Feb. 13-19, 2022

Weather | 2/13, 14°, 23° | 2/14, 14°, 46° | 2/15, 20°, 49° | 2/16, 45°, 58° | 2/17, rain, 5" snow, 1.10" moisture, 9°, 20° | 2/18, 1°, 34° | 2/19, 11°, 39° |

• Sunday, 2/13: Firewood Move
  
  • Mary made French toast for our midday meal. She also did some cross stitching.
    
  • A north wind blew all day. I was going to cut more firewood, but didn't feel like going out with temps in the teens and a north wind blasting through the timber. Instead, I moved firewood that was drying in the machine shed to the woodshed.
  • We spotted a red-tailed hawk land on the electric line to the house, that was swinging back and forth, balancing on the line. He flew low over the south field into the edge of the west timber to dodge out of the way of the wind.
    
  • We watched the last 2 episodes of Downton Abbey's 2nd year, plus the extras.
  • In past years, Super Bowl Sunday brought out coyote hunters who sat in pickups on the gravel road and aimed their tracking devices out the window to follow their hounds. That wasn't the case today. Oh, by the way, the Rams beat the Bengals, 23-20, this year. Our Super Bowl participation was me looking up the score before going to bed. It takes up less time, that way.
    
    
• Monday, 2/14: Valentine's Day
  • Mary made a zucchini chocolate cake for Valentine's Day. It tasted wonderful.
    
  • She also vacuumed Christmas cross stitch ornaments and put them away. Mary did some cross stitching, too.
  • We have acres and acres of sericea lespedeza that at this time of the year, stands as 3- to 4-foot stalks. We got out Mary's scythe, sharpened it, and tried to cut some lespedeza. It's blade is too thin for effectively cutting through the woody, quarter to 3/8-inch thick stalks. I tried the small chain saw and used a tank full of gas in the saw to knock down an area east of the far east garden. It's not really the right tool. I'll try the Stihl trimmer with the saw blade, next. There's a great deal of shattering bits and dust from cutting the lespedeza stalks and mixed with chainsaw oil, creates quite a mess on the chainsaw surface that I discovered once I cleaned it.
    
  • Mary made a big dinner of pork loin, sweet potatoes, and green beans. 
  • Mary also did a large load of laundry.
  • Katie texted an image of a creation of northern lights that she made using felt (see photo, below). It will be future artwork for the wall of her apartment.
  • Mary ordered 2 books with Christmas money sent from Mom. One is a Guide to Historic Artists' Homes & Studios and the other is Mornings on Horseback, about Teddy Roosevelt, written by David McCullough.

  

  Katie's northern lights felt artwork.
  

• Tuesday, 2/15: Prescribed Burn Instruction
  
  • One of the several steps in eradicating lespedeza is with prescribed burning. It makes more seeds germinate and results in a more thorough herbicide kill. The Missouri Department of Conservation holds several prescribed burn workshops throughout the state. The closest one is in Unionville, which is about 100 miles west. It's held on Feb. 26th. I signed up for it and was sent an access code to an online course needed prior to the field event in Unionville. 
  • I added 2 more clamps to hold down the pickup topper, so that each side has 4 clamps.
  • We watched 3 episodes of Downton Abbey's third season.
  • Mary packed the clothesline with several loads of laundry. She also made a chicken pot pie for our midday meal and vacuumed another army of flies and bugs.
    
    
• Wednesday, 2/16: Bread & Driver's License
  
  • Mary baked 4 loaves of bread. We ate the last batch quickly.
    
  • I drove to Monticello, our county seat, and renewed my driver's license. It expires on my birthday and a strong snow storm is expected to arrive tomorrow. I didn't get the kind required to fly on an airplane, since you need to bring a certified birth certificate and a bunch of other items in order to get one. I look like an escapee from the state penitentiary in the photo on my new driver's license.
  • I drove from Monticello, east to Canton, MO, to buy a couple things at the County Market store and to fill the pickup with gas. The price of gas is $3.19 per gallon.
  • On the way back home, I took a different route, on Highway BB, that runs from Monticello to Ewing. This very nicely paved road is in great shape and covers some pleasant country in our county. Most of the county is relatively barren of trees. We're lucky to own so much timber.
  • Mary heard a mallard duck, but didn't see it.
  • Rain started falling as we finished evening chores. We heard rain hitting windows through the evening and when we walked dogs for the last time, the ground was wet and mushy. Expected dropping temperatures might give us freezing rain, overnight.r Super Bowl participation was me looking up the score before going to bed. It takes up less time, that way.
    
    
• Thursday, 2/17: Another Snow Dumping
  
  • When we got up around 7 a.m., a fine coat of ice covered everything. An hour later, snow started falling. Then, it really came down with a strong NW wind that produced very low visibility. Around 1 p.m., snow stopped. We received about 5 inches of snow, although in some areas it's drifted to deeper snow levels. The northerly wind must have blown the gravel road shut. We didn't get any mail and there were no tire tracks on the gravel road when I checked the mail around 5 p.m. The snow-clogged road might prevent Bill from arriving on Saturday, as planned. It's interesting that since Jan. 1st, we've seen 3 snows. Each time the snow is mostly melted, we get another snow that covers the ground with more white.
  • Stretches of area highways were closed, due to windblown drifts and accidents. Highway 61, from Palmyra to Hannibal, was closed. A semi was stuck on the hill in Quincy after going over the Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River, thereby backing up traffic for about 3 miles into Missouri. There was a 100-car pile up south of Normal, IL, which about 188 miles east of us. It was a great day for staying home and watching the snow go by while nestled near the warm woodstove.
    
  • There's a $25 fee for taking the online prescribed burn course. Gas in the pickup to drive 200 miles, roundtrip, to attend the field event will be nearly $40. It's just a little too costly for us right now, so I canceled taking the Missouri Dept. of Conservation prescribed burn course.
  • I ordered chicks for this year. The order to Cackle Hatchery is for 3 barred rock pullet chicks and 25 cockerels in what they call the Fry Pan Special. The shipment will be on Monday, June 13th. Based on past years, they should be at the Ewing post office the morning of Wednesday, June 15th.
  • While walking down to the mailbox, I first heard, then saw, two trumpeter swans fly east to west. They have an extremely unique honk as they fly. It resembles the ah-ooga sound of a Model T horn.
  • Mary saw 3 mallard ducks while doing morning chores, before the snow fell.
    
  • Mary made a batch of flour tortillas.
  • We watched 2 episodes of Downton Abbey's 3rd season.
    
    
• Friday, 2/18: Plan to Fix Boat Seats
  
  • I made waffles for breakfast.
    
  • Mary cleaned the house.
  • We both walked to the end of our quarter-mile lane and shoveled snow to make it easier for the postman.
  • After reviewing options, I decided to take Christmas and birthday money and buy plywood and paint to redo the wooden seats in the 16-foot Lund boat. I repainted them when we lived in Circle, MT, but the wood is shot, now, and needs replacing.
  • I got Mom's birthday card in today's mail.
    
  • Mary saw 8 pelicans flying over the north woods, going east to west. She saw them while doing our evening chores.
  • I drove the pickup down our lane, picked up the mail and drove it back home, then drove east to where the gravel road meets the asphalt at State Highway J. A road grader went through and knocked back drifting snow, so it's relatively clear.
  • I texted Bill, suggesting that when he gets to Ewing, tomorrow, on his way here, he texts me, so I can meet him at the intersection of the gravel road and J road and lead interference with the pickup through any drifting snow on the gravel road. He responded that he thought he'd be there around noon.
    
  • We watched 2 episodes of Downton Abbey's third season.
    
    
• Saturday, 2/19: Bill Arrives & Turkey Dinner
  
  • Bill called a little after 12 p.m., while going through Ewing. I smashed down snow where he can park behind the Buick and the Suburban, then drove to the end of the gravel road. A small drift of snow crossed the road near there, so I drove over it about 4 times, tramping it down so Bill didn't get high centered in his Hyundai Sonata. It worked.
  • Bill is tired. Employees are leaving his place of work. His department, which was him and 4 other employees is down to him and 1 employee. Their starting wage is low, so employees leave like flies. He puts in 10-hour days and gets tired. After talking a bit, he took a nap.
    
  • Mary made a turkey dinner. It was great, as usual. Mary and Bill had most of a 2020 bottle of pear wine. I only had a little bit. I've been having stomach issues for the past week, so I'm laying off of wine and coffee. Mary said that the pear wine is so mellow, all you taste is the pear. She adds that it's really great wine. Bill says it's fruity and pairs well with any food...ha, ha. He adds that it's very good.
    
  • One of my amaryllis plants is blooming (see photos, below). The stalk is 26" high.
    
  • We watched 2 movies that Bill picked out. The first was the 1999 movie, October Sky. The 2nd movie was Men in Black 3.

One of the amaryllis blossoms.

Two more Red Pearl Amaryllis blossoms.