Oct. 13-19, 2019

Weather | 10/13, 33°, 61° | 10/14, 32°, 62° | 10/15, 53°, 67° | 10/16, 39 °, 55° | 10/17, 32°, 59° | 10/18, 39°, 67° | 10/19, 0.01" rain, 45°, 61° |

• Sunday, 10/13: Second morning in a row of white frost...the garden plants are dark and dead. Mary looked for hickory nuts in various locations in the woods, but didn't find any signs of them. I added to my pear-making notes on the various steps where we varied from the directions I wrote down prior to making the wine. After looking online, I learned that the wine bucket needs to be vented while the crushed campden tablets are in the brew, so I sanitized a fermentation lock, put distilled water in it, pulled the stopper I had in the bucket's lid, and put it in place. I also left the pantry door open for several minutes to let heat in while I guarded it from cats. Temperature is staying at 68-70°. Seventy is ideal, but it can be anywhere from 55-80°, as long as temperatures don't change drastically. I weedwhacked more of the Swim Pond Trail and veered to the beginning of the Wood Duck Pond Trail, then grabbed Mary's mower and mowed that section. I then fired up the chainsaw and cut up limbs that fell out of the weeping willow, pecan, and old apple trees (dried apple wood is extremely hard). I also sawed up part of an old oak tree that fell across the West Field Trail. Then, I sanitized a glass, heated water to 95°, and got my wine yeast going, then gently poured it into the pear must in the wine fermentation bucket...started bubbling immediately. Stirred it gently, then tasted the juice off the stirring spoon...very sweet and tasty. Replaced the lid and fermentation lock. Sent wine-making photos to family. Bill texted several times. He's removed labels from all bottles and will be bottling his beer tomorrow, after work. Mary and I watched the 5th Harry Potter movie.
• Monday, 10/14: Third morning of frost. Wrote down info into my wine making notebook. Mary washed 2 loads of towels/wash cloths. I cut a foot-square piece out of a larger piece of hardboard and rubber cemented the checkbook leather to it, in order for the leather to keep its shape while I tool it. I then alternated 1 minute of running with 5 minutes of walking just 2 times, instead of 5 times. Last time I did this running/walking trick, I did 5 times..a total of 30 minutes and was too sore to do it again in subsequent days. Obviously, I need to run/walk less initially. Mary mowed the south third of the far garden. I weedwhacked more on the Wood Duck Trail. Grabbed the mower and before finishing a loop of mowing on that stretch of the trail, I hit an ant hill with the mower, the blade dug into red clay and it bent down 90 degrees into the dirt. Walked home, got a wrench, took the ruined blade off, and pushed the mower home. I've got to buy a new blade. Picked up some of the wood I chopped up yesterday. Checked the wine...absolutely no fermentation, plus, the hydrometer is at 1.100 specific gravity, so sugar content has risen, not gone down, as it should have with fermentation. Guessing that the campden tablets haven't off-gassed thoroughly. Mixed up a second batch of yeast, added it to the must, but didn't stir it in this time. There were bubbles, but it seemed like they were only due to pouring the yeast in. Put the lid and fermentation lock back on to leave one more day. Bill texted a photo of all of his beer bottled up, and we texted back and forth.
• Tuesday, 10/15: Found the following things online that I've done wrong with my wine: 1) No lid or fermentation lock should be used for 24 hours after adding campden tablets, or during primary fermentation. Instead, a towel or cheese cloth should cover the bucket. 2) Use spring water, not the distilled water I used, because distilling water removes air and minerals required for yeast reproduction. Like Mary says, if this doesn't turn out, at least we're learning a lot. Mary's Carhartt coat arrived via UPS. It fits her, though the sleeves are long. She likes it. Walked Plato and Amber on my newly weedwhacked Swim Pond/Wood Duck Trails. Knocked down the mounds that took out the mower blade with a shovel. They aren't ant hills, they're mole hills. At the same time, the dogs did laps running through the tall grass. Switched mower blades so Mary could use her mower. Checked the pear wine...there are bubbles. We put a flour sack towel on top of the fermentation bucket, after removing the lid, and tied the towel tight with a string. As the day progressed, the yeast/pear smell increased...we have lift off!!! Mary mowed the front lawn, raked it up, and put mulch on future rows in the far garden for garlic. I walked the trail twice, then picked a stainless steel bowl full of autumn olive berries. Then, I weedwhacked another tank full on the Wood Duck Trail...making it to just before the woods south of Wood Duck Pond. Read how to graft apple trees, since I want to take graftings from the old McIntosh apple tree in the north yard and plant new trees from that. We watched the 6th Harry Potter movie.
• Wednesday, 10/16: Ordered 2 lawnmower blades through Amazon. Pear/yeast smell gets stronger in the pantry. Decided not to disturb it, so left the fermentation bucket alone, today. Walked 2 laps on my newly whacked trail...going to call it the Ponds Trail, since it goes by the Swim Pond, Dove Pond, and ends at Wood Duck Pond. Scratched a line 1/8th inch in from the stitching holes on the checkbook leather, giving me a boundary to tool to. Mary made slumgullion and canned 12 quarts of it. She also chopped up all of the bell peppers that were in the fridge and froze 18 packages. We use them to give smoked scrambled eggs a taste. I picked another bowl of autumn olives. Weedwhacked the remainder of the Wood Duck Pond Trail. Squirrels ate holes right through the middle of the plywood top of my Wood Duck deer stand. I'll have to replace it. All that's left of my Wood Duck blind is a milk crate tied to a tree. Wood that I stacked up around it as a blind is all washed away and the pond's edge is right next to that crate. I started a trail down the field due east of the swim pond, because I often see deer down that field when I walk the Ponds Trail. I'm going to move the aluminum ladder deer stand to somewhere down there, since I haven't used that stand, which is further NW, for years. Found a very excellent online wine making source, Jack Keller's WineBlog, and learned a better way to develop yeast over several hours prior to pitching it into the fermentation bucket. He also has an autumn olive wine recipe.
• Thursday, 10/17: Woke to low-lying fog with the sun shining through it...very pretty. After letting out chickens, a white young chicken crowed for the first time, an indication that chicken butchering is just around the corner. Around 10 am, the wine brew bucket started fizzing and bubbling with gusto. You can hear it anytime you're near the bucket. We took off the towel and the specific gravity is the same, so it needs time to burn off sugar and make alcohol. Mary froze 4 quarts of autumn olives. With 2 from last year and 6 from earlier this summer, we now have 12 quarts in the freezer. Picked another bowl of them. Mary trimmed weeping willow branches so we can walk under it, better. She checked hickory nuts and persimmons. It's a bad hickory nut year and the persimmons are still green. Then, she picked up small branches around the yard for kindling. I weedwhacked more of the trail to a new deer stand location and located a crook in a maple tree that will be perfect for the aluminum ladder stand. We lit the outdoor fire and had a weinie roast as the stars appeared. Mary heard a woodcock, probably heading south. Went in at 8:30, since an east wind made it cold. Sitting in the living room, we had coyotes serenade us who were near where we had our fire in the west yard. We are but guests in their wild world.
• Friday, 10/18: Left the wine alone, today. I drained the 8N Ford tractor's hydraulic/transmission fluid and then added new fluid. Drove the tractor down and up the lane. Checked the dipstick when I returned and it's way above the full level. Mary froze another 4 quarts of autumn olives, giving us a total of 16 quarts. She mowed the north lawn areas, and washed clothes. In the evening, I learned that even though 8N Ford manuals say they take 5 gallons of hydraulic/transmission fluid, it's more like a quart or 2 shy that amount. Also, dipsticks are usually wrong. Better to remove lowest bolt of hydraulic pump's viewing plates on either side of the tractor and when fluid starts flowing from there, the correct level is obtained. Then, the dipstick can be re-marked.
• Saturday, 10/19: Checked the wine's specific gravity and it is1.045, so the sugar level is dropping quickly. I picked a half of a bowl of autumn olives. I also removed the lowest viewing plate bolts on the 8N Ford and drained hydraulic/transmission fluid from the tractor. Checked dipstick. It has "Full" with an arrow to a line, followed by "With rams fully extended" above that. The new full line is right at the "I" in the word, "With," or 2 letters above the full mark. Mary took the day off, due to a sinus headache. We watched the last 2 Harry Potter movies.