July 21-27, 2019

Weather | 7/21, 1.57" rain, 68°, 85° | 7/22, 0.09" rain, 64°, 79° | 7/23, 57°, 79° | 7/24, 62°, 83° | 7/25, 64°, 85° | 7/26, 67°, 84° | 7/27, 65°, 86° |

• Sunday (7/21): Had my 6 dog training classes, with 1 dog that didn't show up. I texted Shane to tell him I'll have to quit Petco earlier than planned, with the extra hours he's now giving me. His only concern was that I finish my dog training, so I talked to all people scheduled beyond August 23rd that we'll have to double up, or they finish with Ron, the other dog trainer. Mary and Bill watched Watership Down via Netflix over Bill's phone, but displayed on our TV. In the morning, we saw 5 WWII airplanes flying SW to NE over hour heads, flying in formation...that was really neat.
• Monday (7/22): All of the rooftop AC units quit at 8:30 am at work and the repairman didn't show until 5 pm. I opened the front doors, the swinging doors to the back rooms, and the back door, to get air flowing through the store. It was hotter in the store than outside. Fortunately, it was only in the 80's at Quincy. A 2 foot stretch of an electrical feed wire was fried, which shut off all 4 ACs on the roof. I had 3 dog training classes with 3 dogs. Did 2 classes in an hour with the 1 woman who has a dog scheduled beyond August. She will come early every upcoming Thursday, so we can do 2 classes a week...fixes that for me quitting earlier than planned. Back home, Bill and Mary watched They Shall Not Grow Old. Mary also mowed the south third of the hay field that is the far garden.
• Tuesday (7/23): Bill and I picked blackberries. We found a lot of bushes dried up...probably due to the recent heat. We succeeded in nearly filling a large metal bowl with berries. Bill got into a pile of tiny, tiny ticks all over his pants. We used packing tape to get them off his clothing and luckily, he didn't get bit. Mary mowed lawn, putting mulch on a row in the far garden. We had a weinie roast well into the evening. It was very nice. Came in at about 11:30 pm. Walked dogs and noticed fencer unit registering low...found 5 fence wires wound around themselves...that bunny got a real shock. I had to tighten a couple wires that got stretched, due to a critter struggling.
• Wednesday (7/24): I built a new ramp for the chickens, made from a piece of exterior plywood siding and lathes attached with screws. Dug out bricks that were buried in the ground that the end of the ramp rests on, filled in the holes and put them back in place. Put hardware cloth on east window. Installed gate latches on the chicken entry door. Mary mowed and mulched.
• Thursday (7/25): We ordered 25 chicks from Cackle Hatchery's Frypan Special. They'll ship on 7/31 and arrive on 8/2. We should be butchering just before deer season. Figured upcoming Petco income and I'll need to end employment by August 24, in order to also get paid my PTO (paid time off) and give me an $800 cushion, in case another unexpected bonus comes through. Texted Shane and told Molly at work. Shane's only concern was that I get through all of my dog training. Had just 1 dog for training...did 2 classes with that dog in 1 session.
• Friday (7/26): Mary and I picked blackberries...ate up a good part of the day. I mowed the lane, since Mary can't mow it due to poison ivy growing in the grass along the lane. Katie texted Mary a letter announcing that she got a job with the native construction company in Barrow that is building new villages on the west coast of Alaska.
• Saturday (7/27): Worked 10:30-7:30...mainly on the register. Mary made bread. She texted me saying the big freezer quit. She got rid of old food and put the remainder into our other freezer. After work, I ordered a new freezer from Lowe's...costs only $20 more than what we paid in 2010. When I got home, I found the thermostat on the outside of the freezer, turned it up and presto, the freezer started running. Cats had bumped the dial to almost off. We don't need to buy a freezer, after all.

July 14-20, 2019

Weather | 7/14, 70°, 93° | 7/15, 70°, 89° | 7/16, 0.06" rain, 70°, 87° | 7/17, 1.60" rain, 69°, 93° | 7/18, 69°, 91° | 7/19, 77°, 93° | 7/20, 77°, 92° |

• Sunday (7/14): Six dog training classes today involving 10 dogs...very tiring. Learned that I have to work Wednesday, because the front door is being raplaced and Shane has to stay at the Petco store overnight. Mary has a bad case of poison ivy rash over her torso, so she spent the entire day soaking that with comfry tea...it's the best for her to knock it back.
• Monday (7/15): Trained 2 dogs in 2 classes at work. Learned that several employees took time off on the week of July 28-Aug 3, so I have to work 40 hours that week. Told Shane that it just means I leave Petco earlier than we agreed. He said it's only for a week. He keeps adding the hours to my schedule to where I'll have to quit so I don't lose social security. Mary mowed and mulched in the near garden, since it's supposed to be hot for several days.
• Tuesday (7/16): Misty morning, so I cut 3 sections of hardware cloth to fit on south-facing windows of the coop. Then, I replaced broken glass with acrylic in the west window of the coop and glazed both panes of that window. Now, all broken glass is replaced in the coop. We went several years with just tape and plastic repairs after chickens slammed into glass and broke windows. Still some original glass left, but more than half is now acrylic. Mary made General Tso, did cleaning, and made a shopping list. Bill called to decide who was providing what for the pizza he's going to make while he visits next week.
• Wednesday (7/17): Worked 8:00-4:30 shift. Time goes so much slower when I'm not dog training. After work, I shopped for food at Sam's Club, Walmart and Aldi. A huge thunderstorm came through right before I shopped, so the temperature dropped significantly, make shopping easier. Mary dusted Sunroom books and DVDs in the livingroom. She hugged puppies during the storm...they didn't like the thunder.
• Thursday (7/18): Had 2 dog training classes and 2 people who cancelled. Notice that I'm getting testier at work...tired of dumbshits who don't work. Mary dusted livingroom books...keeps her out of the heat that exaserbates poison ivy itches.
• Friday (7/19): Figured upcoming paychecks and determined that I need to quit Petco earlier than I thought, due to all the extra hours that I'm now getting. I'll need to end employment on August 24th, if I'm going to get my paid time off and to give me a cushion, in case Petco pays a bonus, which they unexpectingly did the last 2 quarters of this year. It means some of my dog training clients will have to finish up with Ron, or double up so they see me 2 times a week. I wrote note cards and a poster board for AKC Canine Good Citizen Class 6. Mary washed towels, shirts, cleaned up upstairs south bedroom, made tortillas and chimichangas.
• Saturday (7/20): I cut out rotten OSB board in the SE corner of the coop that raccoons have been chewing on and replaced that wood with 1/2" green treated plywood. I also added gate latches to both sides of the chicken door of the coop. These latches have a hole you can put a carabiner through to lock them...that way those damn raccoons with opposable thumbs can't open up a simple hook closing the chicken door and kill half your hens. Bill showed up around 1 pm. Mary did some cleaning and made a pistashio tort. Bill opened birthday gifts. We ate nachos in the evening and watched the Fly Boys movie, occasionally shutting off the TV when lightning was hitting nearby.

July 7-13, 2019

Weather | 7/7, 70°, 83° | 7/8, 67°, 83° | 7/9, 0.05" rain, 69°, 87° | 7/10, 74°, 89° | 7/11, 66°, 89° | 7/12, 69°, 90° | 7/13, 67°, 89° |

• Sunday (7/7): In the morning light, saw that the raccoon I killed last night chewed some of the wood off the east side of the coop, ripped part of the plastic on the middle south window, and undid the 2 hooks holding the chicken door shut and went into the coop through the chicken door. Raccoons are smart. I'll have to device a better shutting mechanism for the chicken doors. Had 6 dog training classes with 2 clients not showing at work. Mary got half of the near garden planted and put new mulch around the new plants. 
• Monday (7/8): I bought another piece of acrylic to replace the newly cracked window glass in the chicken coop, along with 3 window sash locks, to prevent raccoons from prying chicken coop windows open from the outside. I also bought a new battery for the Buick, which isn't starting, now. Had 3 dog training classes at work. Mary planted the rest of the near garden. We aren't planting the far garden, because not enough days of summer for crops like corn. Farmers are in the same boat...a lot of fields didn't get planted, due to all of the rain this spring and early summer.
• Tuesday (7/9): I installed sash locks on the south windows in the coop that didn't already have any. Then, I reglazed the middle window of the coop that got all dug out by the raccoon crawling over the glazing Saturday night. We watched They Shall Not Grow Old, a WWI documentary by Peter Jackson, where he took black and white footage and fixed it so it was at normal and colorized it. The movie is amazing.
• Wednesday (7/10): Sharpened the blade and changed oil on Mary's mower and changed air filters on both mowers. I added hardware cloth on the outside of middle south window of the coop, removed broken glass of the top half of the 2nd from the east window in the coop, cleaned out old, hard glazing, cut an acrylic piece to fit that window, installed the acrylic, put in points, and glazed that window. I also replaced the battery in the Buick. According to my auto fixing records, the old battery is 7 years old. Mary watered garden several times to keep newly transplanted plants in good shape. All but 2 tomatillos and 2 sweet potatoes are looking good. She mowed the lane and vacuumed spiders. While getting the mail, Mary saw a huge buck. The undeveloped antlers measured 2 feet between the tines. She said he was grey/brown...an old guy, but looked very healthy. Mary checked blackberries...they're turning red and will be black within a week. She also picked more blueberries.
• Thursday (7/11): Saw new toenail marks in my new glaze job on the window I worked on yesterday, plus more chewings of boards on the SE corner of the chicken coop this morning. DAMN!!! We are sure seeing an onslaught of raccoons at the coop this year. I worked...had 2 dog training classes. Mary washed clothes, baked bread, watered garden. Mary killed a small raccoon that got into the coop in the middle of the day.
• Friday (7/12): There was a barred owl in the weeping willow tree that got chased away by 1 robin and 4 sparrows this morning. I replaced broken glass with acrylic in the 2nd from the west window of the coop and glazed both pains of that window. Mary made torillas and venison fajitas. After dark, I spotted a small raccoon outside the coop door. It crawled under the coop when I walked into the chicken yard and then disappeared.
• Saturday (7/13): I replaced broken glass with acrylic and glazed both pains of the east window in the coop. Mary washed bedding and rugs, cleaned bedroom walls and floor, and watered the garden.

June 30-July 6, 2019

Weather | 6/30, 69°, 89° | 7/1, 65°, 77° | 7/2, 69°, 89° | 7/3, 71°, 93° | 7/4, 0.05" rain, 70°, 86° | 7/5, 69°, 89° | 7/6, 70°, 87° |

• Sunday (6/30): Normal dog training dreariness with 5 classes and some missing people/dogs at work. Mary trimmed trees, did laundry, and mowed.
• Monday (7/1): Worked with 2 dog training classes. Mary mowed and mulched garden, washed towels. Bill called. He'll be here the week of July 22nd.
• Tuesday (7/2): Walked through the chicken coop door in the morning and found a single chicken head in the floor. Probably a raccoon crawled up the sheet of plywood I had leaned against the outside, shielding the north chicken entrance from rain, ripped the fiberglass screening on the NW vent window, crawled in, killed a hen, chomped its head off, and hauled the chicken back out the way it came in. I drove to Lewistown, bought a roll of hardware cloth at Davis Hardware, and replaced the screening on the NW vent window with hardware cloth. Mary mowed and mulched and helped me put up hardware cloth.
• Wednesday (7/3): I added hardware cloth to the NE vent window of the coop. Katie called from Anchorage, on her way back home. She's considering applying for work in AK.
• Thursday (7/4): I worked...my 3rd straight July 4th of working...sick of it. The truck that was supposed to show up at 5 AM, didn't show up until 12:15 PM. Molly, who is charge of merchandise, left at noon to go on her vacation, so I canceled my dog traingin classes and together with Karl and Brandon, unloaded freight all day. Brandon left early. Missy got big-headed being the boss with Molly gone and didn't help much at all with freight. I decided today that I'm calling it quits at Petco...I'll quit as soon as I'm done with all outstanding dog training...sometime in September. I've had enough! It rained a bunch in Quincy. Back home, all Mary had was lightning and thunder and a little bit of rain.
• Friday (7/5): I figured income, balanced checkbook, and determined that I have 6-8 pay periods before I'm close to the maximum I can earn and still get social security. I took screening off the middle southside window of the coop and reglazed the window. Mary mowed and mulched.
• Saturday (7/6): Found that a raccoon crawled up the southside of the coop and tore up my glazing job on the window I did yesterday. Shane, my boss, was at the Quincy Petco, so Mary and I went to Quincy. I told Shane I was quitting Petco. My last dog training class is Sept 23rd. We decided I'd end employment by Saturday of that week. I feel better now that I have a definitive end date at Petco. Bought more window glazing and 3 sheets of acrylic to replace broken windows on the south side of the chicken coop. Bought groceries. I did notecards and the poster for Class 4 of the AKC Canine Good Citizen dog training that I have to do tomorrow. Walked dogs at midnight. Plato perked up his ears while going back in, so we went to check chickens...heard chickens squawking...opened door to coop and saw dead bodies, then a raccoon tail zipping behind the steel garbage can I keep feed in. Mary had a shovel in her hand, got mad about the dead chickens, and started whacking at the raccoon. I was holding the flashlight, so it jumped toward me a couple times. Told Mary to quit, while I got a gun. Used a .22 rifle and shot the raccoon. It killed 4 hens tonight...that's 5 dead hens in 1 week. We have a rooster and 4 hens left. We stuffed 4 dead hens and a dead raccoon in buckets, walked through high grass to the east side of our property, and dumped the dead for the critters. Oh, and in the shovel-flinging madness, we cracked another window glass, but the raccoon didn't escape out the window, because shovel-wielding Mary kept it at bay.