Oct. 24-30, 2021

Weather | 10/24, 5.29" rain, 45°, 61° | 10/25, 42°, 47° | 10/26, 32°, 57° | 10/27, 44°, 61° | 10/28, 0.67" rain, 43°, 45° | 10/29, 0.33" rain, 45°, 47° | 10/30, 38°, 57° |

• Sunday, 10/24: Too Tired and Too Wet
  
  • When we woke, lightning and thunder was still active. We stayed in bed for a bit. Dogs and cats forced us up. Rain totaled 4.93 inches over an 8-hour period. Rain water filled the lift tracks left in the lawn. A tiny puddle of water dripped down the side of the chimney and through the sunroom ceiling, which is expected, since the roof is only partially done. Even so, the roof shed water much better than it's ever done since we've lived here.
  • I made waffles that we ate with strawberries.
  • All of my muscles hurt. A pulled muscle in my lowest left rib is excruciating. We turned on the electric heater in the living room and took the day off.
  • Katie called around 7:30 p.m., while in the Anchorage airport. She's overnighting in Fairbanks, then off to Venetie to meet a planeload of roofing metal arriving this week, to finish the village school job. She had a great 2.5 weeks off in Gulfport, MS.
  • We watched the 6th Harry Potter movie.
  • It rained and misted all day. We got over 5 inches, today. It's soggy, so trekking an 11-ton lift across the lawn won't happen for a few days. Northerly wind gusts to 30 mph kicked up after dark. The roof is holding up. It needs some days of drying time before shingles go on. That's good, because my body needs some resting time.
    
    
• Monday, 10/25: Bread Day
  
  • Mary baked 4 loaves of bread. It smelled delightful. She hasn't baked any bread for 2 months.
    
  • While bread dough rose, she made her yearly freezer chart, to keep track of food items. Not only does it inventory food in the 2 large freezers, but accounts for all homemade wine, and acorn squash.
  • I rested a good part of today, then moved the lift. When I parked it, one set of tires were on the lawn. Moving it put an 8- to 12-inch trench right next to our lane and in the lawn (see photo, below). It will take time for the lawn soil to dry before I can use the lift, again.
  • I called Prairieland FS, an ag place between Lewistown and La Belle, which also sells fuel and I found out they have a credit card operated pump for off-road diesel. I found a large plastic funnel that fits into the diesel fuel can, went to Prairieland, and bought 5 gallons of diesel for the lift. It's 40 cents more per 5-gallon jug of fuel, compared to Fastlane, but it's much closer.
  • Mary made a monthly menu and created a shopping list.
  • We watched the 7th Harry Potter movie.
  • Two deer were on the lane, opposite of Bluegill Pond, first thing in the morning.
  • Even after 5 inches of rain, the ground is wet, but not as soggy as it can get, due to the fact that it was dry for several weeks.
  • A windy, cloudy morning changed to a clear, still night and at bedtime, it was 39°, outside. Get ready for our first frost!

  

  A deep rut left from moving the lift.
  

• Tuesday, 10/26: Shopping & Wind Tearing Off Tar Paper
  
  • I poured the 5-gallon can of diesel into the lift's fuel tank. It needs more. We used about 8 gallons Saturday night.
  • The sun was bright all day, which helped dry soils and the lawn.
    
  • We shopped in Quincy, IL. I got United Rentals to extend our use of the lift to mid-November.
    
  • Upon returning home, we saw that several pieces of tar paper are breaking loose in the SE wind. We made the wrong move by using staples, instead of nails, to tack down the tar paper. The ground is drying, but I don't trust its dryness to running an 11-ton lift on it, yet. Wind gusts are 30 mph tonight and tomorrow. The lift cannot be used in gusts over 28 mph. Rain is predicted for tomorrow night through Thursday. It will now rain on bare wood. About a third of the house is now in danger of rain drips. Drying the roof's wood surface will take more time. More time means more money spent on a lift. Redoing the tar paper adds another day to the project. I HATE THIS HOUSE AND ITS DAMN STEEP ROOF!!!!!
  • We ate nachos and watched the last Harry Potter movie.
  • I researched tar paper hold down issues, online. I need to get cap nails to use in the place of staples.
    
    
• Wednesday, 10/27: Moving Belongings & AC Removal
  
  • After checking cap nail availability at Home Depot, Menards, and Lowe's in Quincy, and how many I'll need, I decided to go to Quincy and buy a bucket of 3,000. I need 900, but it's cheaper to buy 3,000 at $27.48, compared to 4 boxes (280 nails per box) at $7.98 each box for a total of $31.92. I bought a bucket of cap nails at Lowe's and a 12-quart plastic dish pan from Menards that we use for watering pets.
  • Mary moved books and belongings out of rooms of the house under the quarter to third of the roof where tar paper is blowing off the roof, because we're expecting rain, tonight.
  • It was depressing to watch big hunks of tar paper vanish off the roof due to the strong SE wind.
  • I removed all 4 window air conditioners and stored them on the shop bench in the machine shed. Doing this tightened up air flow in the house.
  • Around 5 p.m., the wind died, so I started the lift. Mary watched as I tried to drive it onto the lawn. She waved me off as the front tires started to sink into the turf. It's still too wet.
  • Rain started falling at 11 p.m., but it was very light. I went to bed and set the alarm for 7 a.m., with Mary checking for leaks every so often throughout the night. It started raining heavier at 3 a.m. She ended up putting down 2 buckets in the sun room to catch drips.
    
    
• Thursday, 10/28: Bumping To the 6 Inch Rain Mark
  
  • We experienced rain or heavy mist all day. We're .04 of an inch shy of 6 inches of rain for the week and there's a 90% chance of rain tonight and an 80% chance tomorrow. Plus, they're predicting north wind gusts over 35 mph, tomorrow. It could be worse, maybe, if we expected an ice storm. A chance of snow is predicted for next week. No tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, or meteor crashes are in our future, I hope.
    
  • About four 8-foot pieces of tar paper are blown off the roof. Even so, we're seeing fewer drips in the sunroom than when the roof was covered with old shingles. Our sticky ice and water membrane covered all of the holes pounded into the W valley flashing with roofing nails. So, even though rain is flowing into bare plywood at the peak of the south-facing roof, water dripping into the house is at an all-time low. That's how bad it was.
    
  • After house guard duty all night long, Mary slept from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. while I kept an eye on leaks and caught drips with additional buckets. Mary plans on doing another nighttime drip sentry duty, tonight.
    
  • More online research revealed that Sunbelt Rentals has a 4x8-foot item they rent out called DuraDeck. It weighs 87 pounds and when linked together, can support up to 80 tons over grass and sand for a temporary road. I sent them a written message with questions. If I don't hear from them by noon, tomorrow, I'll call them.
  • I drew up a Christmas wish list. After evening chores, Mary and I compared notes and placed part of our Christmas orders. I also sent wish list ideas to Bill and Katie. We hope to finish ordering tomorrow, so there's plenty of time to receive items shipped to us before Christmas.
    
    
• Friday, 10/29: More Rain
  
  • We had another day of continuous rain and mist. Today's and yesterday's rainfall equaled exactly 1 inch. For the week, the rain amount is 6.29 inches. We got 8.14 inches so far this month, a very wet October, which is usually dry. By sunset, skies were clearing in the west, with rain falling on us. On the nighttime dog walk, skies were clear and the Milky Way was very bright.
  • I made waffles, then Mary took a 3-hour nap, after staying up all night babysitting leaks, which weren't as many as last night.
  • I updated the checkbook and did a bunch of online reading.
  • I texted Katie with a bunch of information related to 401K investing advice.
    
  • Mary made a chicken pot pie with corn-on-the-cob for our main meal.
  • We had 2 pots of tea, each, in the evening. It was nice.
    
    
• Saturday, 10/30: SUN!!!
  
  • Mary moved some items back into the sunroom, since we had sun all day, today...YAHOO!
  • Mom texted that Karen and Lynn were arriving at her house, today, in Circle, MT, and staying overnight. They then will pick up their 4-wheeler on a trailer at Lynn's brother's house in Forsyth, MT, go to Gillette, WY, rent a truck, load their belongings, and move it all back to their new home in Cleveland, GA.
    
  • I took a wire brush on a drill to exterior rust on the woodstove, then touched up all of those spots with silver automotive high-heat paint to the front, and flat black auto high-heat paint to other parts. We opened several windows to let the strong paint smell move outside. After several days of rain, the air exchange in the house was good.
    
  • I removed door gaskets on the 2 doors of the woodstove, cleaned out the grooves with an old screwdriver and a wire brush, applied sealant and put new gaskets in the woodstove doors.
  • Working on the woodstove is essential. We've been using an electric heater in the living room, but predicted low temperatures are dipping down to below freezing in a couple days, so we need to get a better heat source. Tomorrow, I'll clean soot out the stove pipe and chimney.
  • Asian ladybugs swarmed the house, today. Along with them were flies and piles of tiny spiders flying in the wind on their webbed parachutes.
  • We watched the 1998 movie, Practical Magic, tonight.
    

Oct. 17-23, 2021

Weather | 10/17, 39°, 67° | 10/18, 42°, 73° | 10/19, 45°, 70° | 10/20, 51°, 73° | 10/21, 43°, 52° | 10/22, 39°, 55° | 10/23, 43°, 57° |

• Sunday, 10/17: Two Wines & Pecans
  
  • In the morning, we watched a red-bellied woodpecker banging on a Kieffer pear at the top of the tree, while getting stung by yellow jackets.
  • I dumped old organic tree spray on the ground under the drip line of all the fruit trees to get rid of it.
  • Mary did 3 loads of laundry.
  • Bill called around 1 p.m., after arriving at his hotel room. He said it's huge, with 2 king beds, a living room, and a kitchen. His rental car has only 100 miles on it. He was at the airport 2 hours early. Checking through security took 5 minutes. He turned on the TV upon arriving and discovered the Vikings/Panthers football game showing. He hardly ever sees Vikings games in St. Louis, but since they were playing the Carolina Panthers and he's in South Carolina, there was the game. In the evening, Alison Rabich Boyce, who lives in SC, messaged me that she lives nearby where Bill is staying and if Bill wants to, he could visit. I forwarded messages between Alison and Bill. He thought he'd be too busy, but appreciated the thought. Alison mentioned that she's 80 miles away from Karen and Lynn's new Georgia home.
    
  • I racked the pear wine, since over a half inch of fines collected at the bottom of the carboy. The specific gravity is 1.000. After moving the must into a brew bucket, I added 6 crushed Campden tablets. I cleaned and sanitized the 6.5-gallon carboy, moved the wine back into it, and added 2.5 cups of spring water to top the level up in the carboy. We tasted it...WOW, it tastes great. Keeping pear skins on greatly adds to the taste. Mary said it tasted like pear cider.
  • Mary and I took the lift up and picked more pecans. Wind was light, so we ventured higher up the tree and found several more nuts. Using a lift really gets you into the pecans prior to squirrels and blue jays robbing them off the tree. We were quite high up the tree, today. At one point, Mary said, "I can almost see across the Mississippi!"
    
  • I washed all of the sawdust out of the lift's basket using a garden hose.
  • Mary cut more comfrey leaves to dry. She also picked more bell peppers from the garden that continues to produce, even though we thought it was all done. She picks tomatoes every so often for meals, and we still get strawberries, daily.
    
  • After an excellent venison gravy on biscuits dinner and doing dishes, I racked the jalapeno wine. Specific gravity is 0.990, giving it an alcohol content of 13.76%. Another L-shaped clamp on the Big Mouth 5-gallon carboy cracked. I replaced 2 of them. I added 5 crushed Campden tablets once I got all wine into the brew bucket. After cleaning the carboy and sanitizing it, I moved wine back into the carboy and a half-gallon jug. I added a bit of spring water to top up the half-gallon jug. I removed a lot of fines. The wine's initial hot factor has increased. It contains a distinct jalapeno taste. It's very smooth tasting and has a nice amber, yet clear appearance. It should be ready to bottle around Thanksgiving week.
    
    
• Monday, 10/18: Changing of the Lifts
  
  • I fueled up the 45-foot lift and drove it down the lane. As I got to the end of the lane, I saw the United Rental delivery driver backing the lowboy into the end our our lane. He drove off the 60-foot lift and drove the 45-foot lift onto the lowboy and left. This JGL 60-foot boom lift is identical to the 45-foot lift, just larger. I downloaded the operations manual and went through it. The engine is diesel, so I'll have to get a yellow can and buy diesel for it.
    
  • Mary washed a big load of laundry.
  • Mary mowed grass in the south lawn, where I'll be operating the lift, and the east lawns.
  • I used the lift to undo 4 metal screws holding a clamp that attached a long pipe to the roof edge, which held an old TV antenna. I guided it down with the lift, unhooked the antenna, and hauled the long pipe and the TV antenna to the machine shed.
  • I took an old ratty big blue plastic tarp and tacked the long edge up over south facing windows and door, to protect them from falling asphalt shingles coming off the roof.
    
  • I used the lift to get to the peak of the roof...YAHOO, this lift gets me all the way to the top. Unlike the 45-foot lift, I can drive this one while I'm above horizontal while in the basket.
  • When I got on top, I noticed a couple cracks on the concrete cap I put on the top of the chimney last year. I started pulling cap shingles off the peak of the ridge running east/west. Herman, Mary's uncle, used 4 nails on each cap shingle, when you only need 2 nails per cap shingle. But, he used only inch and a quarter long nails, when 2-inch roofing nails are best for going through all the layers on the cap shingles. Twice as many nails per cap shingle means it takes twice as long to get them off. Five cap shingles were left when I quit after the sun went down. I still have to remove cap shingles on the north/south ridge, which includes the metal flashing of the chimney. Then, I proceed with removing the regular shingles down the roof.
  • I texted Karen. It's official. Karen and Lynn own a house in Georgia, as of today. They moved the mattress and camping chairs out of the camping trailer and into the house. Their stuff is in storage in Gillette, WY, plus they have a 4-wheeler on a trailer at Lynn's brother's house in Forsyth, MT.
  • We texted Bill. His day went well in Greer, SC. He texted, "Worked on getting Repair set up, today, mostly spent time on infrastructure. He said restaurant helpings are huge. He's got half of a sub sandwich in his room's refrigerator. He told Mary it was a sub he ate at a local restaurant. "The thing was about 4 inches tall, cut into quarters, and contains half a pig and a whole turkey in it."
    
    
• Tuesday, 10/19: Deep Clean & Shingle Removal
  
  • Mary washed throw rugs and deep cleaned our bedroom. I helped her remove a foam pad we were "saving," which was on the floor under our bed frame. 
  • I finished removing all of the cap shingles. Sanity took over when the north-south ridge was covered with cap shingles, because it changed to two 2-inch roofing nails per shingle. Not so with regular shingles, where at least eight nails were used per shingle and at either end of each row of shingles, several more were pounded into place. On one 4" wide by 5" high triangle of shingle over the metal valley flashing, seven nails went in less than an inch apart. No wonder the roof leaks! It looks like Woody Woodpecker was there. Normally, 3-tab shingles take four nails per shingle. With so many nails, I cannot take shingles off with a shovel. Instead, I rip each off by hand, then use a claw hammer and take out the nails. By sundown, about 5 feet of bare plywood is showing on the south-facing roof (see photo, below). I still have several shingles to remove.
  • The 11-ton lift is putting ruts into our lawn (see photo, below).
    
  • After dark, I drove to Quincy to buy a diesel 5-gallon can. Evidently, yellow plastic costs more to make than red plastic. Gas cans are $15, but diesel cans are $20. I also picked up hen food and chainsaw chain lube oil. I asked at Fastlane if they sell red-dyed diesel that's sold without road tax added to the price. "Oh, you mean tractor fuel," was the reply. Tractor fuel is dispensed from a fat nozzle, almost the exact size of the opening of my new yellow plastic can. I had to drip the fuel in and still some diesel ran down the outside of the can. It took about 30 minutes to fill. I don't know if it's worth $2.99 a gallon to get the cheaper diesel.
  • I got home at 9 p.m. and we ate a meal I bought at Qdoba.
  • We're experiencing a late autumn. Most oak and maple trees are still green and haven't turned to fall colors.

The 11-ton lift leaves ruts in the lawn.

About 5 feet removed from roof.

• Wednesday, 10/20: Another Day at Goose Level
  
  • Mary mowed part of the west lawn.
  • The mowing allowed for blankets that she washed to hang down on the line outside.
  • Mary made flour tortillas, then venison fajitas for our evening meal.
  • She turned grass that was mowed on Monday to allow it to dry.
  • A wind blew from the SE and switched to the west, allowing Mary to pick more pecans as they fell. At one point, she heard squirrels and let out a sound like a mad cat meowing. She said six squirrels went scrambling away in the tree tops.
  • I removed 20 courses of shingles from the south-facing roof (see photo, below). There was a prediction for rain this morning. We saw dark clouds, but no rain...thank goodness. When I stopped at sunset, I counted 12 courses of shingles to remove and finish this side of the roof. Then I need to remove shingles on the east-facing slope, which is shorter. I'm noticing some gaps between sheets of plywood on the roof's decking that Herman, Mary's Uncle, filled with roofing tar. The problem is some gaps are a half-inch wide or more and tar simply melted and fell through. I'll need to cover these spots with tin, before applying ice and water barrier and roofing felt. I need to get all tar paper on before Sunday, when a night and day of rain is expected.
  • Mom texted that she's out of COVID quaranteen. She was driving the Circle senior van to Glendive, MT, today. It was 24° this morning, for a hard freeze, in Circle, MT.
    

  

  Roof progress, today. Black lines are gaps between plywood,
  filled with tar. The metal square is where I removed a propane
  stovepipe last year and put that patch in the roof.
  

  
  

  
  

• Thursday, 10/21: More Shingle Removal
  
  • Mary made a venison General Tso dish that we ate at noon and again at 3 p.m.
  • Mary raked and picked up grass to put in the second bin to dry. She also picked up 40 pecans. As has been the case since I've been working on the roof, Mary did all of the evening chores.
  • Today was a cool fall day, with wind starting out of the NW and switching to due west. Gusts were up to 23 mph. But, working on the SE corner of the roof, I was out of the wind.
    
  • I removed 35 courses of shingles. Twelve courses came off the south-facing roof and 23 are gone from the east-facing roof (see photo, below). It helps that the east-facing roof is narrower. I'm figuring that the rest of the shingles will be off sometime tomorrow morning. I uncovered some rot issues on a couple areas of plywood that I need to address. I also discovered a slice made in the galvanized valley flashing that was cut to compensate for a change in the roof slope. The slice goes all the way into where water flows and is open with a gap to the inside of the house. That and the fact that nails were pounded into the galvanized sheeting with no wood underneath is why water has always poured into the house on heavy rains. I also uncovered more half-inch gaps between plywood roof decking that were filled with tar, which melted with summer heat and dropped into the house. I'll be covering these gaps with sheet metal. There are several issues to rectify.
  • I started on the roof at 8 a.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m., with time off to eat. I've got sore muscles everywhere and I'm very tired. I'm sure not used to this kind of work, but it's got to get done.
  • Mary saw either one bald eagle, twice, or 2 different bald eagles in the late afternoon.

  

  Roof shingle removal as of sundown, today.
  All shingles should be off by tomorrow morning.
  

• Friday, 10/22: Shingle Removal Done & Repairs Started
  
  • Mary picked up sticks left in the yard after cutting down the weeping willow tree.
  • She made minestrone soup for our midday meal.
  • Mary picked 2 quarts of autumn olives from a tree east of our lane, near the gravel road. We can maybe boost the amount of autumn olive wine I make later.
  • She also picked 51 pecans. She has to keep Amber inside while picking pecans, because the crazy dog picks the nuts, shell and all, off the ground and eats them. Mary says it's hard enough battling the squirrels. She doesn't want to add the silly dog into the mix.
    
  • I finished removing shingles from the roof around 11:30 a.m. After eating, I took Mary up on the lift to assess repairs. We identified 4 areas with weak plywood and 6 gaps between pieces of plywood that needed covering. 
  • I swept the roof from the lift while drawing a map with an identifying number for each fix zone, complete with dimensions needed. Then, I cut out wood and snipped out tin according to my map, then added numbers to each item. Finally, I went up on the lift and fixed most of the fix zones. I have 3 left to finish tomorrow, because I had to quit with it getting dark. 
  • They're predicting rain starting tomorrow at 10 p.m. and running through Sunday, so I have to get all bare wood covered with tar paper and ice and water membrane tomorrow. Mary plans to help, when she's free. We're going to have scoot to get it all done in time.
    
    
• Saturday, 10/23: Up On the Roof!
  
  • We awoke at 5:30 a.m., ate breakfast, and hit things as soon as it was light outside. Mary did some chores normally done in the late afternoon and found a few pecans. I poured the last fuel from a 5-gallon can into the lift. That's pretty good fuel economy in 5 days of using the lift.
  • I finished repairs on the roof deck.
  • Mary and I were on the lift for the rest of the day and into the night. We added ice and water membrane to the eaves. This isn't as good as what we used in 2000 to redo the roof of our house in Circle, MT. It's thinner and less sticky, so we stapled it once it was in place. Then, we went up the valley of the roof, installing 3-foot pieces of the ice and water barrier, since 3 feet was as far as we could reach from the lift's basket. Each piece overlapped the one below it by 6 inches. It took 2-3 hours to finish installing all of the ice and water membrane.
  • Around 2 p.m., we started applying tar paper. Since the lift's basket is 8 feet long, we installed 8 feet lengths of tar paper, again, overlapping by 6 inches. I held down one end while Mary unrolled the 8-foot piece. She held down the other end with a broom and her hand and I stapled my end down, then stapled the top and middle, working toward Mary's end. At some point, we swapped positions. Mary would hammer down any staples sticking above the surface while I finished stapling the top and middle. Then, I'd staple the bottom of the piece. We usually took up 3-5 lengths of tar paper each time we went up on the lift. An electric staple gun plugged into the lift's electrical generation system really sped up the operation.
  • It was hawk migration day. While going up and down on the lift, Mary spotted bald eagles and several hawks flying overhead.
    
  • At dusk, around 6:30 p.m., we plugged in a clamp light and I wore my headlamp. An east wind blew harder and dark clouds rolled in from the south. We kept applying tar paper up the roof. I operated the lift at a slower pace after dark. While working on 2 short sections of tar paper on the peak of the north/south roof section, Mary spotted lightning to the south. The battery of my headlamp went dead. When we finished, we could hear thunder. 
  • Standing in a metal basket above the roof peak and grounded through a 60-foot lift is no place to be with a thunderstorm approaching, so we got down as fast as possible. We gathered up tools, and I drove our 8N Ford tractor and wagon full of tar paper rolls back into the machine shed when rain started falling. I moved the lift to our lane. We were done and inside at 11:40 p.m. By 11:50, the rain poured hard, while thunder and lightning cracked all around the property.
  • After a full day on the lift, it felt as though the floor was moving up, down, and all around. It's the same feeling you get after riding rough seas in a boat all day. We were thoroughly beat tired. I only could eat one bowl of soup.
  • Mary was concerned about books in the sunroom, where water dripped through the ceiling for several years. We heard a drop of two hit the upper side of the ceiling. That's to be expected, because the roofing job isn't finished and the rain was pouring so hard. But, just a drop or two is a vast improvement. We finally went to bed just before 3 a.m. It sure was a long day of hard work.
    

Oct. 10-16, 2021

Weather | 10/10, 67°, 81° | 10/11, 0.96" rain, 58°, 69° | 10/12, 47°, 72° | 10/13, 0.27" rain, 56°, 73° | 10/14, 55°, 70° | 10/15, 0.05" rain, 45°, 55° | 10/16, 39°, 59° |

• Sunday, 10/10: Hot Pepper Harvest & Last of Weeping Willow Branch Removal
  • Wind gust were at 25 mph in the morning, which is the limit for using the lift, so I didn't use it until the wind gusts dropped at noon to 18 mph.
    
  • Mary harvested what was left of the hot peppers from the far garden and hung them up to dry in the upstairs south bedroom.
    
  • Mary broke up kindling into usable sizes from a pile we made from dried branches coming off the weeping willow tree. She stacked the kindling in the machine shed.
    
  • I finished cutting tree limbs off the weeping willow tree. Today, I took down the very top branches (see photos, below), then worked down the tree, leaving just an 8-foot high trunk. I can take the trunk out later, without the need of a lift. Big carpenter ants came out of some branches that were also hollowed out by the ants...potential breakage points during a strong winter wind. The lift was extremely useful in dropping branches straight down in order to take the tree out without smashing something around the tree. Potential items it would have smashed include our house to the south, electric lines to the east, the woodshed to the north, and our largest cherry tree to the west. It was really tight quarters for a large tree. Using a lift was the only way to take this tree down without damaging something.
  • Pear wine specific gravity was 1.050 in the morning and 1.030 at night.

In the lift, sawing the top branches.

A falling branch.

Cutting the top weeping willow limb.

Another falling tree limb.

Cutting large limb with the big chainsaw.

Down goes a big limb section.

• Monday, 10/11: Pear Wine Transfer
  
  • We got almost an inch of rain from a day of thunderstorms.
    
  • The specific gravity of the pear wine was 1.010 in the morning, so I moved the wine from the brew bucket into a 6.5-gallon carboy and a gallon jug. I gained an extra gallon of juice after squeezing the nylon mesh bag for a total of 6.5 gallons. Once in the carboy, foam expanded upward, threatening to overflow, so I removed some must with the wine thief and put an overflow blow-off hose on the carboy. A little over a half gallon went into the gallon jug, giving it adequate room for foam. The CO2 gas was really blasting off (see video, below). We tasted the leftovers. It's really great! Leaving the skins on has improved the taste immensely.
    
  • Mary husked several hazelnuts.
  • Mary made flour tortillas, then venison fajitas for our main meal.
  • We are enjoying 2 pears each, for several nights in a row. They are delicious and very juicy.
    
  • While walking the dogs on their final nightly walk, we heard snow geese flying overhead in the dark.
  Escaping CO2 gas from pear wine.
  

• Tuesday, 10/12: More Tree Removal and Coop Cleaning
  
  • The last tall branch of the weeping willow tree was left in pieces in a heap around the tree trunk, so I cut up all of the branch pieces and hauled them off to our various piles near the south end of the chicken yard.
  • The juncos arrived for the winter.
  • Mary made 2 quiche egg pies and we ate one.
  • Mary cleaned hay and manure from the floor of the chicken coop and replaced it with fresh hay. She said it was the worst she's ever seen it, after weeks and months of several birds inside the coop. Leo, our rooster, clucked appreciatively upon entering the coop.
    
  • Continual rain forecasts are preventing even the start of work on our roof. It's fine, because essential tree removal is still in the works.
    
  • I took the lift to the south side of the machine shed and NE of the woodshed, where an elm tree is dying. It grew leaning to the NE and over the electric line to the machine shed, because a neighboring maple forced it outward to seek sunlight. If the tree is cut at the base, it will fall over the electric line and the machine shed and take electric line out. With the lift, I tied a half-inch poly line around branches a few feet back from the tips, cut with a chainsaw so when the branch piece is free, it dangles from the lift, but doesn't hit the electric line. Then I can move the branch tip, untie the clove hitch knot, and let it drop safely to the ground. I got a main lower branch cut down, but still have an upper branch and the trunk to remove.
  • CO2 gas escaping the pear wine slowed way down. The stuff that looks like orange cottage cheese floating on top is sinking, too. I'll be racking the wine, soon, to remove fines.
  • I'm officially a geezer, because I got a notification in today's mail that Medicare starts for me on Feb. 1, 2022.
    
  • A deer snorted at us when we walked dogs on their last walk of the night. It ran off to the west from Bluegill Pond.
    
    
• Wednesday, 10/13: An Indoor Day
  
  • Our day started with a downpour immediately after morning chores. A series of thunderstorms ran through our area, with occasional high winds, so we stayed indoors.
  • I investigated Medicare coverage online.
  • I had a text discussion with Mom about her Medicare coverage. She's currently quarantined after helping her Alaskan friends with grocery shopping and later finding out they are positive with COVID. Her contact with them was on Saturday. Hopefully, all works out well.
  • Mary picked up the first pecans of the year...about 8 nuts.
  • I got the checkbook caught up and balanced our bank account.
  • We watched the third Harry Potter movie while husking hazelnuts, the last hazelnuts of the year.
    
    
• Thursday, 10/14: Clean-up Inside & Outside
  
  • I cleaned a two-tier coffee table next to my couch in the living room. This might not sound like much, but it hasn't been cleaned for probably a couple years. Mary gave up trying to dust it, because it was so full of books, notes, laptop cords, and general crap. It's all clean and ship-shape, now.
    
  • Mary cleaned the house, including sweeping and mopping all floors.
  • I chainsawed up the elm tree limbs I dropped 2 days ago, then used the lift to get the rest of the tree. At one point, I was higher than when I cut the tops out of the weeping willow tree. It was touchy, since most all top branches were over the electrical line to the machine shed. I'm glad to be done using the lift on tree cutting. I still must cut up branches and the trunk of that elm tree.
  • Families of Canada geese fly every evening from Wood Duck Pond to the poop pond west of us at the dairy, and wing over our house just above the treetops. They're so close, you can hear the air whisking over their wings. Mary said she saw the sunset glistening off their eyes this evening.
  • While walking dogs this morning, we heard crows raising a fuss just north of the house. Then, a Cooper's hawk lifted off and flew overhead. One crow followed the hawk. When the hawk landed in a tree south of us, the crow called, as if to say, "It's here."
  • Clem Tillion, of Halibut Cove, AK, died yesterday, at age 96. He represented the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska's Legislature from 1962 to 1980. I always remember that while in the Homer boat harbor, you could always tell when the Danny J, a steep-bowed green wooden boat, arrived, by the loud, bellowing voice of Clem Tillion. Mom said on Facebook, today, that she first met Mr. Tillion when we lived in Ninilchik, AK in 1964. His daughters, Martha and Marion, were a year and three years ahead of me at Homer High School.
  • Mary picked more pecans, while hollering nasties at a marauding squirrel.
    
    
• Friday, 10/15: Lift Won't Work
  
  • We got a little rain overnight. I made waffles that we had with strawberries that Mary picked yesterday evening.
  • Karen messaged that she and Lynn close on the house they're buying in Cleveland, Georgia, on Monday.
    
  • I tried the lift at the SE corner of the roof and verified my suspicion that it cannot reach the peak of the roof, where I need to go to start and finish the roof project. It reaches way above the height of the roof, but doesn't have enough of a horizontal reach. A major problem is when I get close to the house, the ground is sloped enough to illicit a tilt hazard in the lift and disables the ability to go up. Back off enough to eliminate the tilt hazard and the lift is too far away from the house to reach far enough (see photos, below).
  • Mary picked more pecans and checked for hickory nuts in the woods. She didn't find hickory nuts. Squirrels were in the pecan trees while she picked nuts off the ground.
    
  • I cleaned all gas cans and drove to Quincy. My first stop was United Rentals. They have a 60-foot lift that has a 40-foot horizontal capability. That should work on the roof. They will deliver it and take back the 45-foot lift on Monday around 1:00-1:30 p.m. I bought a peck of Jonathan apples at Edgewood Orchards, Splenda brown sugar at Walmart, and 17 gallons of gas in my gas cans at Fastlane on the way back home. Gas is now $3.05 a gallon.
  • I got a newspaper clipping from Mom in the mail from a Looking Back column featuring me and Brad Quick starting at Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative 25 years ago. Thanks, Mom.
  • She texted that she has no COVID symptoms.
  • Mary and I watched the 4th Harry Potter movie. Afterwards, she made 3 baked apples for each of us.

Distance lift must be from house before it will go up.

I cannot reach roof peak or the chimney.

• Saturday, 10/16: Pecan Nut Collection
  
  • We spent most of the day picking pecans using the lift. Both Mary and I were in the lift. I'd move us to a new location and we picked any pecans that either had an opening husk, or when squeezed, revealed the start of an opening husk. Occasionally, we heard squirrels or blue jays in neighboring trees, frustrated that they weren't getting to the nuts. There are more that we want to get to, tomorrow. It would be nice to own one of these lifts for tree picking, but the nuts and fruit would be excessively expensive.
    
  • We watched the 5th Harry Potter movie.
  • Mom texted that she's still without COVID symptoms. She's busy canning several items.
  • Bill texted that he was getting to bed early, to get up early for his flight to SC that leaves at 7:40 a.m., tomorrow. He said he gets to his destination, Greer, SC, at 1 p.m.
    

Oct. 3-9, 2021

Weather | 10/3, 0.24" rain, 60°, 73° | 10/4, 50°, 73° | 10/5, 60°, 70° | 10/6, 0.21" rain, 61°, 65° | 10/7, 61°, 75° | 10/8, 56°, 79° | 10/9, 58°, 77° |

• Sunday, 10/3: Animal Sightings
  
  • A helicopter went by overhead this afternoon, heading east. Mary watched a vulture that was initially higher than the helicopter drop in elevation to catch the draft from the exiting helicopter and glide in the wake super fast. After awhile, it was flying normal speed. It was like a surfer catching a wave, but in the air, instead of in water.
    
  • In the evening, we watched 2 ducks of fairly good size fly out of Bluegill Pond. Mary looked them up and they were a pair of American wigeons, a first sighting of that variety on our property.
    
  • After dark, the night sky was bright with stars and the Milky Way was out if full force. We noticed bats flying about, because their dark form showed up against the lighter night sky.
    
  • We saw a firefly tonight. We've never noticed a firefly in October.
    
  • While butchering our last 3 chickens, we both saw a meteor fall to earth in the NE horizon.
  • Butchering our last chickens went fast...started at 7:45 and finished at 9:15 p.m. With 9 chickens from last year and these 27, we have a total of 36 frozen chickens. We're set with chicken meat. We're celebrating the end of 2021 chicken butchering with a bottle of blackberry wine.
  • I racked the autumn olive wine for the 3rd time. It's clearing up nicely (see photo, below). A quick taste revealed a more significant autumn olive flavor in the wine, but with a strong taste of alcohol. Aging will mellow the alcohol. The specific gravity is still 0.990. The transfer filled a 5-gallon carboy and a 333-ml beer bottle.
    
  • Katie texted that she flew out of Alaska the other night and saw an amazing display of northern lights.

  

  Autumn olive wine after 3rd racking.
  

• Monday, 10/4: Lift Arrival
  
  • The driver from United Rentals, delivering the 45-foot lift, called at 7:22 a.m. and we agreed to meet at Johnnie's gas station in Ewing. I led him to our driveway, where he backed into it and ran the lift off the flatbed. The driver asked me how old I was. When I told him, he said he watched me run up to the semi and hoped he could get around like I do at that age. First, I don't think I'm old. Second, I ran...so what? Later, he asked if he wanted me to have him drive the lift to the house. "Why?" I asked. "So you don't have to walk," he answered. I told him it was no big deal and thought to myself, walking as much as I do is the reason why I can run.
  • When I got to the house with the car, Mary was letting chickens out for the day. Sunny, our lone pullet from this year's chicks, blended in quite well with the other adult chickens. She's taller than our 2 other Buff Orpington hens.
    
  • After driving the lift to our house, I read the heap of a mess of an operation's manual that no one ever reads tucked in a plastic case on the lift's cage, then tested it. There are several switches to multiple appendages for this lift.
  • Mary washed 3 loads of laundry, while I cleaned and put away chicken butchering things.
  • Since rain is predicted on Wednesday and Thursday, we decided to cut down the weeping willow tree, first, so our roof isn't exposed to rain. I used the lift to raise myself up into lower branches and cut them down with the small Stihl chainsaw. Mary hauled branches away into various piles based on dryness and size. We extracted 3 medium-sized limbs (see photo, below).
  • We quit branch removal and I removed the wall inside the chicken coop that was separating hens/rooster from chicks. Sunny was upset when she got inside, because her coop grew larger and all those big chickens were pecking sunflower seeds off the floor. She'll get over her concerns soon enough.
    
  • Mary had me cut a dead cedar tree. We trimmed its branches, scratched it through the house while scaring dogs and cats and we set it up in the Christmas tree stand in the living room. I strung orange lights on it and we hung some of Mary's cross stitch ornaments on it (see photos, below). It's pretty, in a sort of Corpse Bride way. Mary says it's just as she imagined it should look.
    

The lift and stubs from removed branches.

The decorated Halloween tree.

One of Mary's cross stitch ornaments.

Another cross stitch ornament.

The top of the Halloween tree.

Top of tree and another cross stitch ornament.

• Tuesday, 10/5: Weeping Willow Limb Removal
  
  • Using the lift and the small chainsaw, we cut down tree limbs all day (see photos, below). I'm guessing that a quarter to a third of the limbs are gone. We still have several top limbs to remove. I'm going from the bottom to the top on the tree. Cleaning out the branches really opens up the area to light. The woodshed, which was shaded by that tree, is much brighter inside, now. A plus with working on this tree is I'm learning the nuances of operating the lift. It's quite a machine and unlike last year's towable lift, this one is self driven by a keen 3-cylinder Kubota gas engine. The morning's gas-up proved this engine operates very efficiently on fuel. One change I made after banging my elbow on the hard plastic console while starting the chainsaw is to start the saw on the ground, then go up in the lift with the chainsaw idling.
    
  • Mary did a load of laundry. Increasing clouds forced her to dry several of the heavier socks inside.
  • Mary picked a more than average share of strawberries. Cooler weather makes them grow berries well. Strawberry crowns are throwing out an abundance of leaves.
  • Leaves on the ash trees are turning a reddish/bronze color...very pretty. The emerald ash borers haven't found us, yet. We hope they stay away.

In the lift, with safety fall vest and chainsaw helmet.

Sawing down a weeping willow tree limb.

• Wednesday, 10/6: Rainy & Inside
  
  • Rain predictions kept us from running the lift. I did use the extension ladder to get on the north roof, which is gently sloping, and cut down branches I could reach with the small chainsaw. I hauled them to our ever-growing piles of limbs.
  • Mary made 2 pizzas. We ate one for our midday meal and one for supper.
  • I went online to the JLG lift website and found the operation manual for this lift, since the manual with the lift is mainly unreadable, due to moisture damage. The key pages detailed how the lift can tip over. Wording was obscure on the paper manual with the lift. I now have a better understanding of what not to do.
    
  • A solid rain went through around 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
  • We checked 2 of the 212 Bartlett pears we have stored for ripening. I cut them in quarters and we ate them. They're juicy, tasty and ready. In checking my wine recipe, I realized I need to get lemons. I'll do it in the morning, because we need to make pear wine, pronto. Jack Keller's book indicates the pear skins can stay on. That will make pear wine making much easier. Rain is predicted tomorrow, so it will be a great day for making pear wine.
    
    
• Thursday, 10/7: Pear Winemaking
  
  • Mary cored and cubed 100 Bartlett pears (more like 130, because 2 small pears we counted as one pear) and 12 Kieffer pears while I drove to Quincy and bought lemons, plus a few groceries at Sam's Club and Aldi. It was shopping day for Quincyites, because both stores were full of people.
  • When I got home, Mary was still working on pears. She ended up filling 3 very large stainless steel bowls with cubed pears in a ReaLemon/water solution to keep them from browning. Keeping skins on the pears made this job easier.
    
  • Once she finished, I chopped 3 pounds of golden raisins, squeezed juice from 13 lemons, and crunched 5 Campden tablets in the mortar and pestle. I then added a handful of raisins to each 5 handfuls of pear cubes into the nylon mesh bag, smashed the pear pieces down with my fists, added another 2 layers, and kept going until all raisins and pears were in the tube-shaped bag. This method is better than using a potato masher, because I gained over 2 gallons of pear juice. Next, I added lemon juice, Campden tablet powder, 2 tablespoons each of acid blend and yeast nutrient, 2 gallons, 1.5 quarts of water, and 7.5 pounds of sugar. Last year, I used 5.5 pounds of sugar. Last year's pears were super ripe. This year, they are just ripe, not nearly rotten ripe, so the pear must required 2 more pounds of sugar. The specific gravity was 1.079 and the pH was at 3.5...just perfect. I wanted to get to 6.5-gallons of liquid, but I ended at 5.5 gallons. With the full nylon mesh bag in the brew bucket, the level goes above 8 gallons and there's no room left for more liquid. I told Mary I need a bigger brew bucket and she responded that I can barely move this bucket when it's full. She's right.
    
  • Mary fixed up nachos and we watched the Corpse Bride movie while enjoying a bottle of 2020 pear wine.
  • We got just a few drops of rain, while east of us, thunderstorm clouds developed and rain fell on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.
    
    
• Friday, 10/8: Winemaking, Tree Removal, and Garden Harvest
  
  • Winemaking got late yesterday, so the first order of activities today, after eating strawberry waffles, was cleanup. 
  • I added pectic enzyme to the pear wine must and got a package of Red Star Côte des Blancs going as a starter batch. Prior to going to bed, I pitched the yeast into the pear wine brew bucket. The specific gravity was at 1.082, which is just right for about 12% alcohol.
  • Mary picked 29 acorn squash, 4 more Diablo pumpkins, 2 New England long pie pumpkins, plus a surprise muskmelon from the garden. We ate the muskmelon as dessert for supper. She also cleaned out the rest of the hazelnuts.
  • I took out the lower branches near the house on the weeping willow tree. Fortunately, heavy branches hinged down while I was cutting with the chainsaw and fell straight down, but away from the house roof. I got the big chainsaw out and cut up larger branches after they dropped to the ground. It really cuts up wood in a hurry, compared to the small chainsaw. But, the small saw is perfect for trimming branches, or taking up in the lift.
  • Mary reports that it's time for us to eat winter greens once a week in order to thin them out.
    
    
• Saturday, 10/9: Bill is Traveling
  
  • Bill called. He's going to Greer, S.C. between Oct. 17-21 to train workers at that location on the company's inventory software. His friends, Mike and Erin, are moving soon and he will help them move.
  • A check in the morning of the pear wine showed a healthy yeast fizz and the specific gravity of 1.080.
  • Mary processed and froze 11 quarts of Jonathan apples. With 11 quarts in the freezer from last year, we have 22 quarts, total.
  • I switched chains on the small chainsaw and cleaned out the exhaust screen.
  • I removed more branches from the weeping willow tree. Several branches have carpenter ant holes in them. Others are dead. These are reasons why this tree has to go. A strong wind against weak branches could result in house damage. Our branch piles are getting larger. The view out of the upstairs north bedroom window once was just tree branches, but now we can see from the chicken coop to the parked cars.
  • We ate jelly on biscuits, popcorn, and pears while watching the second Harry Potter movie.