March 1-7, 2020

Weather | 3/1, 39°, 64° | 3/2, 32°, 48° | 3/3, 35°, 55° | 3/4, 34°, 54° | 3/5, 36°, 53° | 3/6, 28°, 48° | 3/7, 28°, 58° |

Sunday, 3/1: Mary and I took the day day off, since firewood collection and burying Churchill yesterday took the stuffings out of us. I rolled up the 3 blankets that Churchill used, so we can  throw them away with outgoing garbage. They're too messy for washing. We heard our first Eastern meadowlark. We also heard the first frogs croaking in the evening.

Monday, 3/2: This was another lazy day. Mocha started meowing profusely, so she's in heat. She gets fixed in 2 weeks. Mary made a turkey pot pie.  We watched 7 episodes of Long Way Down, featuring Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's motorcycle trip from Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa. Bill let us watch his version of it. We have 3 more episodes to see. The wine still fizzes, but with less gusto, and the solids are settling out in the bottom of the glass jug.

Tuesday, 3/3: Mary made a shopping list for tomorrow. I balanced the checkbook. We looked up what we need to do to spray fruit trees and reviewed our supply of tree spray. In the evening, we watched the last 3 episodes of Long Way Down.

Wednesday, 3/4: We shopped in Quincy. I ordered a Stihl chain sharpening guide at Farm & Home. Mary got seed potatoes from there. We also found a 2-gallon jug of 10 weight mineral oil, a key component in dormant spray for fruit trees. We bought a good supply of food, so that we can stay home to avoid coronovirus issues, if we want to. We watched the 2017 movie Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, two times. It was that good.

Thursday, 3/5: I got a call from Farm & Home that the Stihl part I ordered yesterday was in, so I drove to Quincy and got the part. I guess they get parts that they don't have in stock from somewhere in Missouri, so next-day delivery is a usual thing. I got gas for the car, a 5-gallon can for the tractor and log splitter, and a 2-gallon can of 93 octane gas for the chainsaw and weedwhacker. Mary sorted out bad garlic, potatoes, and acorn squash and threw then out. We noticed that the ground is drying up outside. My grapefruit wine is still fizzing, but a lot less than it was just a few days ago.

Friday, 3/6: Mary washed sheets, then trimmed all of our fruit trees and blueberry bushes. She also added ashes to the sugar maple tree. I updated the checkbook, and sharpened the 2 chainsaw chains using a file and my new jig, which helps to give you the correct 30° angle for the sharp edge of each tooth. It took me the afternoon, because I'm new at sharpening this way, but both chains looked in remarkable shape. After reviewing the chains once done, I'm sure that the grinding wheel I've used in the past turns too fast and takes the temper out of the teeth and bites too far down, into each tooth. In the evening, we watched the Wizard of Oz movie.

Saturday, 3/7: Didn't do a hell of a lot during the main part of the day. We went to a Quincy Symphony/Choir concert in the evening, this time featuring the choir in the old church which the choir director HAS to hold it in. We went into the balcony, which was much better than the crowded seats down below, which is where we sat during the Christmas choir presentation. It was okay, but we've heard better singing back when our kids were in choir in Circle, MT. Got home around 10:30.