- Sunday, 4/5: We looked at online news in the morning. Mary paid the bills and figured our money status. I traced out the face mask pattern onto graph paper for Mary. She mowed about 2/3 of the far garden, including outside of the electric fence. I took over mowing and 20 feet later, ran out of gas. Filled with gas and the engine was misfiring. Took it back to the Machine Shed, emptied the gas, filled with gas out of a different gas can and it misfired really bad, so I put it away to work on it another day. I hauled another wagon load of big rock from below the Swim Pond dam to finish filling the tractor tire ruts in the Machine Shed. Took a second trip to get gravel to fill in between the large rocks. Now, instead of 2 water-filled canals, I have a rock bed to drive the tractor on. A barred owl must have a nest in the tree, above where I saw the owlet. Each time I drove up to below the Swim Pond dam, the adult owl flew away from the top of that broken-off tree. Reading local news in the evening, we learned that 4 more people were diagnosed with coronavirus in Quincy, IL, bringing the total to 7 for Adams County.
- Monday, 4/6: Mary sent out bills and vacuumed bugs, twice. She made a mask for me (see below photo), which turned out quite nicely. The pattern called for a pipe cleaner sewed into the nose area...hell, might as well use a soap bubble for as much good as that would do. I cut a large paper clip to size, bent back the ends to prevent snagging, doubled it and used that for a nose piece. It worked great. Also discovered that bespectacled surgeons wash glasses with dish soap, rinse, then let dry and the resulting film defogs glasses for a couple hours. I cut out 1/4" hardware cloth to cover holes in my 4-gallon cat litter buckets that we'll plant apple tree root stock and strawberries in (3 holes per bucket x 27 buckets = 81 pieces), then covered each hole with gravel. Took wheelbarrow to north woods with 4 buckets and filled them with rotten wood, then filled 12 of my buckets a third full of that rotten wood. The weeping willow tree is buzzing with bees, so I put a video of that on Facebook.
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| Face mask that Mary hand sewed. |
- Tuesday, 4/7: Mary baked 4 loaves of bread. I drove to the Walgreen's store in Quincy and picked up our 2 packages...1 of Sam's Club powdered milk and a Fedco shipment of strawberry plants and apple tree root stock. Quiet in Quincy, but still gobs of people wondering around with no protection. The Illinois governor used Quincy as an example of asses not protecting themselves from NOVID-19 virus. Used my new mask and gloves to go into Walgreen's, then wore them while driving home. Dumped mask into bucket of soap water, washed hands, and changed clothes immediately upon arriving home. Mary hand washed the mask and hung it on the outside line to dry. After midday meal, Mary and I put autumn leaves, mowed grass, and topsoil in 10 of my buckets and planted the apple tree root stock (see below photo). Mary then fertilized the blueberries, mulched them and the asparagus. She also picked some asparagus that we ate after dark. I collected more rotten wood from a downed oak tree near Frog Pond. After baths, we enjoyed fresh bread and jam, asparagus in wine, and a bottle of homemade pear wine. The wine is mellowing and tasting more like pears. It kicks you ass, though...half a bottle per person is really too much. Katie texted Mary that her college announced today that the rest of school is online for this semester. She started looking for a job. Plus, the home she rents out sold and she has to find a different place to live by May 8th.
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| Ten MM 111 apple tree root stock planted in 4-gallon buckets. |
- Wednesday, 4/8: I woke up with a pear wine hangover...damn, stupid person that I am! We were reading internet news through a bunch of the day. Thunderstorms developed right overhead around 4 pm...we got some rain, but not much. Mary made 2 quiche pies. Two deer ran off into the north woods while we closed up the chickens for the night. We watched the 1995 movie Apollo 13, and all of its extras, which lasted way into the night. Bill texted that a downed tree took power out at his apartment during the evening.
- Thursday, 4/9: Wind gusts from the NW were up to 44 mph, so I moved the Cadillac so weeping willow branches wouldn't hit the car. It wasn't a great outdoor day. Mary did some house cleaning, and some cross stitch work. I worked on Mary's mower, but didn't get it going. Removed the gas filter...a little crappy piece of plastic that goes into the gas tank...still ran rough. Rubber gas hose is shot and I replaced it last year. Took all plastic coverings off the top of the engine. There was a bunch of waded up grass behind the carburetor...vacuumed it out. Rechecked spark plug. An automatic choke from the exhaust, and a diaphragm plunger that operates from engine vacuum, both don't seem to be working. Put everything together and wouldn't stay running. I need to get some parts before I can completely fix this mower. I got an envelope from the Lee County Iowa Extension Service with 2 extension grafting handouts, 1 from the University of Missouri and 1 from Iowa State, that they were going to hand out at the grafting seminar I was going to attend, but got canceled because of the coronavirus. That was very nice of them. There are now 24 virus cases in Adams County (Quincy), Illinois...none in our county, yet.
- Friday, 4/10: I saw a pileated woodpecker out the upstairs north bedroom window that was taking big wood chips out of a dead branch on the weeping willow tree. They have a super red colored head. It flew off, letting out a loud chirp that I hear all of the time in our woods. With reports about chicken hatcheries swamped with orders, I checked Cackle Hatchery, where we buy chicks, and we're fine. Mary washed sheets and furniture covers. I worked on my lawnmower with seasonal maintenance. Found a mouse-chewed wire that I repaired. Cleaned spark plug and excess grass stuck in nooks and crannies. Mary mowed the lawn while I filled up 8 more 4-pound buckets with rotten wood. Then, I relieved Mary and finished mowing the front lawn area while she started raking and moving grass to mulch rows in the far garden. I helped once we were done mowing. Front lawn looks better and very green. Mary checked our strawberry plants and they're doing great in our fridge. She misted them with water. We have 2 pepper plants that have sprouted. We walked north to check out our red maple and redbud tree. The tiniest of maple keys are developing on the red maple tree. The redbud is just starting to bud. Various fruit trees are starting to bloom, which isn't great, because frost and snow is predicted in upcoming days.
- Saturday, 4/11: We were inside swimming through internet news in the morning. Mary made flour tortillas and chimichangas. I downloaded the pdf file of the Kohler engine manual for the mowers we own and studied it. I'll have to do some diagnostic work to determine parts that I need to fix Mary's lawnmower. While doing dishes, Mary saw 3 northern pintail ducks fly by the kitchen window. Asked Katie where she would like us to obtain a gift card to give to her for her birthday. She wants to buy herself an Occidental Leather lefties beltless tool kit. I looked up online companies that sell it who also allow for the purchase of gift certificates, gave her names and she selected ToolNut. So, I did a gift certificate through them for her. Checked some food items online. We watched the 1993 Jurassic Park movie and its 1-hour special feature on how it was made...an initial movie with CGI effects. When we walked dogs late at night, lightning was flashing west, north, and east of us.
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