March 3-9, 2025

Weather | 3/3, p. cloudy, 35°, 63° | 3/4, 0.80" rain, 43°, 53° | 3/5, 1/2" snow, 0.15" moisture, 29°, 31° | 3/6, p. cloudy, 21°, 45° | 3/7, sunny to cloudy, 34°, 60° | 3/8, sunny, 23°, xx° | 3/9, xx°, xx° |

• Monday, 3/3: Four Tied Flies
  • When we walked Plato this morning, we heard footsteps near Bluegill Pond. Then, Mary saw the tail of a deer as it headed to the west forest.
  • We heard and saw snow geese, off and on, throughout the day, but not as many as in past days.
  • I raked leaves in the north yard and put four wheelbarrow loads of leaves on the active compost pile. I also fluffed up the grass covering the strawberry plants.
  • I attended the second Webex fly tying class put on by the Missouri Department of Conservation. We tied a Glo Bug, a San Juan Worm, a Foam Beetle, and a Crappie Jig (see photos, below). The Glo Bug is supposed to resemble a salmon egg. It sinks and is floated over rocky stream beds to attract trout. The San Juan Worm also sinks, resembling a small earthworm. The Foam Beetle is easier to make than it looks. It floats on the surface. Giving it an occasional bump with the tip of a fly pole makes it look like a struggling bug on the water's surface that attracts bluegills, crappie, and bass. The crappie jig is fished on the bottom.
  • After making the crappie jig, I realized that the marabou used for the tail is exactly like the downy lower part of a chicken feather. I have lots of free marabou in the chicken coop. I just need to figure out how to dye chicken feathers if I want a color other than white.
  • I ordered more fly tying stuff, including a better pair of hackle pliers (these are non-skid), chartreuse and black crazy legs (used to make the foam beetle legs), and black, brown, yellow and red 3mm thick fly foam (for making the foam beetle body).
    

A Glo Bug fly resembles a salmon egg.

The San Juan worm looks like an earthworm.

The Foam Beetle fly.

A Crappy (the fish, not excrement) Jig.

• Tuesday, 3/4: First Big Rain/Thundershowers
  • We experienced our first thundershowers of the year, giving us a nice amount of rain. It was also the first major rain of the year.
  • Mary cut Aida cloth for future cross stitch ornaments and dyed four pieces with tea, leaving them with a rosy brown color.
  • I practiced using the fly tying whip finish tool. It took a long time for me to get that technique down correctly. I also divided up four strands of bright red fly tying thread into one strand and put it on a thread spool that Mary gave me.
  • I researched how some companies, especially in Texas, chemically inject solutions into clay soils to alter their ion/cation relationship so that they don't swell during wet times, or shrink during dry periods. One company uses a mild sulfuric acid solution. Often, agricultural lime is used to alter the expansive and shrinking properties of clay soil..
  • I did a bunch of online research at night on various impact socket sets.

• Wednesday, 3/5: Snow & High Wind Gusts
  • A little snow storm hit us, mainly in the morning. It only dropped about a half-inch of snow. Northwest winds gusted to 57 mph, really rocking all trees. All area schools were closed today.
  • Right after sitting down to breakfast, the guys who are cleaning brush and trees away from the electric co-op's right of ways drove up in front of the house looking for the owner of a stray dog that they found. Mary directed them to the neighbors in the house southeast of us. The neighbors always let their dogs run free. The tree cutters showed up pulling a large equipment trailer, which they then backed down our driveway. When I walked the lane later in the day I noticed by the tire tracks that the driver backing that trailer did a very good job at keeping to the main paths of the lane.
  • A package of a DVD that Katie ordered a couple days ago showed up in the early afternoon, so I went down to pick it up. UPS delivered it to our neighbor's trailer across the gravel road from us and when I started looking for it, Alma jumped outside, hollered at me, while waving the UPS package in her hand. I ran across the road and got it from her. As I was in the neighbors' front yard, about a thousand snow geese flew overhead, struggling in the fierce wind. They all saw water to the southwest of them and swooped down to that location over the treetops. It was quite a sight to see.
  • Fifty pounds of oatmeal showed up that we recently ordered. The FedEx driver roared in with his dual-wheeled panel truck, putting more wear and tear on our soggy driveway.
  • Mary and I watched the four episodes of the BBC 2004 TV miniseries, North & South. Katie saw it recently and asked Mary if we've seen it, then ordered up the DVD to sent to us, which arrived today. While the final credits were running, Katie texted to ask us if we liked it. She had remarkable timing!

• Thursday, 3/6: Geese, Eggs & Birds
  • This morning, we saw a flight of snow geese that recently lifted off and were heading west over our house. All of a sudden, the leading geese veered back to the east. Then, we saw two bald eagles flying south to north right under the flock of geese. One was a mature bald eagle and the other was an immature bald eagle. All birds then went on their way.
  • We heard lots of snow geese southwest of us on the ground, both in the morning and in the evening.
  • I drove to Quincy to pick up a couple items and print off some paperwork.
  • We're now getting about four eggs a day from our hens. Mary looked up that the average price of eggs nationwide as of March 5th is $7-$9 a dozen. Our last bag of feed was $12, on sale, which lasts about a couple weeks. Two weeks of our eggs at four eggs per day at the nationwide average prices would be $32 to $42. So, our eggs are really cheap, in comparison.
  • I listened to a Missouri Department of Conservation webinar about birds in Missouri. The biggest point I got out of it was that we live in a great place to see all birds, even ones that she said you're really lucky to see, right here on our property.
  • Mary heard the first eastern meadowlark of the season, today.
  • I looked at insulation ideas for post frame houses online in the evening.

• Friday, 3/7: Pickup Is Immobile Until Fixed
  • I did a bunch of paperwork related to money...checkbook related.
  • I drove the pickup to Lewistown and got gas. From the stop light at Lewistown to just a few feet up our lane, the pickup's right rear brake made a horrible noise. To play it safe, I let the momentum of the vehicle slow down as I rolled up the hill on our lane, then carefully alternated between drive and neutral of the automatic transmission, so I didn't need to use the brakes. Later, when I walked down the lane to get the mail, I found a worn chunk of rusty metal and a worn out brake pad laying on the ground near where the noise quit on the pickup as it rolled up our lane. Obviously, we won't be driving the vehicle until I replace the rear brakes, because they're shot.
  • Mary removed grass mulch on emerging garlic plants in the far garden. She noticed earthworms in that mulch. When Mary started, the temperature was 58°. An hour later, the temperature 50°, after the wind switched from the southeast to due north. Her hands were blue. The temperature dropped throughout the rest of the day.
  • Mary heard a chorus frog when she was outside uncovering the garlic. We heard one spring peeper frog as we walked Plato at night.
  • We saw a barred owl beyond the southwest corner of the house. It was there for a couple hours. At dusk, the owl moved closer to the house, perching on a branch of a cherry tree nearest to the house.