February 23-29, 2020

Weather | 2/23, 34°, 59° | 2/24, 0.24" rain, 33°, 39° | 2/25, 1/4" snow or 0.18" moisture, 29°, 39° | 2/26, 0.07" moisture from overnight snow, 26°, 33° | 2/27, 21°, 41° | 2/28, 23°, 43° | 2/29, 16°, 48° |

• Sunday, 2/23: Mary did laundry, washing and drying all of the clothes. She filled the outside line 2 times. The hose that connects to an outside discharge hose came loose and spewed water all over the laundry room until Bill jumped back there and pulled the electrical cord on the washing machine. Consequently, I had to dry the bottom cardboard box that holds the Christmas tree. Bill went through 2 boxes of books he had stored here, sorted out ones he doesn't want and took the rest with him. He also changed oil on his car engine and while cleaning up, he stumbled over some wires of an old lightning rod at the east end of the Machine Shed and fell on a piece of angle iron, putting a gash into below his left knee. It also put a hole in his pants. He didn't notice the injury until he felt wetness on his pants. Dr. Mary worked on him and bandaged him up. He sent a photo of his injury after he drove to St. Louis and it was bleeding, again. He got it to stop. He needs to check on a tetanus shot ASAP. We had lots of snow geese flying west over the property. I heard the first American Woodcock of the season while walking Churchill. Mary vacuumed bugs that were in all of our windows, due to warm temperatures. I ordered more of a type of pill that helps me with keeping blood sugar levels down.


• Monday, 2/24: We woke to rain. I found a nice 1996 Chevy half-ton pickup located at Alexander, IL, or about 120 miles east of us. Mary doesn't feel up to riding and driving today. Looked up Kelley Blue Book pricing and the requested price is about $1100 higher than one in excellent condition, so we're going to let that one wait and then offer a price closer to the KBB rate. I called the Iowa State Extension and put my name down for fruit tree grafting workshop at the Appleberry Orchard near Donnelson, Iowa, on April 2. It's a 65-mile one-way drive NNE of us. Checked the grapefruit wine and it's fizzing more than ever. Mary and Katie texted a bunch about a personality test she took for a college class. Bill's injury hurts, but is healing.


• Tuesday, 2/25: Woke to about 1/4" of wet snow. Churchill has complete conniption fits going up the stairs of the porch, so starting last night, Mary and I carry him up the steps...easier than me trying to carry him, since he's the size of an oxen. They're predicting 2-4" snow tonight. I saw an owl flying between oak tree limbs next to the west field this morning. Wine still fizzes abundantly. I split wood that was in the Machine Shed. Found hundreds of black ants in the mulberry wood. What I thought was white oak is actually ash...can tell by how it splinters when split. Around 3 pm, several Vs of snow geese filled the sky. I took 2 videos from the porch of them going overhead, but the videos don't do justice to how many were flying overhead (see below). Churchill only ate 1 meal in the morning and refused all other offers. His last outside visit was at noon.

• Wednesday, 2/26: Woke to 1/2" of snow and strong NW winds. Mary made a batch of chocolate chip cookies...yum! I researched ideas on boosting the amount of chain lubricating oil that gets deposited on the bar and chain of the chainsaw. Professional arborists say my saw, a Stihl 361 Professional, is a good one. It uses 50% less oil than older machines. My grapefruit wine is still bubbling, with a burp in the airlock every 14 seconds.


• Thursday, 2/27: I cleaned the chainsaw, increased the chain oil adjustment to maximum, which is what professionals do, put on a different chain, and cut firewood near the gravel road, just west of our lane. I sawed up an oak branch that was the size of a medium tree, 3 small mulberry trees, 2 ash trees, a cherry, and several maple branches. I then stacked all of it on small branches in the field. I'll move the wood when the ground is frozen tomorrow morning. Mary made 2 egg quiches, washed a load of towels, dried them on the line, and did some cleaning. She still has to stop and stretch her back and leg, occasionally. We saw thousands of snow geese flying east to west. I noticed 2 American woodcocks after sunset. Found 2 small cracks in both of my rubber boots...time to order a new pair. I put them through hell around here. This pair lasted about 11 months, which is better than most. We sorted through Bill's throwaway books and I kept an old ROTC loose leaf planner that I'm going to get regular paper for and turn it into my wine diary. The wine is burping every 15 seconds.


• Friday, 2/28: Ate a quick breakfast, then drove the tractor down to my temporary wood pile and moved the firewood I cut yesterday to the woodshed and stacked it. Moved big pieces to be split with the wheelbarrow to the wood splitter in the Machine Shed and moved split ash from the Machine Shed to the woodshed. Seeing thousands more snow geese. Saw 3 Cooper's hawks flying south to north. Mary baked 4 loaves of bread and did some cross stitching. I cleaned my saw and cut more firewood just a little north of where I was yesterday...mainly dead standing white oak trees, 4 cherry trees, and a mulberry. I didn't stack...just left pieces where they fell. Churchill barely ate today, but took a walk around the north yard, longer than he has in a couple weeks. Wine burping every 16 seconds. We had 5 American woodcocks calling at dusk, one was right behind the cars as we stood on the porch.


• Saturday, 2/29: Churchill was panting when we woke. Did another quick breakfast and drove tractor to cherry tree that I cut yesterday at edge of woods and collected up all of my firewood. It filled the wagon. Ground was frozen when I arrived, but thawed when I left to go home. While I was gone, Churchill died at 8:50 am. I arrived back home around 10. Mary and I carried Churchill's body outside and used a wheelbarrow to move him to behind the second grain bin, out of the sun. We unloaded the firewood, then ate lunch. Bill called. His leg is better. He got a tetanus shot on Wednesday. His car battery died Wednesday morning, so he bought a charger. I started digging a grave about 1 pm, immediately north of where we buried Klondike, our golden retriever who died in 2016. Mary joined me. It was really tough digging, because it's wet, heavy clay with half-inch tree roots through it. At 3, we took a break and had some cookies. The hole was about 2 feet deep. I went back out and got it down to 3-4 feet. The sticky clay got wetter as I went down. Mary did all of the chores, then we buried Churchill, covered his grave with concrete blocks to prevent critters from digging, and finishing up at the dark end of twilight, at 6:35 pm. We ate chili. I had 2 brandy/Cokes. Mary just had Coke. We watched Leap Year, of course, and then While You Were Sleeping. I snored through most of 2nd movie. Went to bed with a lot of sore muscles. My second amaryllis is blooming (see photo below).

Samba single Royal Dutch Amaryllis (lipstick-red, white star).

February 16-22, 2020

Weather | 2/16, 23°, 43° | 2/17, 0.07" rain, 31°, 42° | 2/18, 25°, 39° | 2/19, 17°, 33° | 2/20, 10°, 27° | 2/21, 10°, 39° | 2/22, 27°, 52°

• Sunday, 2/16: Made a big waffle brunch. Mary still has a bad leg. She hot padded it a lot. Took tons of minerals and drank a ton of liquids. It was a little better at the end of the day. I did all chores, again. Checked my grapefruit wine. The specific gravity is 1.090, down ever so slightly from 1.093, but it's bubbling. I stirred it and tasted it...very strong grapefruit, bitter taste, plus quite sweet. I could hear the fizzing kick up by evening, so stirring helped. Churchill is doing better...eating healthy and able to walk outside. I put the RSS news feed app called Feedly on Mary's phone to replace the crappy Apple newsfeed that gives you breaking news like people upset because Jennifer Lopez wore nothing during the Superbowl halftime show...we don't give a rat's ass!!! Mary is happy that she can now select news she wants to see. Most of the snow melted today.


• Monday, 2/17: Mary still has knotted leg issues, but it felt better in the morning. By nightfall, she was tired and it was tightening more than ever. I did all chores, fixed meals, did dishes. We had chicken sandwiches as our main meal. Checked the wine...specific gravity at 1.080, so it's coming along. Churchill ate all meals and is doing better. Rain in the morning made everything mushy, even though it wasn't much, since nothing is seeping into the ground.


• Tuesday, 2/18: Mary is doing much better...not perfect...but she's doing stretching exercises and getting around more. She even fed pets (accept for Churchill) in the evening and helped with fixing meals. I cleaned resin off the chainsaw chain, walked down to south of the Bluegill Pond and just west of our lane and sawed up a dry dead mulberry tree that fell into the base of a big oak tree. It's super dry. I also fell a dead dry white oak and cut it up. Stacked all of the wood and I'll get it tomorrow when the ground is frozen. Saw the skull of a deer with a big rack on it in that bit of woods. It probably was shot nearby by our neighbor, Rich, and then went there to die. Rich isn't a good shot. I also saw a dead blue jay that I thought at first was a piece of blue plastic. While I was cutting up firewood, Mary fed chickens and found an opossum in the coop. She collected it up in a plastic garbage can and hauled it to beyond the swim and dove ponds, using the shovel as a cane. Checked the wine and specific gravity is at 1.068. It tastes like fancy soda pop...a little sweet with tingly effervescence. It's bubbling quite nicely, now. Mary drew up a shopping list. She texted Bill and he said he's arriving here on Thursday at 11 am...going back home Sunday.


• Wednesday, 2/19: Mary baked a cherry pie. I went shopping in Quincy for human and pet food. Mary's doing better, but with a lot of stiffness. Wine specific gravity is at 1.064 and fizzing well. Discovered a crack at the top of the hydrometer I've been using. Checked with a different hydrometer and it read 1.070. I'll use the cracked hydrometer, even though it's probably compromised.


• Thursday, 2/20: Mary is better today, moving around quite a bit. Bill arrived at 11 am. Mary fixed a turkey dinner that we ate mid-afternoon, celebrating my 63rd birthday. Mom called. She really enjoyed her recent visit to Arizona and Nevada. Katie called, but we didn't talk much because of poor telephone service. I racked my wine, since the specific gravity was at 1.040 in the morning and 1.034 in the evening. It was at 1.040 on the good hydrometer in the evening. You're supposed to transfer the wine to a second fermenting vessel (rack it) when the specific gravity is between 1.040 and 1.020. Bill helped. We filled a 1-gallon glass jug and had a third of a quart that I stored in the fridge to fill after future rackings. I had problems with the new solid rubber stopper, so I went with an old stopper that isn't solid. Mary, Bill & I drank what was left. Unique taste...tasted good...grapefruit taste, slight bitter with tannin taste, with the feel of champagne on the tongue, due to yeast fermentation. The yeast sludge gave me a stomach ache, but not so for Bill and Mary. See the fermentation in video below.

• Friday, 2/21: A low day for me, since I nursed a stomach ache from last night's wine tasting. Note to self...stay away from yeasty wine must...feed it to Mary, instead. Bill did a basket of his laundry. I asked him to include 5 pairs of my socks, since I was out. Mary made a pumpkin cake. We had another possum in the chicken coop. Mary and I put it in a plastic garbage can and took it to Wood Duck Pond. She's doing even better, today. We watched the movies Super 8 and Angels and Demons.


• Saturday, 2/22: Thousands of snow geese flew over us heading west today. I could even hear them going overhead at night. We discovered that the big freezer got turned off a couple days ago. Items in the baskets at the top were thawed, but meat in the bottom was frozen. The store-bought chicken breasts were in the baskets, so we added it to pork loins that we roasted outside on a fire in the afternoon. Bill shared some 5-year oak barrel aged dark beer that he got as a present from his friend, Mike. It was really delicious stuff. After chores, we watched the movies Shrek II & 2 episodes of the BBC Cadfael series.

February 9-15, 2020

Weather | 2/9, 0.14" rain, 29°, 38° | 2/10, 22°, 36° | 2/11, 27°, 39° | 2/12, 4" snow or 0.28" moisture, 27°, 32° | 2/13, -3°, 8° | 2/14, -9°, 15° | 2/15, 22°, 39° |

• Sunday, 2/9: I was a dark, rainy day. We went to Quincy, shopped, then took in a Quincy Symphony concert. Got some good deals at County Market. Picked up the power strip for the microwave at Home Depot and Mary found some Honey Rock melon seeds. We also shopped Aldi, Sam's Club, & Walmart. I returned the chainsaw sharpening wheel at Farm & Home, since it was the wrong size, and instead got a Stihl hand-sharpening kit. The concert was very good. Got home right when the sun was setting, did chores, and unloaded. Ate nachos and watched 2 episodes of the BBC version of Sherlock. Churchill had a urine accident onto his bed when we took him out for the last time. I had to clean him and my shirt sleeve up after I reached under him to help him stand. Mary cleaned his bed...the trials and tribulations of owning a geriatric dog.
• Monday, 2/10: The final blossom of my amaryllis is starting to open, today (see below). Mary did 2 loads of jeans. I installed a new power strip for the microwave. Then, I looked up chainsaw sharpening from Stihl, tossed an old chain due to wear on it, and put the latest chain I'm using in a container of gasoline, to help clean the resin off it. We watched 3 episodes of the BBC version os Sherlock.

• Tuesday, 2/11: Mary did 3 loads of laundry and dried most outside, with a few coming inside to finish drying. We saw thousands of snow geese flying east to west, at times filling the sky with Vs of geese. Mary cut up a pork loin that we bought on Sunday and fixed up fresh veggies, so they store longer. I made grapefruit wine out of 8 medium ruby red grapefruit (recipe calls for 6 large ones). Mary helped me on grating grapefruit rinds of 3 of them to get grapefruit zest. She also filleted white pith off the insides of grapefruit rinds. Recipe says not to use the pith, because it makes the wine bitter, but you are supposed to use the rind, plus the fruit. Recipe called for 1.75 pounds of sugar, but it took me about 3 pounds to get the specific gravity to the desired 1.095 reading. Bill called while I was in the middle of raising the specific gravity of my wine. He and Mary talked about finances, the bottling of his beer this upcoming weekend, ideas about pets, and the star called Betelgeuse. My amaryllis has a second shoot with flower buds starting to show.
• Wednesday, 2/12: When I took new morning water to the chickens, there was a female opossum in the NW corner, inside the coop, under the west roost. It must have been hiding behind the metal garbage can that we keep chicken food in last night when Mary put the chickens to bed. Mary put it in a plastic garbage can using a square shovel and we hauled it off to beyond Swim and Dove Ponds, and let it loose. With snow in the forecast, I left chickens inside, which helped to keep it from returning to inside the coop. Once done with morning chores, I put pectic enzyme into the grapefruit wine, an hour and a half late, but that's what happens when you have to go through the 'possum relocation program. We ate a late breakfast...waffles that I made, while the snow started falling. Mary baked 4 loaves of bread. She also figured 2019 weather stats. It was the wettest year, since keeping records in 2012...53.9" for the year. Our average is 30". 2019 was the 3rd coolest year since 2012. I finished reading Patrick O'Brian's 6th book, The Fortune of War. I sharpened 10 of Mary's knives on her uncle's 3-stone knife-sharpening gizmo that probably dates back to the 1940s and came out of the Lewistown Farmers Supply, a grocery store that he once owned and operated. It does an excellent job at sharpening knives, but takes time. Katie called. Her dog, DeSoto, has a broken upper canine tooth, so she's taking him into the vet. Classes are going good. She said it's easy when that's all you're concentrating on. Temps in Gulfport, MS, have been warm, in the 70s. Put yeast into my wine around 10:30 pm. The yeast starter liquid needs to be at 95° to 97° and on top of the wood stove was a perfect temperature for maintaining that warmth. There was about 4" of snow on the ground with the moon starting to appear through clouds when we walked the dogs for the last time.
• Thursday, 2/13: We awoke to subzero temps this morning. Mary vacuumed all of her cross stitched Christmas ornaments and got them all packed away, since they've been sitting in a box since the end of December. She also made another chocolate pie, which she says is her favorite. I secured a board to a 2x4 at the bottom of the east wall of the coop where chickens on the outside have pecked OSB enough to create a crack in the wall at the floor line. This board seals that crack. I also stuffed an old dog bed into the chicken entrance from the inside to seal up air infiltration. While working outside, I saw about 50 trumpeter swans fly just over the treetops from west to east. They have a very unique honking sound that is deeper than geese...like an ah-ooo-gah old Model T car horn. We looked at the grapefruit wine and saw that it's starting to bubble. Churchill didn't eat most of his food and didn't have the strength to get up from noon into the night. It looked like he would die by morning.
• Friday, 2/14: Really cold this morning, but I restarted the fire at 5:20 am, so not bad in the house. Mary woke with an extremely severe backache...so bad that she could barely walk. I messaged it for quite awhile. She spent the day on the living room couch with a heat pad. Churchill didn't go out in the morning, because he couldn't get up. Had to clean up some poop...was like mustard-colored baby shit. After doing all of the chores, making, and eating breakfast, I took Mocha to the vet in Hannibal to get her final rabies shot. She knew immediately what we were doing in trying to capture her to put her in a carrier and hid under an upstairs bed. Consequently, I was late at making the 1 pm vet appointment. She gained 1.25 pounds in 2 weeks. The vet's staff all wanted to pet her and were amazed at how fast Mocha is growing. They commented on how she's such a lovable cat. Talked to Dr. Carson, the vet, about Churchill. He said Churchill is of an age when most super-sized dogs pass away. Shopped for a couple items, plus chocolates for my Valentine, at Aldi in Hannibal. When I got back, Churchill pooped another mess, scooted forward, and drug his tail into mustard baby dung. I cleaned it up...what a smelly mess!!! We ate barbecued pork loin. Did evening chores. Watched the Sabrina movie. Checked the wine and it has better yeast bubbling than yesterday, which is starting to give the house a fruity, yeasty smell. Churchill ate well for his afternoon and evening meals, plus he successfully went outside and walked around. He's afraid of going up the stairs, so sometimes he just sits down on his rump, instead of walking up the stairs. I had to lift him and carry his royal ass up the stairs once today. He's too damn big for that nonsense. Mary went to sleep in a living room recliner, due to her back. A flower is opening on the 2nd amaryllis shoot.
• Saturday, 2/15: The lower back ache that Mary had turned into a knot in the upper front muscle of her left thigh, which is debilitating and makes her walk bent over and not very far. Online research said to take elevated amounts of calcium, magnesium, and potassium, so she did that. Advil and Tylenol don't touch the pain. I did all of the chores, since she is pretty much on the couch in the living room. We ate candied onions and eggs for our main meal. Churchill is doing better. Katie texted that she's attending an Alan Jackson concert in New Orleans with a friend. Bill is bottling a batch of beer at his friend's house. Looked up apple orchards nearby in MO, IL, and IA, since the apples at Edgewood Orchards in Quincy were extremely high last year. Found one in Canton, MO, but I don't know if they're still open. Found a popular orchard in Donnellson, Iowa, called Appleberry Orchard, which is 65 miles north of us. The Iowa State University Extension is having a hands-on fruit tree grafting workshop there on April 2, which I want to go to. A $35 fee includes grafting tools and 2 trees that you graft and take home to plant. The orchard offers a U-Pick ability. Sounds great.

February 2-8, 2020

Weather | 2/2, 35°, 55° | 2/3, 30°, 56° | 1/4, 29°, 33° | 2/5, 1" snow or 0.12" moisture, 24°, 27° | 2/6, 20°, 33° | 2/7, 17°, 31° | 2/8, 0.01" moisture from a skiff of snow, 21°, 35° |

• Sunday, 2/2: I got Mary's electronic signature corrected on the tax forms and Illinois accepted our IL tax form. Churchill is having trouble staying standing when he gets up to go outside. We think his heart is getting weaker. It was super warm, today. The washing machine quit while full of water prior to getting into the spin cycle. Fortunately, Mary already did the sheets and was washing the furniture covers. She took them out to drip dry on the line and bailed out the water from the washing machine. I looked up diagnosing the problem and will have to get into that. We cut firewood in the timber SW of the house...3 dead white oaks and a few branches and a small cherry tree. The chainsaw, with its new parts, chain, and bar, worked extremely well. Most snow is gone, but it's mushy everywhere. Listened to the Super Bowl. When the Kansas City Chiefs were down 21-10 in the 4th quarter, they scored 21 unanswered points to win 31-20. Haven't paid attention the the Chiefs, except for 2 playoff games and this game, and they're amazing at coming from behind and winning. Now Missouri has the Stanley Cup and the Super Bowl. Like Bill said, "I guess the Royals or the Cards just need to do something this year." Bill texted that it was transfer day for his current batch of beer (see below).

Before racking Bill's latest brew.

• Monday, 2/3: Started sunny and turned cloudy. We watched thousands of snow geese fly east to west over our property in the morning sunlight. We cut more firewood from the SW woods...this time 2 dead red oak trees. We had so many chunks out of the first tree that we left a good part of the second tree. The saw cuts so well that just after a little bit of running it, we have what we need. You don't know how dull your chains are until you get a new set in the chainsaw. I also sawed up a piece of elm that fell down under the cedar trees between the machine shed and the chicken coop. Then, we sorted the wood according to moisture levels and put it in appropriate spots...most is needing splitting. After chores, we ate omelets and read into the evening.
• Tuesday, 2/4: Since I saw online that my package of wine brewing stuff was on a UPS truck to be delivered and because it was snowing, I paid close attention to the UPS tracking and when I saw it was delivered, yet we didn't have anyone show up at the house, I knew it was at the end of the lane. It was 28 pounds, so I drove the car down. The package was left unprotected (usually they put boxes in a plastic bag), plopped down in wet grass, with heavy wet snow coming down. Plus, one side had wet mud on it. Drove it home and immediately sent a message to UPS. They sent a message back, telling me someone from the Palmyra MO UPS office will be in touch with me. A woman called. She was appalled at what I told her, said an alternative driver delivered my package, but that was no excuse, and that he will be talked to when he gets in. Fortunately, all items were in good shape. After I get a few things, like sugar and white grape concentrate, I'll make my next batch of wine...this time, grapefruit wine. Did a bunch of online research for washing machine repair. Gained access to the timer and figuring out its electrical continuity proved to be difficult. All research indicated that the switch is often misdiagnosed, when a simpler solution is the case. Mary was in favor of getting a new machine, since this one was purchased in 2002, so I looked up prices at Lowe's in Quincy...$400 to stupid was the range. After thinking about it all day, I tore into the machine after dinner. I could get water to fill the tub, but nothing else turned on. Checked for a drain restriction and after gobs of water emptied out on the floor once I removed hoses off the pump, decided that wasn't an issue. Then I checked for continuity of the lid switch and it was nonexistent. Manually pushed the switch and it fell apart...BINGO! Removed it and temporarily put the washer back together. Since it was late, I didn't order...will have to order that switch tomorrow. Mary made tortellini soup and chocolate pie...both were extra yummy, along with acorn squash. Katie texted that she got 100% on her accounting test. She was on her way to a Barnes & Noble book club meeting. It snowed just a little and melted immediately. Churchill had a tough day, but we got through it. 
• Wednesday, 2/5: Churchill is doing better today. My amaryllis has one flower fully open and it's a beauty (see photo below). The other 3 buds will soon open, too. This is a Royal Dutch Red Pearl Amaryllis out of John Scheepers. I ordered the washing machine part for $11.60, including shipping, from Repair Parts, Inc., out of Ohio. If this fixes the problem, it's a lot cheaper than a new $500 washer. I ordered a new power strip for the microwave that withstands higher electrical wattage amounts from Home Depot, which will be delivered to the Quincy store. Mary figured monthly monies. Three Patrick O'Brian novels that I ordered from Thrifty Books came in the mail. It snowed most of the day, but didn't amount to much...about a 1/4 inch through the day and maybe 1/2 inch overnight. I kept the chickens inside. I saw an owl buzz by the south side of the house and dip its wings to enter the west woods. We listened to the start of an audio book, George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm, about the cousins who were kings of England, Russia, and Germany.

The first Red Pearl Amaryllis flower.

• Thursday, 2/6: We got a skiff of snow. Mary and I split wood from 2 different firewood collections that was stacked in the machine shed. It took a long time, because there were several big logs. Mary made chimichangas.
• Friday, 2/7: In the hour just after sunrise, I saw 2 coyotes trot across our yard and behind the machine shed. They were about the size of a German Shepherd. They were more gray, than brown and both had a thick fur coat. Got another small bit of snow. We stacked wood from yesterday's firewood splitting. The newly split red oak is nice and dry, whereas the white oak is wet and needs drying. My washing machine lid switch came in today's mail. Tore the washer apart, cleaned up the insides, replaced the lid switch, put it together and ran it on the delicate cycle. It works like a charm. It feels nice to fix something with just a $7 part. The 2nd flower opened on the amaryllis, with the remaining 2 soon to open (see below). Mary noticed that the garlic plants are coming up, due to warm weather we've had earlier in the winter. She's not happy. It means frosted tips of garlic plants. While walking Churchill near the machine shed at night, 2 barred owls were talking up a storm in the trees just to the north of us.

• Saturday, 2/8: I gave Mary a haircut. She was due to get a haircut in December, but Christmas got in the way. I figured out a grapefruit wine recipe from a combination of recipes that I've collected. Mary worked on a cross stitch piece and listened to 3-cousins who were kings audio book. She drew up a shopping list.