July 28-August 3, 2019

Weather | 7/28, 69°, 86° | 7/29, 0.32" rain, 67°, 83° | 7/30, 61°, 83° | 7/31, 60°, 81° | 8/1, 61°, 80° | 8/2, 57°, 83° | 8/3, 64°, 83° |

• Sunday (7/28): Two of the 10 dogs in my 6 classes didn't show. Had business up until the final minutes of closing. Mary defrosted the biggest freezer and filled it back up. She also picked blackberries. Bill's car wouldn't go beyond 10 mph, so he had to call in to his work to let them know he won't be there tomorrow morning. I got a refund from Lowe's for the freezer I ordered yesterday.
• Monday (7/29): Called McKenzie Auto in Lewistown. They can check Bill's car at noon and suggested disconnecting the battery for 20 minutes to clear the code preventing the car to go above 10 mph. It didn't work, so I followed Bill in the Cadillac and we drove to Lewistown at about 7 mph...sped up to 20 mph going down hills and crept up hills at 4-5 mph. I bought 2 bulbs and a receptacle for the tail lights of the Buick and installed the 2 bulbs when I got back. Bill got a call at 11:30 that a critter chewed a wire in his car that they fixed. I went to work and Mary drove Bill to McKenzie Auto after that. He left for St. Louis at 1:30. I had 1 client sick and another quit permanently, because she's too busy helping her dad get into assisted living, selling his house, and handling his belongings. Trained 1 dog through 2 classes. Mary picked blackberries.
• Tuesday (7/30): Both Mary and I picked blackberries. I installed hardware cloth on 2 more windows and replaced a rotten sill on the last south-facing window of the chicken coop with 2 pieces of cedar. I then installed hardware cloth on that window. Now, all coop windows are covered with hardware cloth. Mary harvested comfrey to dry.
• Wednesday (7/31): Mary helped me clean the coop. We estimated it would take 2 hours...we were so wrong. Dried spring mud, mixed with manure, hay, and oyster shells meant for extremely hard layers to scrap off the floor. It took us 6 hours. We installed the wall to create 2 rooms...1 for the chicks and 1 for our hens & rooster. Mary moved new hay into the coop while I stapled bags on the top half of the wall. I then installed the heat lamp and put in chick feeders and chick grit. We're now ready for chicks, which, according to an email, shipped from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, MO, today. Katie called. She's getting everything put together for her new job. She ended employment at her old job last week. She will have a friend visit her home and feed her cats. Her dogs will be boarded. She's in Florida this weekend for drill. She flies out early Monday morning for AK. Her new job is 6 weeks on, followed by 2 weeks off.
• Thursday (8/1): Had 3 dogs in 3 dog training classes at work. Closed and have to open in the morning, so I bought Subway food and brought it home, in order to eat, bathe, and get to bed.
• Friday (8/2): The chicks arrived on schedule..27 of them (we ordered 25, but they always add a couple). Mary got a call at 7:10 am, just 5 minutes after I left for work, from a cranky postal worker, who said in a loud voice, "Come get your chicks!" Mary said the chicks jumped out of the box they came in when she opened it up in the coop. They immediately lined up to drink water. They're the liveliest we've ever received. Mary also picked blackberries and figured a shopping list for me. I just had a boring day at work.
• Saturday (8/3): I opened the store for a second day in a row. Had to scramble, since Vetco, our visiting veterinarian service, ran from 9:00 to 10:30 am. Learned that Bill Fawcett, 1 of my fellow employees, sent an inappropriate text to a customer. Rob, our district manager in St. Louis, was asking Emily about him. He's a good worker, but you just don't look up a customer's phone number and text "Hey, babe" to her. He's married with kids, too. Emily said he's done the same thing with female employees who work at Petco. I shopped after work. Sam's Club was having a 1-day sale and had Michelin tires on sale for $130 off, if you buy 4 tires, so I bought some for the Cadillac, since I have a right front tire that deflates to about 14 psi every time I drive it. Mary mowed and mulched in the near garden.