April 21-27, 2019

Weather | 4/21, 48°, 79° | 4/22, 0.06" rain, 59°, 75° | 4/23, 49°, 56° | 4/24, 0.09" rain, 47°, 57° | 4/25, 0.18" rain, 51°, 69° | 4/26, 46°, 63° | 4/27, 49°, 69° |

• Easter Sunday (4/21): Bought chicken feed at Farm & Home before work. Had 3 dogs canceling from dog training when I started work, but 2 more dogs canceled, due to Easter family events, so I trained 4 dogs today. It was quiet, but we did $2500 in sales...more than expected. Mary mowed.
• Monday (4/22): Woke up to thunder cracking and rain. Bought needed items at Sam's Club, Walmart, and Aldi prior to work. Did exciting dusting of shelves at work. Shane said in a few weeks, we'll move from a C to a B store, which means we'll get an assistant manager position, which will probably be filled by Molly. Trained 2 dogs, Rufus (great dane) & Thor (pitbull), at 6, and Cupcake (yellow lab) at 7. No mowing, due to morning thunderstorm, so Mary did house cleaning. My boot replacement came in via UPS. They're identical to Mary's boots and better than my last boots that only lasted 2 weeks before splitting. These boots are made in the U.S. Lost cruise control and have a brake light coming on in my Cadillac. Will have to check into that!
• Tuesday (4/23): Mary made cinnamon rolls. Checked Cadillac. Master brake cylinder is leaking...telltale sign is pealing paint under it on the firewall. Filled cylinder with brake fluid. I've had a dinger going off after turning engine off...found it to be 2 windows that were slightly down. Looked online for way to use cell service on our wireless landline phone system. AT&T sells a home phone system that will do this. Might consider eliminating AT&T's home phone service, up our cell service to unlimited data, and get this new phone system. Watched Princess Diary movies and ate cinnamon rolls.
• Wednesday (4/24): Looked at blossoming trees. Pears are done. Cherries and apple trees are blossoming. We never can buy King Arthur whole wheat flour at Walmart, because they're always out, so I ordered four 5-pound bags to pick up tomorrow just before I get to work. This way, if it's not on the shelf, but in the back, I get it. We burned boxes and bags that have stacked up in the Machine Shed for over a year. We were at the fire barrel for 3.5 hours and we still have 2 hours of burning to do. Watched the movie Much Ado About Nothing, while eating cinnamon rolls.
• Thursday (4/25): Picked up Walmart order and only got 1 bag of wheat flour...OK that doesn't work too well. Mary put more acid on blueberry plants and cleaned out bad garlic from the bags, with half a bag left, which is good for this time of year. The lilac bush is blooming.
• Friday (4/26): Called JC Auto, the junkyard in Monroe City, MO. My rims arrived today, so I drove there, bought them, and loaded them into the Cadillac's trunk. I then drove to Hannibal, bought a pizza at Aldi, looked for wheat flour at that Walmart (they don't stock it), and bought potting soil at Lowe's. Mary mowed the lane, outside of both gardens, and the inside of the near garden.
• Saturday (4/27): I worked at Petco for hopefully the last time on a non-dog training day. I bought an aquarium decoration that resembles a geode. It was in the clearance bin for $1. Mary planted pepper seeds.

April 14-20, 2019

Weather | 4/14, 34°, 51° | 4/15, 35°, 65° | 4/16, 47°, 78° | 4/17, 59°, 79° | 4/18, 0.69" rain, 42°, 56° | 4/19, 41°, 59° | 4/20, 42°, 69° |

• Sunday (4/14): Had 5 dog training classes at 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30. Kind of tired after classes in a row. New dogs at 11:30, a female great dane and a pitbull. The woman who owns the white pitbull in the 4:30 class, Izzy, was tickled when we got her to go down when asked. My 3:30 class, Aggie, the Basset hound, is doing quite well. I left at 6 with Emily closing the store at 7:30...first time in forever that I didn't have to close on Sunday. Mary started sweet potatoes and mowed around the house.
• Monday (4/15): Called Galeton, who we ordered boots from, and complained about cracks in my 2-week old boots. They will refund my money and get me a pair like Mary ordered. Two dog training classes today at work. One dog, Thor, a pitbull, was brought to class by the owner's mother, who is a hyper mess. As a result Thor was a growly beast, when he usually isn't. Dogs reflect from the people they are around. Cupcake, a yellow lab, and my 7 pm class, is progressing nicely. Mary mowed the lane and was stopped by Ansel Marquette and his wife. They said Rich, their son-in-law, told them he was hunting turkey and the neighbor to the west of us was cutting down trees and put up no trespassing signs on Rich's property. Ansel was going to check it out. Ansel's wife said they had to see if Rich was accurate, because she said "he can't tell north from south and is a town boy." I laughed at that comment. She's right.
• Tuesday (4/16): We walked to the NW corner of our property and then walked the west edge of our property. They're taking a ton of trees out of the property west of us, but they never went onto our property. They have a regular logging road trounced down through the property to just beyond the west end of our west field. WE NEED TO PLANT CEDAR TREES SOON. A couple rows of trees will block future house lights. We planted 4 blueberry plants into tubs that we once used in a hoophouse. The tubs were left on the east side of the woodshed and maple tree roots invaded through holes in the bottom of them. It was tough cleaning all of that out of the soil in the tubs. Put the soil on a tarp, mixed in new amendments and put new soil back into tubs. The plants look perfect. The tubs are on an old closet door from the Circle MT house to prevent tree roots from invading, again. Ordered 2 pairs of Lymeez Gators, designed to keep off ticks.
• Wednesday (4/17): Mary had an upset stomach all night and only slept 1.5 hours. We had eggs 2 nights in a row. Mary's stomach can't handle that. Checked online in my bank and got paid as planned by Social Security. I'm officially a happy geezer! Did research online related to appropriate rims for the Cadillac. Moved mixed potting soil off the plastic and split firewood. Saw 3 kestrels flying around Bluegill Pond that we think are nesting in the woods there.
• Friday (4/19): Did more Cadillac rim research, then drove to JC Auto, a junkyard, in Monroe City, MO. They have 4 new rims that aren't chromed that they just got into a new salvage yard they recently purchased south of the Quad Cities. The rims are off of a 2009 Cadillac DTS with 60,000 miles on it. They will have the rims into Monroe City mid-week and give me a call.
• Saturday (4/20): Shane asked me to open and close on Sundays. I can take 2 lunch breaks and it only adds an hour to my existing Sunday times. I told him that we're 28% through the year, but I've earned 47.5% of the $17,430 limit I can earn and still get Social Security payments, and that I will not jeapardize not getting SS. He added up 24 hours a week at my payrate for the rest of the year and the amount came out Okay. The problem is, that figure doesn't account for dog training sales commissions, or bonuses for the store beating last year's sales, which would put me over the top. I bet I won't be working at all in November or December, because Shane isn't paying attention to my situation. At home, Mary staked up the small Bartlett pear, and small Jonathan apple tree and put fencing around them, so animals will stop nipping them to the ground. She also put cattle panels around 2 cherry trees that outgrew smaller tomato cages.

April 7-13, 2019

Weather | 4/7, 0.16" rain, 49°, 75° | 4/8, 49°, 74° | 4/9, 51°, 73° | 4/10, 50°, 69° | 4/11, 52°, 65° | 4/12, 36°, 54° | 4/13, 34°, 56° |

Sunday (4/7): Lots of dog training at work today, with classes at 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30. Fortunately, my 1:30 class canceled, because the pet parent was sick. A real fun class is Aggie, a Basset Hound puppy, who is learning fast. The 4:30 class is new...Lizzy, a white boxer, and Theo, a beagle mix. I also sold a Level 1 class to a woman with 2 dogs, who will be in a new class starting next Sunday at 11:30 am. Mary vacuumed gobs of beetles today. Thunderstorms from 5:30 pm, onward. Mary got photos of a complete double rainbow.

Monday (4/8): Two dog training classes at work with Rufus (great dane mix) at 6 pm and Cupcake (yellow lab) at 7 pm. Finished reset of cat towers that Cory has been working on for 2 days. It's only about 2-3 dozen items! Also, put extra cat towers on top-stock (highest shelf), which really wore my butt out wrestling heavy cat towers up a tall ladder to the highest shelf in the store. Cory is 21 and can't be bothered. I'd fire his ass if I was store manager. Forgot I was to leave at 8. I was mopping floors at 9 when Bill Fawcett asked, "Aren't you supposed to leave at 8 today?" Oops! Texted Shane that I must really like work. He said it was OK. Back home, Mary sucked up a gobs of bugs and made kindling.

Wednesday (4/10): Mary and I sawed up part of the trunk of a maple tree east of the house, across the field. It's wood that's been curing for a year or more, so it's very hard. I dulled a newly sharpened chain in one afternoon. Big slices have to be sawed in half. Loaded the wood in the wagon and took it home. I discovered that the boots I've had for 2 weeks have cracks in them. Rubber bands have thicker rubber than what's in these cheap Chinese pieces of crap. Watched the movie, Twister.

Thursday (4/11): Saw 30 white pelicans and 2 great herons fly over the house while walking the dogs in the morning. Texted Katie about her birthday. We'll try to send her money, electronically, for her birthday. Went to work early so I could buy chainsaw oil. Tried to buy boots at Farm & Home, but they were out of my size in the type of boots I wanted. Trained 2 dogs at work, Ruby (labradoodle or lab/poodle mix) and Roe (goldendoodle or golden retriever/poodle mix) for class 1, level 2. Both are horrible at jumping, a common trait of doodles. At home, fewer bugs are coming into the house and grass is growing with great gusto. Got a nice card from Mom with a clipping from the Circle Banner with a photo of her flipping pancakes at a Senior Center event.

Friday (4/12): Balanced checkbook from 1st of the year. Looked into how to send money to Katie. Called bank and can't do it through them without paying a fee. Checked out Venmo, a subsidiary of PayPal. Asked Katie and she wants to go that way, so I set up an account. When both of us have a free account set up with Venmo, I can send money from my bank to her through the Venmo app.

Saturday (4/13): Went to Stark Brothers nursery customer appreciation days in Louisiana, MO. Before we left, Shane texted me, asking me to call him. He fired Mary and wants me to close, even though it was my day off. He said to go ahead and enjoy our visit to Stark Brothers, then show up at work. It was a sunny day at Stark Brothers. We bought 4 blueberry plants at $9, each, 75 strawberry plants at $18, 2 key lime trees at $16, each, some citrus fertilizer, and a French tarragon plant. I took in a wine brewing seminar. It was a blast. We saw walnut, peach, and pecan trees that we'd like, but first, we need to get areas built up with soil and compost (a project for this year), and buy those trees next year. Ate at a burger joint in Hannibal on the way home and I got to work at 6 pm to close at 9 pm.

March 31-April 6, 2019

Weather | 3/31, 24°, 43° | 4/1, 26°, 54° | 4/2,36 °, 54° | 4/3, 37°, 53° | 4/4, 0.19" rain, 41°, 49° | 4/5, 47°, 57° | 4/6, 39°, 70° |

• Tuesday (4/2): Shane, my boss, goofed up on work schedule planning. Originally, I was to work full-time this week and start part-time next week, but he started the part-time schedule this week. So, I get today through Friday off. I put in for 2 days of PTO (paid time off) this week. He will have me work full-time the week after next to make up the difference. It was a lazy day for me today.
• Wednesday (4/3): Updated this blog. Mary weeded and put compost on the asparagus bed. They should be popping through the ground any day, now. We checked all of the cherry trees that Mary planted last year. We have 8 live ones and 3 dead ones. We also have 1 big one that Herman planted the year before we arrived here. We also have a small Bartlett pear tree and 2 blueberry bushes we've neglected for years. Shane asked if I wanted to work Friday. I declined, because I want to really go to part-time at PETCO. Besides, for once I want to get caught up on firewood collection and have a year's supply ready prior to the heating season. Now is the best time to do that.
• Thursday (4/4): Went to the Quincy Library book sale. At 50 cents an inch, we bought $12.75 in books. Mary always reminds me that I buy more books than she does.I bought a pair of new military desert boots and merino wool socks at the Salvation Army store. I also bought a 12 volt air compressor for topping off the tire pressures on the Cadillac until we can afford to buy new rims. Then, we shopped for food.
• Friday (4/5): Spent most of the day reading books we bought yesterday. We had shrimp for dinner, in celebration of my retirement.
• Saturday (4/6): Grass is really greening up, even in the fields. Asian ladybugs are getting thick in the house, so Mary is doing a lot of vacuuming. I was back at work after 4 days off. Mary Moffett put in her 2-week notice. That's good, because she's a very poor worker. She's moving to Arkansas to live with her new squeeze. Shane has a new employee transferring in from the Sioux City, Iowa PETCO store at the end of April. With Mary leaving, he needs me to do a full-time week on the last week of April. No problem, I told Shane, I'll be probably ending all employment with PETCO come hunting season due to the limit Social Security puts on my annual income from outside sources. He doesn't care now, but he might care at the end of this year.

March 24-30, 2019

Weather | 3/24, 0.04" rain, 43°, 56° | 3/25, 0.01 rain, 34°, 53° | 3/26, 33°, 58° | 3/27, 33°, 66° | 3/28, 0.84" rain as thunderstorms, 49°, 69° | 3/29, 45°, 53° | 3/30, 2.00" rain, 35°, 40° |

• Tuesday (3/26): We cut firewood.
• Wednesday (3/27): The kitchen sink catch basket loosened up so water was draining underneath when the sink was full of water, so I replaced the sink drain with a new one. While taking it off, I discovered that the nut holding it on was broken. The new drain is much better. Since I couldn't get to it in the morning, Mary unloaded the trailer full of firewood in the afternoon. Our new boots arrived. It's sure nice to have dry feet. Hopefully, these will last longer.
• Friday (3/27): I've been hearing grinding when applying the brakes on the Cadillac, so I looked at all of the brake pads. They look fine. I think it's just grit on the rotors because of mud on the gravel roads. I tried to rotate tires, but the left rear rim is frozen on the hub. These chrome rims leak air, a common problem with GM chromed rims. I'm going to buy new rims without chrome. I'd rather have continuously inflated tires rather than shiny rims.
• Saturday (3/28): A ton of rain fell today revealing several leak issues with our roof. We need a new roof...hell, we need a new house. Churchill has gone an entire week without a bloody nose. He's one tough cookie!

March 17-23, 2019

Weather | 3/17, 29°, 49° | 3/18, 27°, 47° | 3/19, 26°, 49° | 3/20, 0.02" rain, 34°, 54° | 3/21, 35°, 53° | 3/22, 32°, 57° | 3/23, 34°, 56° |

• Sunday (3/17): A crew showed up to perform an inventory of the Quincy Petco store in the evening. It resulted in 43 pages of items that should have been on inventory, but were not. Obviously, Molly isn't doing her job very well. Mary made an apple pie today.
• Monday (3/18): Mary pruned trees in the yard.
• Wednesday (3/20): We shopped in Quincy. I also bought boots online, since the boots we purchased last fall completely fell apart...very disappointing. Chinese rubber is complete crap! I also purchased some vitamins online.
• Thursday (3/21): Mary saw the first morning cloak butterfly on this first day of spring.
• Friday (3/22): Mary checked garlic and it's all coming through the ground. She helped it out where mulch was a little too thick.
• Saturday (3/23): Split firewood in the morning and Mary stacked it in the afternoon. The first red-winged blackbirds arrived today.

March 10-16, 2019

Weather | 3/10, 31°, 43° | 3/11, 23°, 48° | 3/12, 29°, 47° | 3/13, 0.15" rain, 47°, 59° | 3/14, 40°, 54° | 3/15, 33°, 46° | 3/16, 25°, 51° |

• Sunday (3/10): Churchill is still bleeding. Hundreds of snow geese went overhead this morning.
• Monday (3/11): We're hearing snow geese flying overhead during the night. Mary saw geese crossing over front of the moon tonight.
• Tuesday (3/12): Cut firewood. Hundreds of robins arrived today. We also heard woodcocks for the first time this evening.

March 3-9, 2019

Weather | 3/3, 0.06" moisture as snow, 7°, 17° | 3/4, -4°, 19° | 3/5, 7°, 29° | 3/6, 9°, 36° | 3/7, 0.05" moisture as snow, 27°, 33° | 3/8, 29°, 36° | 3/9, 1.26" rain with thunderstorms, 35°, 39° |

• March came in like a lion this week with snow and cold temperatures. Chickens stayed inside their coop for most of this week.
• Mary babysat Churchill day and night throughout the week as he had massive nose bleeds, sometimes 2-3 times an hour. He lost so much blood that he sometimes fainted. She stayed up through the night, or slept on the couch in the livingroom, so she could catch him when the nose bleeds happened and take him outside. On my day's off, I took the "Watch Churchill" overnight shift. We thought we were going to lose him. We kept a bucket of water ready to clean up the blood drops on the floor.

Feb. 24-March 2, 2019

Weather | 2/24, 25°, 29° | 2/25, 8°, 29° | 2/26, 17°, 36° | 2/27, 19°, 27° | 2/28, 8°, 29° | 3/1, 17°, 26° | 3/2, 17°, 29° |

• Sunday (2/24): Had electrical brown out during breakfast. At work, Mary texted me. She couldn't call out and asked that I contact the electrical coop, because power was at a minimum. I did. Two trucks arrived mid-afternoon. High winds meant that crew was working since the night before last repairing electrical lines. We had a break in cable on 2 thick wires between the transformer and the house. They fixed it and all electrical items ran great. We might have had that break developing for years. Don't notice lights flickering during winds, like they used to do.
• Monday (2/25): Several flights of snow geese flying east to west over the house today.
• Tuesday (2/26): Cut firewood. More snow geese flying overhead.
• Wednesday (2/27): Started a new meal. Caramelize red onions in a cast iron skillet, then cook easy over eggs on top of the cooked onions...it's really delicious and is our form of fast food.
• Thursday (2/28): We got paid via an electronic transfer from Wells Fargo to our checking account for my Mid-Rivers pension. We'll now get that every month until both Mary and I croak. Oh, it's nice to be a geezer!
• Friday (3/1): Shopped in Quincy. Packed up a ton of items to donate to the Salvation Army and dropped them off. Ate Aldi pizza for our evening meal.