May 14-20, 2023

Weather | 5/14, 0.22" rain, 67°, 84° | 5/15, 0.15" rain, 55°, 66° | 5/16, 0.09" rain, 54°, 73° | 5/17, 51°, 77° | 5/18, 50°, 81° | 5/19, 3 drops rain, 60°, 66° | 5/20, 43°, 71° |

• Sunday, 5/14: Planting Seeds & Phone Calls
  
  • We woke to thick fog, which made all outside surfaces very wet. Rain started falling around 2 p.m. The recent moisture means watering the garden isn't necessary. It's slowly washing kaolin clay off my apple trees.
    
  • Mary weeded the lettuce in the near garden.
    
  • I planted radish and lettuce seeds in the last two tubs.
    
  • Mary and I both pulled radishes. I pulled them from the first tub I planted and Mary pulled some from the near garden. Together, we trimmed and cleaned them.
  • Bill made three pizzas. We ate two and put the last one in the fridge.
    
  • I was interviewed by Jeff Olsen for a future article in the Roseau Times-Region, where I was an editor between 1992-96.
    
  • I called mom for Mother's Day. She's visiting Hank in Glasgow, MT. It's sunny today, after several days of over an inch of rain.
    
  • Katie called her mother. She's in Anchorage for the summer. Recently, she went through a second laser treatment in Seattle for her burns. She hopes this is the final treatment.
    
  • Bill gave Mary her birthday presents from him, early, since he won't be here on May 27th. He gave Mary a paring knife and DVD of season one of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We watched three episodes. I slept through the last two.
    
    
• Monday, 5/15: Old Fart Visits Town for Meds
  
  • Rain has fallen for five consecutive days. We don't get a lot of rain, but it means we aren't watering the garden, which is nice.
  • I drove to Quincy and picked up medications, one of which ran out today. I also got a couple grocery items, including dog and hen food.
    
  • Mary made minestrone soup, which tasted good.
    
  • Mary picked scapes off the garlic, an activity that started yesterday. Scapes are developing quickly.
    
  • In the evening, Bill and I watched the end of Game 7 of the Seattle Kraken/Los Vegas Knights NHL playoffs. Vegas won and advanced. We then set up our smart TV to download and play PBS and YouTube content. Bill connected to a 4K video of underwater coral reef sea life and we marveled at the clear images. Then, Bill pulled up the 1980 U.S./Soviet Olympic hockey game, and we watched a 43-year old event...the whole game. It was interesting, fun, and we were very late at getting to bed!
    
  • We saw lightning bugs for the first time this year in the late night super moist air.
    
    
• Tuesday, 5/16: Pumpkin Wine
  
  • Bill and I started a 6.5-gallon batch of pumpkin wine. We thawed 35 packages of pumpkin meat, weighing 33 pounds. Bill chopped up four pounds of raisins. We placed the pumpkin meat, raisins, and 24 cinnamon sticks in two nylon mesh bags. Each bag went into separate brew buckets. Five gallons, one cup of water was split between the the two buckets, as was 12 pounds of sugar, to bring the liquid level up to 3.25 gallons in each bucket. The specific gravity was 1.090 and the pH was 3.5 in both brew buckets. Other ingredients split between the two buckets included six tablespoons of acid blend, 6.5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient, and 1.1 grams of Kmeta.
    
  • Mary mowed the north and west yards.
  • Katie is recovering from Lasik eye surgery that she went through this morning. Not wearing glasses or contacts during her construction work will be a big plus. 
    
  • A great-crested flycatcher came home for the summer. Mary watched a robin use the mulberry bush as a bird bath, because it was very misty in the morning and everything was extremely wet.
    
    
• Wednesday, 5/17: Wine, Mowing, & Cleaning AC
  
  • I split 3.25 teaspoons of pectic enzyme between the two brew buckets of pumpkin wine, then activated two batches of Lalvin D-47 wine yeast. I added must from the brew buckets to each yeast culture throughout the day and pitched them just before midnight. The specific gravity of the tall bucket was still at 1.090 prior to pitching the yeast. The wide bucket's specific gravity was 1.094. It must have sweeter pumpkin meat.
  • Mary received a birthday gift from Katie via UPS. It is a nice gardening stool with padding and storage bags.
    
  • I cleaned our large air conditioner, after taking it apart. A large amount of dried bug guts poured out of it.
  • Mary raked yesterday's mowed grass while I sharpened the mower's blade. Bill finished raking.
    
  • Mary mowed the south half of the far garden and put the grass mulch on rows in that garden.
    
  • Bill mowed the north yard.
  • Mary heard a summer tanager, the first for the season.
  • We watched a DVD that Bill brought with him, the 2019 movie, Plus One.
  • On our last dog walk, a deer snorted east of us, a coyote howled to the west, and then a dog from across the lane barked loudly, then howled. It was a loud night.
    
    
• Thursday, 5/18: Mowing, Another AC & Outdoor Roast
  
  • Mary mowed the east and south yards while putting grass mulch into the far garden. Bill helped by hauling mulch in wheelbarrows and placing the grass into the garden.
  • Bill changed oil on his car.
    
  • I whacked down tall grass on a narrow path to the outside of the west living room window, then cleaned up grass with the trimmer around the three new apple trees west of the house, around cherry trees, on the paths between trees, and around the Liberty and Porter's Perfection apple trees.
    
  • I washed the outside of living room windows, then installed the large air conditioner into the west living room window. I then used packing tape to seal up cracks around the AC. After turning it on, we noticed better air on the first floor of the house. We've experienced a slight bit of smoky air outside during the past two days, due to forest fires in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
    
  • We enjoyed an outdoor pork loin roast until midnight. Mary made several deviled eggs that we also ate. Mary and Bill drank several beers that Bill brought with him. I had a little more than a bottle of homemade apple cider. We saw a night hawk, several bats and lightning bugs. Coyotes howled and resulted dogs barked at them. Otherwise, it was a quiet, nice night filled with conversation and stars.
    
    
• Friday, 5/19: Michigan Rummy
  
  • We experienced a cloudy day, with threatening rain that only amounted to a couple raindrops every few hours.
    
  • I cut and installed vinyl siding, flexible foam board, and aluminum tape to close off light and bug access around the living room air conditioner.
  • The pumpkin wine's yeast is fermenting very quickly, creating a loud fizz. The specific gravity at noon was 1.050 in the tall brew bucket and 1.044 in the wide bucket. By 8 p.m., it was 1.030 in the tall bucket and 1.025 in the wide bucket. It will need racking tomorrow.
    
  • Bill, Mary and I played Michigan Rummy for five hours. Mary won. Bill took second and I was in last place. Partway through, we enjoyed bowls of popcorn. It was fun.
    
    
• Saturday, 5/20: Racking Pumpkin Wine & Fishing
  
  • Bill and I racked the pumpkin wine into two 5-gallon carboys after I squeezed the nylon mesh bags, gaining about nine gallons of must. Both carboys have less than a gallon of headroom left. The specific gravity in both brew buckets was 1.000 and the pH remains at 3.5. There is an orange oil slick around the edges of the carboys. We think it's from the cinnamon sticks.
    
  • Mary, Bill and I went fishing for bass in Bass Pond. We took home nine fish and threw four back. Bill was the master fisherman. He caught fish on every lure he tried. Sizes included two at 9", three at 10.5", one at 10.75", four at 11", one at 12", one at 12.5" and one that was 14.5". I filleted them, then Mary fried them up. The meal included garlic toast and a spinach and radish salad. YUM!
    
  • Blackberry blossoms are thick, everywhere. We have a ton of black raspberries growing, too. A good rain will help both of these berries.
    
  • We watched the 2000 movie, Finding Forrester, which Bill picked out.
    
  • Marjorie texted this morning (5/21) that my Uncle John, her father, died today in MI. He was 96.