March 18-24, 2024

Weather | 3/18, p. cloudy, 19°, 36° | 3/19, sunny, 26°, 60° | 3/20, p. cloudy, 25°, 47° | 3/21, cloudy, 27°, 51° | 3/22, 0.01" rain, cloudy, 29°, 43° | 3/23, sunny to cloudy, 28°, 49° | 3/24, 0.03" rain overnight, cloudy, 35°, 55° |

• Monday, 3/18: Hard Freeze
  
  • On the dogs' early morning outing, we heard our first turkey gobble of the year to the northwest.
    
  • We checked a number of emerging flower and leaf buds on fruit trees after nighttime temperatures dipped below 20° for a hard freeze. We found that most were just fine. We only saw some wilted forsythia flowers and a couple leaves hit on the small Bartlett pear tree.
  • Inside, our friendly canines soaked up the woodstove heat (see photo, below).
    
  • We took the puppies on an east loop walk and a vulture kept flying low overhead, checking us out. They're always curious, like flying cats. Mary says that's a scary thought.
    
  • Today was another day of not doing much, since outside there was a strong northwest wind that made cool temperatures feel even colder.
  • We finished watching season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, including all of the extras.

  

  Amber (above) and Plato (below) behind the woodstove.

• Tuesday, 3/19: Departing Birds
  
  • Mary and I walked the dogs to Wood Duck Pond and back. Mary spotted a tiny frog near the pond's edge. She didn't bring binoculars and there were tiny birds flitting about, so when we got back home, she grabbed the binoculars and we walked back to the pond. Mary spotted a pair of purple finches and lots of juncos. They are all probably massing to start their migration north.
    
  • I checked all of the fruit trees. There are still lots of blossom buds that are near opening.
    
  • A strong west, southwest wind blew for the first half of the day, but subsided in the afternoon, allowing Mary to hang out a load of laundry. Laundry hung out in the morning might have resulted in a sock adorning the head of Leo, our rooster.
  • I mowed the lawn between the house and the lane, plus around all fruit trees south of the house. The new mower works like a charm.
    
  • I watched a couple of deer run to the west across the south field in the evening as I was finishing up chores.
    

• Wednesday, 3/20: Bud Grafting Decision
  
  • Mary saw a northern harrier hawk while walking dogs in the evening. Then, I saw one when I got the garbage can from the end of our lane.
    
  • Mary baked a black raspberry crisp and made a shopping list for tomorrow. Natural berries with lots of oatmeal keeps my blood glucose numbers low and is better than fast food. It's also cheaper.
    
  • I read about different types of grafting and decided to use the bud graft, since it's the most successful of all grafting techniques on apple trees. It's performed from mid summer to early autumn. So, I'll plant the three apple rootstocks in their permanent locations and do the grafting later. The good thing about bud grafting is that if it fails, a whip graft can be performed the following late winter to early spring on the same rootstock.
    
  • I packaged up more cardboard from the machine shed to leave at the recycling place in Quincy tomorrow. The only cardboard left is deformed and dirty with mouse nests, requiring burning.
    

• Thursday, 3/21: Shopping Trip
  
  • Mary and I went shopping in Quincy on what turned out to be a sunny day.
  • We're noticing that the Salvation Army store has mainly new stuff at discounted prices. For instance, we got 12 dish wash rags that are nice and thick for $1, each. We checked out the Goodwill store in Quincy and found more secondhand items. I found a Dixieland jazz and two Statler Brothers vinyl records. We bought a 1500-watt oil filled radiant electric heater for $25 and a Plano box that I plan to use to store tools for $5. We nicknamed the toolbox, "Stinky." It's new with original stickers on it. Obviously, someone stored catfish bait in it. When opened, a strong essence of barf erupts from within. It needs massive cleaning and airing.
    
  • After returning home and eating dinner, I didn't feel well. Something didn't sit well in my stomach and I ended up vomiting. I went to bed tired, but feeling a little better.
    

• Friday, 3/22: Quiet Day
  
  • I laid low, today. I made waffles for brunch.
    
  • Yesterday, we noticed that Sam's Club didn't have our favorite seasoning we use on popcorn, which is Kinder's Japanese BBQ rub. Today, I checked online and it's unavailable at every Sam's Club in St. Louis, but we can order it online, with a limit of 10 per Sam's Club member. WE HAVE TO HAVE IT!!!! So, I ordered 10 bottles. I noticed on the Kinder's website that they are repositioning supply sources, so orders are delayed until April 1. If we don't get the order, we'll just have to conjure up our own recipe for this flavor.
    
  • Right before darkness set in for the night, I spotted eight deer in our west yard. They got close enough that they two were munching on the lilac bush. I opened the window and they ran to behind the Kieffer pear tree. Then, I walked outside and they ran to the west. They all seemed like they were last year's fawns.
    
  • We watched two movies. The first one was the 1998 movie, Goodnight Mr. Tom. The second was the 1992 film, Sister Act.
    

• Saturday, 3/23: Electric Fence Construction
  
  • A strong northeast wind blew throughout the day.
  • Some pear blossoms are opening, especially on the small Bartlett pear tree. They won't get pollinated. No respectable bee is buzzing about in this weather.
    
  • Mary fixed a taco salad that we topped it off with kale that survived in the winter greens tubs. I only took one leaf from each plant.
    
  • I stepped off future electric fences I want to install around the south apple and cherry trees and around the Bartlett pear trees and blueberry bushes west of the chicken yard. Everything needs deer protection. I need eight wooden corner posts and 30 steel fence posts for the two fences.
  • I started finding metal posts left behind from other projects and located 24 of them...just six more to find. The wooden posts I'll need to dig up from existing fencelines that we're eliminating.
  • Mary finished reading Hiroshima: The Autobiography of Barefoot Gen, by Keiji Nakazawa, who as a six-year old, survived the atomic blast. Mary says it's a good book. She recently picked it up at the Salvation Army store in Quincy.
    

• Sunday, 3/24: Digging Up More Fence Posts
  
  • Mary felt ill and took a long nap in the afternoon.
  • I found three more metal fence posts along the east side of the north yard that once held out cattle in the east field. This fence is all overgrown by cedar trees. I wound up four strands of barbed wire and removed stiffeners between fence posts. Some of the wire is under dead rose bush branches. Between that and dodging stickery cedar boughs, this is a rough job. I now have 27 posts, needing only three more for my two electric fences around fruit trees.
  • Of the eight eggs collected today, one is huge (see photo, below).
  • Bill and I touched bases on when I should show up for the NHL game between the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers on April 1st.
  • While we're looking at green grass and white pear blossoms, Mom is looking out her window at snow and the prediction of subzero temperatures in Montana.

  

  Today's center egg is too big to fit in an egg carton.