Dec. 25-31, 2022

Weather | 12/25, -1°, 21° | 12/26, 1/2" snow, 0.02" moisture, 21°, 23° in early A.M. | 12/27, 0°, 29° | 12/28, 30°, 52° | 12/29, 45°, 64° | 12/30, 33°, 39° | 12/31, 23°, 45° |

• Sunday, 12/25: Christmas
  
  • Temperatures were finally warmer and by late afternoon, the wind was calm for the first time in several days.
    
  • I made waffles for breakfast.
  • Mary, Bill and I opened Christmas presents.
  • I called mom. We talked for an hour. Hank was going to drive her up to Glasgow, MT, but an unexpected pipe leak in an apartment neighboring his bedroom meant a fan was on 24/7 to air out the wall in his spare bedroom, requiring him to stay home. Mom had Christmas dinner with her former boss, Patti Schipman. Drifts were forming on the road while going to the Schipmans, so after dinner, Patti ran Mom back to Circle in order to avoid driving through deep drifts.
    
  • We called Katie. She hosted a Christmastime ham dinner and games that went well into morning hours. Today, she went hiking with a friend at Hatcher Pass and then Eklutna Lake. She used her new snowshoes and liked them, a lot. Her roommate had several toys as Christmas presents for Katie's dogs and cats. She thinks her procedure in Seattle relieved the itchiness of her burn scares. HERE is an article describing her laser procedure. 
  • We watched the 2022 movie, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. It's a good movie and very original.
    
    
• Monday, 12/26: A Quiet Winter Day
  
  • While walking dogs on their morning outing, tiny, wet snow pellets fell. Soon after, big snowflakes drifted down. We maybe got a half-inch of snow.
  • Mary fixed a breakfast of omelets stuffed with veggies.
    
  • After we ate BBQ pork loin, potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob, Bill left for his apartment in St. Charles.
  • We really didn't do much for the rest of the day, other than read.
  • On the last dog walk, coyotes howled to the west and northeast. Their howls echoed off the woods.
    
    
• Tuesday, 12/27: Apple Trees Ordered
  
  • Even though we had a cold start this morning, temperatures are predicted to warm up for the next several days.
  • As the result of warmer temps outside, I vacuumed Asian lady bugs and flies from all windows, twice.
  • We took down the Christmas tree. It ate up a chunk of time. All hard decorations are dusted off with a broad brush, then packed away. Mary vacuums cross stitch decorations at a later date. The living room is back to normal...not as crowded.
    
  • I saw a bald eagle fly quickly from south to north over our property. Mary and I watched a red-tailed hawk circling and getting blown from south to north. We had a downy woodpecker follow us down the lane as we walked the dogs prior to sunset.
    
  • Mary and I did a bunch of online research on various apple trees. We decided we want new varieties that work well in all three categories of eating, cooking, and making hard cider. We want tart flavor, no summer apples, and long storage capability. I used up a Fedco gift certificate that Katie gave me for Christmas and ordered three apple trees. They are Calville Blanc d'Hiver, Goldrush, and Roxbury Russet apple trees. We also bought a Herbert blueberry plant.
  • During the apple tree investigation, we discovered that two of our apple trees, Esopus Spitzenburg and Grimes Golden, have poor disease resistance qualities. I was going to get new trees of these two varieties, but decided against it. Esopus is especially susceptible to almost every apple disease.
    
    
• Wednesday, 12/28: Seven Swans a Flying
  
  • Outdoor temperatures are much warmer today. Most all of the snow is almost melted.
  • Mary and I both vacuumed Asian ladybugs and flies out of windows.
  • One of the three Christmas gifts that we ordered through Amazon for our son showed up today. Two more are outstanding. Nov. 27th wasn't early enough to order from Amazon and have the item arrive by Christmas, probably because we aren't Amazon Prime customers. I'm not paying $14.99 a month just to have something arrive quickly. Instead, I'm going out of my way to shop anywhere but with Amazon in the future.
  • I opened both ends of the plastic covering the winter greens. Several days of below zero temperatures pretty much wiped out the greenery. Time will tell if anything recovers.
    
  • I split 2 wheelbarrow loads of firewood. One load went into the house and the other was stacked to dry. Most of this wood is honey locust. I continue to find thorns buried inside of the wood, which is revealed after splitting the firewood (see photo, below).
    
  • I saw seven swans a flyin', not swimming. They have a very distinctive call and they're so big and beautiful. Mary read that more swans are migrating through our area.
    
  • We watched the first two episodes of the 2013 documentary, The Roosevelts, that Bill gave to his mother. It's quite good. These first sessions mainly cover Teddy Roosevelt.
    
  • Mary went through past garden seeds and figured out seeds that we need to buy for the 2023 growing season.

  

  A honey locust thorn in split firewood.

• Thursday, 12/29: 32nd Anniversary
  
  • As of today, Mary and I have been married for 32 years. At 64° for a high, it was 93° warmer here in Missouri than the high of -29° in Red Lake Falls, MN, when we were married 32 years ago. Plus, I live in a state I swore I would never live in when we married. Marriage changes you. You learn to adjust and enjoy the positive aspects of where you are at that moment. I used to love the cold and snow. Now I like the warmth and sun. It's all good in its own way.
  • I discovered that the Missouri Department of Conservation is holding fly tying classes, so I signed up for one in Kirksville, MO, that is on Jan. 14th.
  • I looked into buying 2 apple rootstocks in order to graft a couple of Grimes Golden apple branches and restart that variety. We have never seen fruit off that tree, because it has a dwarf rootstock under it that hates clay soil. Our soil is mainly clay. Rootstocks cost $4-$5, each, but they require special shipping that runs $20-$30. I want Antonovka, a hardy apple rootstock originating from Russia that develops into a standard 25- to 35-foot tree, which is adaptable to any soil type. I found 20 seeds on Ebay for $3.25 and bought them. I'll grow my own rootstocks and graft once they're ready.
    
  • I scrubbed up two coolers that we once purchased from the Salvation Army in Quincy and have since sat in the machine shed collecting dust. They work great for storing bottles of wine.
    
  • Mary repotted and started the two amaryllis bulbs. They're both quite healthy.
    
  • We vacuumed bugs over and over and over, again. Mary and I each performed 3 rounds of bug-sucking sessions. Warmth outside gave flies and Asian beetles marching orders to invade our house. It was warm enough to open windows and let fresh air inside.
    
  • The remainder of Christmas presents from Amazon arrived today. Due to its speed in shipping items, I have a new name for Amazon. It's Tortoise. Mary's name is Slow-A-Zon.
    
  • Mary saw a big flight of mallard ducks fly over our house, twice. I missed them, with my head down while scrubbing a cooler.
  • We enjoyed a bottle of 2021 pear wine (see photo, below). It's really good, with a strong, tart, pear flavor. You just can't buy wine that tastes this good.
  • We also watched two Downton Abbey episodes. It's winter and we're back hooked on that soap opera.

  

  Homemade pear wine to celebrate 32 years of marriage.

• Friday, 12/30: Changing Oil & Lots of Waterfowl
  
  • The wind was calm, which is the first time we've experienced no wind in many days.
    
  • Since it was calm, I changed oil and the oil filter in the pickup's engine. Wind blasts dripping engine oil all over the place. As it was, I miscalculated where the oil would hit and the moment I removed the oil drain plug, a big black glob of oil shot into my arm, soaking the cuffs of a flannel shirt, coveralls, and an ancient and tattered Carhartt coat. While topping fluids, I discovered a leaking windshield washing fluid tank, or a leaking hose coming from it. The battery and battery tray blocks my view. I need to fix it in the future.
    
  • We heard a pileated woodpecker calling in morning. I heard a mallard in the evening. We saw our group of 7 swans, then a larger group of about 20 swans. We also saw several geese. All of the waterfowl seem to eat grain spilled in fields to the east, then fly west to settle in ponds. This has become their wintering grounds, at least for now.
    
  • We watched 2 episodes of The Roosevelts. I never realized Teddy Roosevelt was only 60 when he died. When you're a teenager studying U.S. history in high school, 60 seems old. Now, it involves someone younger than I am, today. Another interesting piece is that both Theodore and Franklin followed the same path to the presidency, which was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, New York Governor, candidate for U.S. Vice President (Teddy became vice president, but FDR didn't), then the U.S. Presidency.
    
    
• Saturday, 12/31: New Year's Eve
  • I labeled and put away the 33 bottles of jalapeño wine.
  • Mary worked on cross stitch projects.
  • We're experiencing a trumpeter swan invasion. In the evening, Mary and I stood in the front yard and watched V after V of swans flying just over the treetops and go right over our heads while heading west. They spent the day in the fields east of us and flew west at dusk. They were so low, we could hear the wind in their feathers. We guessed their speed was 20 mph. Their call is very unique. HERE is a sample. Mary read that they are the largest waterfowl in North America. It's a treat to see so many in just a few minutes and they were so close...quite a show.
  • Mary and I enjoyed an indoor wienie roast, cooking hotdogs over the fire in the woodstove.
    
  • We tried a small glass of 2020 dandelion wine. It's not very good, with too strong of an alcoholic taste that hasn't mellowed out with aging. My newer dandelion wines are better. We opened a bottle of 2021 blackberry wine, which was vastly tastier.
  • We ended the year and started the new year by watching 5 episodes of Downton Abbey.