June 6-12, 2021

Weather | 6/6, 61°, 85° | 6/7, 0.01" rain, 67°, 83° | 6/8, 61°, 83° | 6/9, 63°, 86° | 6/10, 65°, 86° | 6/11, 69°, 93° | 6/12, 69°, 88° |

• Sunday, 6/6: Garlic Harvest Complete
  
  • Mary dug up the last 2 garlic varieties, which are Samarkand and Shvelisi. These 2 garlic types last the longest...well into June of the following year.
    
  • Mary and I hung these last 2 garlic varieties in the machine shed rafters (see photos, below). All of the garlic will stay there until September, where breezes blowing through the building dry them to perfection.
    
  • I spent most of the day picking cherries, adding 6 quarts to the freezer. A broken upper branch of the large pie cherry tree and a glob of half-eaten cherries at the base of the tree told me that either a raccoon or an opossum ventured too far out while gobbling cherries and broke the tree branch. The wind blew hard, so I didn't try the step ladder in the tractor trailer stunt. By the time I made a full revolution around the large pie cherry tree on the ladder, additional cherries ripened on ground level. That tree looks the best it's ever appeared, so the micro nutrient/neem oil sprays work.
    
  • Last fall, the GMC pickup's engine wouldn't start. I let it sit through winter. On a whim, I tried starting it and, POW, it started. The V6 engine ran rough, at first, but after the second start, it settled down. I'm suspecting water in the gas. I'll try driving it tomorrow to get needed lawnmower and chainsaw/weedwhacker gas.
    
  • I put more mothballs in the holey plastic Gatorade bottles, which I put in engine compartments and behind vehicle tires to repel wire-chewing critters.
    
  • In the evening, I studied disease-resistant apple tree varieties, which is what we should plant, here. I also looked online for how to make Japanese tripod ladders.
    
  • Today, we saw white pelicans flying south high in the sky. Maybe they found it too dry further north and are heading south for wetter surroundings.

Garlic hung from machine shed rafters.

Cloves from the largest bulbs become the next "seed."

• Monday, 6/7: More Cherries
  
  • Mary picked cherries until thunder from above forced her inside. She didn't think standing on a metal ladder under a tree was a good place to be with thunder booming.
  • Mary made flour tortillas.
    
  • I drove the pickup to Lewistown and bought a can of Heet for its gas tank. I learned that Junior McKenzie wasn't working at McKenzie Auto, because he's at home, full-time, providing care for his wife. That explains why their shop is empty. Junior, who's in his 80s, knows all the latest in computer diagnostics with vehicles. Without him around, the mechanics side of the business is bust.
  • I drove to Roberts Garage and Towing, on the east side of Ewing, and set up an appointment to get the Cadillac fixed...replace power steering line and brakes.
  • I drove to Fastlane at Taylor, filled the pickup after putting in Heet, filled three 5-gallon cans of gas, and a 2-gallon can with 93 octane gas for the chainsaws and trimmer. I was smelling burnt brakes at various stops and noticed heat emanating from the driver's side rear wheel while fueling gas cans. Obviously that brake isn't releasing. On the way home, I stopped at Ewing to let the brakes cool.
  • I drove through downpours of rain, but there were only sprinkles at home. Such is life on our property. Mary blames me for complaining about too much rain in the past for us not receiving much rain today.
  • After thunder dwindled, I picked cherries where Mary left off. Together, we put 7 more quarts of pie cherries into the freezer...4 by Mary and 3 by me.
  • Mary harvested all but 2 radishes. We have a gallon bag of radishes in the fridge.
  • Mary also watered the near garden.
  • We have a blue grosbeak that's claimed our house as his home. He sits on a mulberry bush outside the living room window, eats green mulberries, and sings to us.
    
    
• Tuesday, 6/8: Vehicles, Planting, & More Cherries
  
  • We dropped the Cadillac off at Roberts Garage. Mary drove the car and I drove the pickup. Before leaving home, a check of fluid levels revealed that the pickup's brake fluid level was nearly empty. I half filled the reservoir with what I had left in brake fluid. We dropped by McKenzie's auto parts store in Lewistown, where I bought more brake fluid to top it off. I also bought a serpentine belt for the Buick Park Avenue. Critters chewed the last one off the car. Plus, even though plates on the Buick are outdated, we might need it if both the Caddy and the pickup are at a mechanic. The pickup's right rear brake was not overheating, today, which meant we could get by driving around with that vehicle, short term. Plans are to let Roberts work on the pickup's brakes once they're done with the Cadillac.
  • Mary planted pumpkin, muskmelon, and watermelon seeds in the far garden.
  • I picked more pie cherries, adding 4 more quarts to the freezer, for a grand total of 21 quarts.
  • I sieved my comfrey/garlic scapes concoction through an old Mid-Rivers Cable TV T-shirt. I couldn't think of a better way to get rid of that old piece of clothing. 
  • Mary watered the near garden. We had a second day of watching thunderheads develop and skirt around us. Twice, we saw rainbows east of us, but witnessed no rain.
  • Mary created huge salads, 10 deviled egg halves, and a couple rye toasts for each of us for an evening meal.
    
    
• Wednesday, 6/9: Last of Cherry Harvest
  
  • Mary picked what is probably the end of the cherries, adding 3 more quarts, for a grand total of 24 in the freezer. We also have 26 quarts from past years. I see the creation of cherry wine in our future.
  • Mary checked ripening black raspberries surrounding the yard and picked about 8, for the beginning of raspberry season.
  • She also mowed the deep grass in the north yard.
    
  • I finished installing chicken wire fencing on the south end of the far garden. I made about 25 Y-stakes from small persimmon trees I sawed down last month and pounded them into the ground between the 4' stakes to hold down the bottom of chicken wire. I also dug 14 fence stiffeners that we took off old barbed wire fences years ago from the near grain bin. I installed them in places where the top of chicken wire was sagging. It helped hold the wire upright.
    
  • I started a small fire and we cooked up smoked scrambled eggs. While stirring the eggs, we saw both a male and female rose-breasted grosbeak eating green mulberries from the tree immediately above us. There was also a blue jay and an American goldfinch. The male grosbeak is quite handsome.
    
    
• Thursday, 6/10: Animal Food Shopping Trip
  
  • We drove the pickup to Quincy. While putting brake fluid in at Fastlane in Taylor (on the way to Quincy), I saw that the pickup has a major leak from brake lines just under the driver's side door. Our Cadillac hasn't budged where we parked it at Roberts Garage. They are quite busy. We bought dog, cat, hen food, black sunflowers for chicken treats, cat litter, chick grit, a gallon of brake fluid, and a few groceries at the newly remodeled Aldi store. The pickup is perfect for multiple bags of animal food.
    
  • When we got back home, it was hot. Mary watered the garden seeds while I unloaded the pickup. We ate nachos and watched the 2017 movie, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. It's good.
    
  • After our midday movie matinee, we watered the garden.
  • Mary fertilized citrus trees and picked more black raspberries.
  • I stirred crushed Campden tablets into the garlic scape/comfrey liquid to curtail the development of wild yeasts and molds.
    
  • Via online radar, I saw a storm approaching Circle, MT. Mom texted that wind blew about 75 mph, they got about an inch of rain, power was out for a couple hours, limbs blown everywhere, and a cottonwood tree went down from her neighbor's yard onto her white, wooden fence. Karen and Lynn's camper trailer was unharmed.
    
  • I spent the evening, online, looking at apple tree disease information.
    
    
• Friday, 6/11: A Biting Bug's World
  • Deer flies are quite abundant, requiring us to bathe in insect repellent before working outside. Dogs only get short daytime walks. If they're out too long, they come inside with welts on their heads and backs.
    
  • Mary hoed weeds in a far garden row, then raked the grass she cut in the north yard on Wednesday, resulting in several large grass piles. She moved the grass in several wheelbarrow loads and mulched the row she hoed earlier.
  • I made waffles for breakfast.
  • I mowed the north end of the far garden, then pounded stakes leftover from some I cut from persimmon trees last week. These went into the ground around the north end of the far garden. The ground is dry and hard, so I had to pour water where I drove stakes to soften up the earth. I chainsawed down 3 more persimmon trees, cut them up into 4' stakes, and pounded them into the ground. The far garden's north end has longer rows, requiring more stakes, but I'm almost done with the stake portion of this job.
  • We have house wren babies chirping in a nest above the electric fence unit just inside a wooden protector box at the SE corner of the house. They heard me getting the small chainsaw ready nearby, thought their mama was near, and started squawking.
    
  • Mom texted that McCone Electric has 50 damaged transmission poles and 250 distribution poles down from yesterday's storm. Some rural customers will be without electricity for days. She added that Circle, MT residents missed some wicked hail.
    
  • Katie texted that she was offered a supervisor position on a project in Venetia, AK (NW of Fort Yukon). She's in Bethel, on her way back to Anchorage. Katie wrote, "I left Monday to go to Mertarvik to replace exterior doors and coordinate the demobilization of remaining CONEX boxes (steel container boxes shipped on boats and semis) and equipment onto a barge to Anchorage. I got back to Eek yesterday afternoon. I've been traveling a lot." She added that she will be in Anchorage for at least a week, helping to develop a project schedule.
    
    
• Saturday, 6/12: More Gardening
  
  • Mary hoed 3 rows in the far garden, handling all rows that once grew garlic. She also picked several black raspberries, trying to get enough for raspberry bars at Christmastime.
  • Mary planted 6 hills of cucumbers and 2 hills of zucchini.
  • I chainsawed a few more persimmon trees into 4' lengths and pounded the remaining stakes into the ground for a northside far garden chicken wire fence. Then, I stretched out 250' of chicken wire around posts and tied chicken wire to 9 of the 31 total posts.
  • A check out local stores online and I discovered 5' metal T-posts at Tractor Supply in Hannibal. In the future, I could use them as more permanent chicken wire posts.
    
  • We received a call from Bill. He has issues at work with employees who don't want to wear masks. His employer's policy is workers can go maskless if they're fully vaccinated. He has to enforce the rules. Bill said he's tired of "babysitting giant toddlers." Bill said the worst are semi truck delivery drivers, who he has to argue with about the mask rules. He also has new employees who quit within hours. A temp agency sends new workers without explaining work details and some leave without telling anyone they're quitting. One woman asked to go to the bathroom and disappeared without a trace. Bill is planning to visit us the end of July.
    
  • Katie called. She's in Anchorage. Katie slept most of today. She was working from 7 a.m. until 10 to 11 p.m. for several days, straight, at Mertarvik. She's also reviewing plans for her supervisor job in Venetia, AK. It involves repairing a school roof and installing new roofing tin, replacing a boiler, and fixing a utility corridor. Her employer, UIC, just got the bid. The school needs to be able to use it by the last days of August and UIC needs to be totally finished by the last days of September, so it's a quick job. Katie said it's a big opportunity for her. She added that she's nervous about it. Mary told her to just follow her gut instincts. Katie's GCI (cell provider) card wouldn't work in her cell phone, so she had poor coverage. Back in Mississippi, her 2 dogs were fighting through a fence at other dogs. Prancer, her German shorthaired pointer, accidentally bit a part of DeSoto's ear off. DeSoto is a Catahoula leopard dog. The dog caretakers tried calling Katie, to see if she wanted a vet to do cosmetic surgery on the dog's ear, but couldn't get in touch with her. Katie felt bad about the whole thing. She probably wouldn't have gone with cosmetic surgery. The good news is her dog is fine and doing well. Katie wants to get them moved north, but hears horror stories about people driving through Canada with severe COVID restrictions on U.S. citizens moving through. You can only stay at certain hotels and only buy food from drive-through restaurants. Heck, just finding a drive-through in Ft. Nelson, B.C. on the Alaskan Highway might be hard. (I just looked online...Ft. Nelson has an A&W and a Quiznos Sub...ha, ha, ha...not the Ft. Nelson of the '70s and '80s, OF COURSE!). Katie is better off waiting to move. Besides, she's going to be busy through the summer.
  • While finishing chores, Mary and I dined on the few pie cherries left on the tree. They were dead ripe and tasted amazing.