. Mary spotted a bee fly, Bombylius major, in the Keifer pear tree. HERE are images and information about the bee fly. They have a hairy body and a long proboscis. We also saw the first giant swallowtail butterfly of the season.
  • I researched our new trailer. It was made in Sikeston, MO, located at the south end of the state. The Iowa trailer registration indicates it was made in 2002, not 2009, like the previous owner suggested. The latch mechanism that closes onto the ball was beat on with a ball peen and it's rather loose on the ball when closed. Also, the jack is bent. I think someone left it down and pulled the trailer forward. I want to replace all of that, which will require some torch work and welding. I'm going to ask around for the whereabouts of a good welder.
    
  • Very thin clouds in the nighttime sky gave us a big ring around the moon when we walked our puppy on his final outing. It was pretty and weird...looked like a huge eye in the sky.

• Wednesday, 4/9: Big Chainsaw Fixed
  • Mary made a big batch of chicken noodle soup. Yum, yum!
  • When I walked down to the mailbox, I saw two snakes sunning themselves on the lane. The first one was a Graham's crayfish snake. I walked around it. On the way back home, I saw a small western fox snake. It arched up a foot off the ground with its neck, opened its jaws wide, and struck at me three times. I leaped backward and it never was close. Mary has encountered this same snake. It's not poisonous, but known for quick attacks.
  • The Stihl chainsaw oiler that I ordered from Minnesota came in today's mail. I installed it in the large chainsaw and fired up the saw. After several high-speed revs of the engine, I pointed the tip of the chainsaw bar toward bare cardboard and saw a very pleasing stream of wet oil sprayed out. It works great! Also, the new clutch springs that I installed on Feb. 6th worked perfectly, since the chainsaw's chain didn't keep rotating on the bar once the saw was at idle speed. I finally have the big chainsaw back in service.
  • We're noticing that several blossoms are ready to emerge on most all of the small apple trees.
  • The pear blossoms were snowing white petals all over the yard with a strong south wind blowing during the day.

• Thursday, 4/10: Two Rainbows in One Day
  • Today was a two-rainbow day. As the sun rose, a full rainbow showed up against the west clouds. In the evening, while the sun was setting, another full rainbow was on display in the east sky.
  • We experienced spits of rain throughout the day. It didn't amount to much, but it kept everything wet.
    
  • While walking Plato in the morning, I saw two deer in the south field. Then I heard a shot to the north. Don't know what that was for!
  • I spent a big part of the day doing paperwork related to Mary's health insurance.
  • I drove to Lewistown, bought some gas and went to the post office to mail out the paperwork, along with picking up a book of stamps. The pickup got 18.59 miles per gallon on the drive to bring the trailer home. I thought that was pretty good, with a headwind while driving north and pulling a trailer on the return trip.
  • We still have Asian beetles inside the house...just fewer of them. I vacuum them in the late afternoon.

• Friday, 4/11: Strawberry Plants, Pepper Seeds & Weeding
  • Dandelions are appearing all over our yard, so I picked some flowers, pulled the petals and froze them. I'd pick a dozen at a time, go inside, pluck all of them, then stuff pedals in a gallon freezer bag. In one hour I plucked five dozen dandies and got 19 grams in the freezer. I need 270 grams to have enough for a one-gallon batch of dandelion wine...I'm 7% of the way to my goal, so there's a lot more dandy plucking in my immediate future.
  • Mary planted pepper seeds. It amounts to five different kinds of hot and sweet peppers in 20 Styrofoam cups.
  • I uncovered the strawberry plants. All containers had yellow leaves pushing up through the grass, so this method of keeping the containers outside and covering them with dead grass worked well. I moved the grass and mulched around the Granny Smith apple tree, and two small cherry trees. Then I lined all of the strawberry containers up into two rows at the east end of the near garden and covered them with white lace curtain material to give the yellow leaves protection from direct sun. Hopefully after a few days they will green up and I can remove these covers.
  • Mary started cleaning up tall weeds and grass next to the near garden's bunny fence (two-foot high chicken wire). She got about a quarter of the way along that fence.
  • We heard a white-throated sparrow singing near our yard. They are here in the spring, but head north and nest in Canada.
  • More and more apple and cherry blossoms are opening.

• Saturday, 4/12: Near Garden Fence Work
  • I picked dandelion petals for another hour and froze 18.5 grams for a grand total of 37.5 grams towards enough for a gallon of wine. I need to increase my picking efforts, or I'll be at this for a long time.
  • There are lots of bees in the cherry blossoms. I also saw several in dandy flowers.
  • Mary cleaned more of grass and weeds out of the near garden bunny fence. She's more than halfway around that fence.
  • I fixed three corners of the near garden electrical fence. Each winter and spring, all four corner posts lean inward, requiring me to straighten them. On the corner posts nearest the house, I simply had to pound a couple rocks or brick pieces into the ground surrounding the post bases. The southeast post was leaning the most and with that post I had to reposition support posts and add new diagonal wiring. The last one requiring work is on the northeast corner.
  • While doing evening chores, I spotted a new cell tower within site of our property due south of us. We're guessing it's about two miles away. This must be new tower construction, since we didn't notice it until today.
  • We enjoyed deviled eggs, pumpkin cake, and two pots, each, of loose leaf tea while watching two movies. They were the 2000 film, Finding Forrester, and the 2010 movie, Leap Year.

• Sunday, 4/13: Starting to Turn Over Garden Soil
  • It was 33 years ago, today, when Katie was born in Crookston, Minnesota.
  • Mary and I watched a sharp-shinned hawk fly overhead at tree height as we walked Plato first thing in the morning.
  • I picked more dandelion petals, bringing the grand total to 81.2 grams, or 30 percent of a 270-gram total. Today was a two-hour session and I picked 144 flowers.
  • Mary did some cross stitch work.
    
  • I straightened the last corner post of the near garden, pulled all of the electrically-charged wires tight and turned on the electric fence surrounding the near garden.
  • Mary turned about 10 feet soil over in the near garden. She's trying to get a jump on starting garden plants.
  • Several small apple trees are blossoming for the first time this spring. The Sargent crabapple tree, the McIntosh apple tree, and the large pie cherry tree are all white with blossoms.

March 31-April 6, 2025

Weather | 3/31, sunny, 32°, 57° | 4/1, cloudy, 30°, 55° | 4/2, t-storms, 1.03" rain, 47°, 70° | 4/3, cloudy, 41°, 54° | 4/4, 0.21" rain & heavy mist, 39°, 43° | 4/5, 0.10" rain, cloudy, 39°, 47° | 4/6, sunny, 32°, 53° |

• Monday, 3/31: First Major Shopping Since January
  
  • We shopped in Quincy, IL. The last major shopping trip to Quincy for us was on Jan. 24th. It was quiet in all stores. The pickup handled beautifully with super quiet brakes that work like a charm. It's obvious to me that the old rear brakes were dragging, because the fuel economy of the pickup improved a great deal, as indicated by the fuel gauge that didn't move much at all.
  • Shopping highlights: 1) I ran into difficulty when we stopped at Staples to print off the email I got from RockAuto containing the FedEx shipping label for the package to return the dust shield with missing parts. The label would not show up. The employee at the printing department had me send the email to his computer, he hit an option to show blocked images and printed it. When I asked him how much I owed, he said, "Let's just say, have a great day." I got the print out for free. 2) We shipped out the RockAuto package after driving way the heck north of town to the FedEx shipping office. 3) The last stop was at Farm & Home. When they gave me my parts, only one item was in the bag, even though two parts were listed. They looked around in drawers and in the back and didn't find the second part, which is an oil worm gear for the large Stihl chainsaw. The parts employee then ordered the worm gear, saying it should be in on Thursday. We're back in Quincy on that day, so we'll see if they can finally get it right. If they don't have it, I'm canceling and getting it online. I first called in to order this part on Feb. 6th. Farm & Home's chainsaw parts department stinks and I've had enough of their sloppy work.
  • We got home, unloaded the pickup, did evening chores, and rested. Shopping tires us out, especially after making 13 stops to buy stuff today.

• Tuesday, 4/1: More Firewood
  • Strong winds blew out of the east, southeast all day.
  • We're not seeing bees in the pear blossoms, because it's too cool and windy. I hope we don't have a repeat of last year, when we didn't get pear fruit.
    
  • Mary cleaned and did a big load of laundry, while I split all of the firewood that was in the machine shed. It amounted to eight wheelbarrow loads, one of which went into the house.
  • Blackbirds and juncos remain with us, even though it's late in the season to be viewing them.

• Wednesday, 4/2: Old Lawnmower Maintenance
  • A strong west wind blew today. West winds mean we smell the wonderful aroma of a dairy dung pond. It's the yuckiest smell imaginable. Fortunately, we don't get many due west winds.
  • Mary made pizza, which was yummy. She always puts together two pizzas and puts an uncooked one in the refrigerator for the following day.
  • I worked on the old lawnmower. After changing the spark plug, I removed some covers to gain access to built-up dead grass and dirt behind the carburetor. Using small screwdrivers, I dug out a lot of debris that was hindering the correct operation of levers and springs involving the carburetor. I replaced the air filter, changed the oil, and sharpened the blade, then mowed the new area designated for a burn barrel. The mower runs much better, now.

• Thursday, 4/3: Quincy Library Book Sale
  • Mary and I drove to Quincy to attend the spring Quincy Library Book Sale. Mary picked up a neat World War I history book. She also found several books featuring areas in England and a John Muir omnibus book of his writings. I got a 1974 Gun Owners Book of Care and Improvement and a 2021 book authored by Bill Gates entitled, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.
  • We toured a newly opened store in Quincy called Ollie's. It involves cheaply made junk at average prices. The store reminded me of Big Lots. We won't be going back.
  • We also went to Joann's going out of business sale and bought lots of stuff. Most of our purchase was for me...I picked up a bunch of things, such as beads, metallic thread, and a large storage container, that fit into my new fly tying hobby.
    
  • I checked with the stupid asses behind the chainsaw desk at Farm & Home. I was told that they haven't received parts orders that they given to Stihl for over a week. I'm done with them. I ordered the oiler part for the large chainsaw from a company in Minnesota after I returned home. It costs more, but at least I'll probably get it in a reasonable amount of time.
  • I watched a Webex featuring a Missouri Department of Conservation ornithologist discussing efforts to halt the decline in migratory birds.
  • Mary and I went through the new books we bought today. She laughed through the night at two Zits comic books.

• Friday, 4/4: Mist, Motus, & '21 Pear Wine
  • We experienced a misty, rainy day, so Mary and I stayed inside.
  • Mary did some cross stitch work.
  • I reviewed Motus, an international wildlife tracking system that the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is part of. It started in 2014 by Birds Studies Canada and Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. I learned about it during the latest MDC Webex I joined on Thursday evening. Lightweight radio tags are put on small birds, bats, and even insects, such as dragonflies. The animals are then tracked using automated radio telemetry to better determine migration patterns of various species of birds and animals. MDC has tracking towers all over Missouri, one of which is near Novelty, which is 23 miles west of us. The last bird tracked through that tower was a wood thrush heading south in October. It had an average speed of 23 mph as it migrated south to its winter home in Central America.
  • Henbit is turning area fields purple (see photo, below). This shows up every spring in fields around here before farmers disc their land. It has shallow roots. Henbit flowers stink badly.
  • We enjoyed a really yummy 2021 pear wine. This mature wine is extremely smooth.
  • Mary and I watched two movies. They were the 1996 film, Star Trek: First Contact, and the 2009 movie, Invictus.
    
  • Another item I picked up at JoAnn's yesterday was extra fine glitter in various colors. I plan to use it on homemade fishing lures.

  

  A neighboring field covered with henbit.
  

• Saturday, 4/5: Sorting Fly Tying Supplies
  • We had cloudy and cool weather, so we stayed indoors again.
  • Mary did some cross stitch work.
  • I went through fly tying items and old lure making things that once belonged to Dad and consolidated like items, such as beads and rubber skirts for fishing lures. I put all beads into plastic zippered bags and stored them in my new container, so that everything is in one place. Some of the small beads I bought on Thursday from JoAnn's are really cool. My only regret is that I didn't buy more, but even at reduced pricing, the total price can get too high. Dad had a bunch of beads that are now together with all of the beads. He also had several frog lure skirts that I could use as legs when I tie flies.
  • Mary and I saw a deer run away in the west field when we put the chickens to bed for the evening.
  • All pear trees are in full bloom with blankets of white blossoms.
  • Several hops plants are growing up the east wall of the house. They seem to grow at least a foot each day. They'll have to duke it out with Virginia Creeper vines.

• Sunday, 4/6: Blooming Redbuds & Honey Bees
  • Mary and I took a hike with Plato to the west field, down Bobcat Trail, and then through the woods. We saw several blooming redbud trees. They're spreading in that part of the woods. We also saw spring beauties, the start of may apples, Dutchman's britches, and trout lily leaves popping through the forest floor.
  • Upon returning to the house, we saw hundreds of bees in all of the pear blossoms, a few native bees, and even some tachnid flies. We might just get some pear fruit this year. We didn't see much of any pears last year.
  • Mary started four sweet potatoes from last year's garden for this year's slips. She also planned this year's garden.
  • I went online and bought a supply of tea and coffee. Each year we get a case, or a dozen boxes of Red Rose tea, each box containing 100 tea bags. We buy it directly from the Red Rose Tea Company. I got three bags of coffee beans from Sam's Club. The Sam's Club in Quincy doesn't stock the coffee we prefer, so I buy it online.
  • I put the rest of my fly tying and lure making items away. I also sized the hooks that I have, including old ones in my storage. I labeled hook sizes.
  • I looked into making a bumble bee fly from foam bodies that I bought last year. I'll need a few more supplies before I can make that fly.
  • One of our chickens decided to imitate songbirds and gave us an egg that is about the size of a robin egg (see photo, below).

  • 

    One of today's eggs was tiny!

    
     

March 24-30, 2024

Weather | 3/24, cloudy, 34°, 55° | 3/25, p. cloudy, 34°, 59° | 3/26, sunny, 34°, 60° | 3/27, 0.59" rain, 41°, 55° | 3/28, 0.01" rain, 53°, 77° | 3/29, mostly cloudy, 58°, 73° | 3/30, 0.13" rain, 37°, 60° |

• Monday, 3/24: The First Blossoms in the Woods
  • I opened the curtains in the bedroom right while Mary was letting Plato outside when I saw seven deer north of the far garden. I opened the window and told Mary about them when they ran off. We think they were all bucks. They were big deer.
  • We walked Plato around the west field and down the Bobcat Trail, where we saw those same seven deer. We noticed the white blossoms of Chickasaw plum trees in a couple places in the woods. Big bunches of the white flowers are on the west berm of Frog Pond (see video and photos, below). Several honey bees were frequenting the blossoms.
  • I worked on the pickup's driver's side rear brakes. Steps I did today included: 1) cleaning,  greasing, and replacing parts in the emergency brake actuator mechanism; 2) removing a wheel stud to gain access to the front of the emergency brake hold down piece; 3) drilling and tapping new bolt threads for the bolt that secures the emergency brake shoes; 4) installing a new wheel stud where I removed the old one; 5) removing the brake hose from the old caliper, bolting its bracket to the axle housing, and attaching it to the metal brake line; 6) cleaning oil off the new brake rotor with brake cleaning fluid and installing it. Tiny bits of rain started falling, so I cleaned up tools and installed both tires as rain protection. It was around 7 p.m.
  • On our final walk of the night with Plato, coyotes were howling from several locations around us.
  Turn on the sound to hear bees visiting these Chickasaw Plum blossoms.
  Frogs in Frog Pond join the chorus as background melody.
   

Chickasaw Plum blossoms.

These are the first blossoms in the woods.

• Tuesday, 3/25: Ladybug Manor!
  • Besides finishing dusting books in the house, Mary vacuumed Asian ladybugs throughout the day. WILL THEY EVER STOP!!! British name their houses. Our house should be called Ladybug Manor.
  • Mary spotted a red-shouldered hawk sitting atop a cedar tree south of the house this morning.
    
  • Winds were relatively calm, so I sprayed all of the apple and pear trees with copper and horticultural oil spray. Copper sprayed with the oil is supposed to help deter fire blight. The oil also kills overwintering bug larvae buried in bark cracks. I noticed that the horticultural oil spray concentrate contains 98.8 percent mineral oil. A tiny bottle was $20. Next time I'll just buy mineral oil.
  • Around 1:30 p.m., Mary heard snow geese flying overhead, but couldn't locate them in the sky. They're still going through.
  • Prior to bedtime and while walking the puppy, Mary and I noticed a slight red and green tinge in the northern sky, or bit of aurora borealis.

• Wednesday, 3/26: All Brake Parts Installed
  • Mary and I walked Plato to Bass Pond. As we approached, a great blue heron lifted off of Dove Pond, which is right next to Bass Pond. While standing on the bank of Bass Pond, we saw many bass swimming around. Most were small, or about six to 10 inches long. This is good. It shows that bass are reproducing themselves in Bass Pond.
  • We noticed honey bees in the forsythia bushes and the branches coming off the weeping willow stump.
  • I finished installing new parts on the pickup's rear brakes. The only thing left is to bleed the brakes. Steps I did today included: 1) checking if the right rear rotor turned and it didn't; 2) removed rotor, emergency brake shoe and actuator parts; 3) since parts won't completely close together like they should, I ground three milometers off the end of a tiny cylinder inside the actuator and reassembled actuator parts, plus the e-brake shoe; 4) reinstalled the rotor and tested for turning...it's perfect; 5) installed caliper bracket, brake shoes, caliper, and brake hose to caliper while torquing all bolts to appropriate specifications; 6) removed left rear brake caliper and installed a middle anti-rattle clip that I forgot to include when I did that brake. I cleaned up and reinstalled tires with rain predicted overnight to help protect the new brake parts from moisture. I'll need to recruit Mary to help me bleed the brakes in the future.
  • With the pickup out of service for awhile, what is amazing is that we have not shopped for anything for over two months...our last major shopping day was on 1/24/25. We're only out of cat litter and Splenda brown sugar. It shows we've done a good job at keeping stocked up. We try to do that in case snow plugs our gravel road for an extended period, which wasn't a problem this winter.
    
  • Mary said she went through the surprising event of vacuuming bugs.
  • She also broke old branches down to sizable kindling pieces and collected new downed branches throughout our yards to dry inside the machine shed.

• Thursday, 3/27: Rain Delay
  • When I first woke up, I saw a barred owl in the top of the Empire apple tree.
  • Thunderstorms rolled through and rain fell between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., so Mary and I enjoyed a quiet day indoors.
  • I reviewed some brake bleeding ideas online. Experts say brake fluid should be changed every two years. Nobody does that! Supposedly, the brake fluid I currently have should be tossed out, because it's more than a year old. I'm not doing that, either.
  • The forsythia bushes are amazingly bright, especially the two we planted about 10 years ago next to the Kieffer pear tree (see photo, below).
   

  

  Forsythia blossoms in west yard. Kieffer pear trunk
  in background. Lilac bush in right foreground.
  

• Friday, 3/28: Brakes Done...Almost
  • Today was the worst inside-the-house Asian ladybug invasion, ever. At times, there were easily a couple hundred bugs inside each window. We'd vacuum them all off, come back 10 minutes later, and we were back where we started with another couple hundred bugs crawling everywhere. I started vacuuming and Mary resumed the chore. She had to give the shop vac a rest, occasionally, because it was getting too hot. Mary isn't feeling well, due to day after day of inhaling bug dust.
  • I watched a Missouri Department of Conservation Webex about hummingbirds. They spent most of their time discussing feeders, which we don't do. We have tons of hummingbirds here in the summer. They flock to all of the Russian comfrey blossoms. Mary planted it in 2010.
  • I bled the pickup brakes. First, I made a brake bleeding collector from a cleaned plastic bottle and a piece of clear plastic hose. The hose comes from my winemaking materials. I drilled a hole in the lid of the bottle slightly smaller than the hose diameter and a second smaller hole to release air so the hose wouldn't pop out as the bottle fills with fluid. The hose goes through the hole in the lid and to the bottom of the bottle. A little bit of new brake fluid goes into the bottle. The other end of the hose goes on the brake bleeder nipple. The bottle sits above the brakes, but below the level of the master cylinder. After the brake bleeder valve is opened, brake fluid flows through the clear plastic hose, allowing you to see if air is in the fluid. More importantly, air in the brake fluid in the hose rises and any fluid going back into the brake caliper contains no air. This simple gizmo is sold by auto parts stores for about $20. I made it for free. Okay, we once bought a bottle of peanuts to make chocolate covered peanut candy and I once bought the hose to help bottle wine. Other than that, it was free.
  • I first sucked old brake fluid out of the brake fluid reservoir, then gravity bled the rear brakes. Then I had Mary pump the brake pedal as I bled all four brake calipers. At one point, we had all four tires off and the pickup on blocks. It was then that Mary said it was a true hillbilly pickup. "There it sits, no tires at all, just on blocks," she said.
  • While everything was open with all tires off, I greased the pickup's front end and rotated the tires. I topped off the brake fluid reservoir, torqued all lug nuts, and put all of my tools and blocks away. I finished at 8:45 p.m. 
  • The only item left to do is to condition the new ceramic brake pads. I need to take the vehicle to 30 mph and brake to 5 mph, 30 times, to put ceramic brake residue on the new rotors. The manufacturer writes that this is important to the proper working order of ceramic brake pads.
  • While I picked up blocks to put them away, a corn snake crawled from under the pickup and right by me. Corn snakes are rather pretty. At that point I was wearing a hat light and I could see hundreds of spiders' eyes in the lawn.
  • The Bartlett pear trees are starting to open blossoms and the Kieffer pear tree is white with blossom buds. A few honey bees were in the small Bartlett pear tree, despite a strong south wind.
    

• Saturday, 3/29: Great Brakes!
  • The Asian ladybugs are still nuts, so vacuuming them continued, but not for Mary. Continuous bug dust from the vacuum makes her feel ill. I was the only bug sucker today.
  • I drove the pickup up and down our gravel road to condition the ceramic brake pads. I kept a tally sheet to get in 30 times of getting to 30 mph and braking to at least 5 mph. I'm sure neighbors thought I was nuts with all the driving and stopping I did. I don't care. The brakes work very nicely, now. I still get idiot lights telling me that the anti-lock brake system (ABS) isn't working and the brake booster is faulty. That's minor. The ABS light is on because any little bit of rust on the front puts it out of kilter and I have plenty of power in my right leg to stomp on the brakes without a brake booster. I didn't tear into the brake booster. It's immaterial when brake pads are falling out from under the vehicle.
  • I changed oil and the oil filter on the pickup. After checking fluid levels, I added a little antifreeze. All brake line connections were completely dry...perfect!
  • Violets are starting to bloom. All pear trees are white with blossoms and filled with native bees.
  • We heard an eastern towhee, so they're back for the summer. We still have juncos. They know it is too cold up north.
    

• Sunday, 3/30: Catch Up Day, No Mustard
  • With the pickup brakes completed, I cleaned up the mess of boxes in the freezer room from various auto brake parts shipments and gave three bigger boxes to Mary. She filled those boxes with books to donate to the Salvation Army in Quincy.
  • I got the partial brake dust shield part packaged up to send back to RockAuto.
    
  • I looked up lawn mower and chainsaw parts to purchase.
  • I cleaned up the back of the pickup so we can load in coolers for a shopping trip to Quincy, IL, tomorrow.
  • Mary finished a shopping list and I added some items to that list.