April 21-27, 2025

Weather | 4/21, sunny, 1.23" rain, 45°, 66° | 4/22, sunny, 51°, 81° | 4/23, sunny, 53°, 79° | 4/24, sunny to .12" rain, 52°, 81° | 4/25, 0.04" rain, cloudy, 56°, 73° | 4/26, cloudy, 50°, 63° | 4/27, cloudy, 49°, 60° |

• Monday, 4/21: Misc. Outdoor Activities & Hockey
  • Overnight rain took out lots of fruit tree blossoms. Several garden seeds are sprouting. Lettuce, radishes, peas, and spinach are showing in the near garden. Also, peppers are sprouting in their Styrofoam cups.
  • Mary weeded around all of the garlic plants in the far garden and pulled a few weeds in the near garden. Garlic plants look nice and healthy.
  • I took white lace curtains off the strawberry plants. Out of 46 plants, there are only two that didn't make it through the winter, which is much better than in past years.
  • I cleaned up tall grass and rose bush branches that were near and partially covering the fencer unit.
  • The plastic snap that secures the waterproof cover on the outdoor electrical outlet broke a few days ago. I found a six inch long nail that had about one inch of the end bent over at an acute angle. It fits perfectly in a hole in the bottom corner of the cover and keeps it closed.
    
  • I tested lights at the trailer fitting on the bumper of the pickup. When I bought the trailer on April 7th, lights weren't working on the trailer. Since it was daylight, I zipped home without a problem. Everything worked fine today, both with a test light, and after I hooked up lights on the trailer. I don't know what was the problem two weeks ago. I measured and determined that I need 18 feet of wire loom to properly handle the wiring of the trailer lights. A grandson of the guy who I bought the trailer from strung up new light wiring under the trailer and the wires are just dangling from rough holes punched through angle iron with a gas torch. That will all wear out in a heartbeat. Also, he used indoor wire nuts to connect wiring. I need to restring the wiring, use wire butt connectors soldered together and covered with heat shrink in order to have trailer wiring that lasts more than a few days.
  • I watched two NHL playoff games. The Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 and the LA Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5. The Oilers were down, 4-0, and came back to tie the game at 5-5, then LA scored with 42 seconds left in the game. It was a nutty final period. It was also too much TV time, so I'm taking a break from it all, today (4/22).

• Tuesday, 4/22: Trailer Licensing
  • Mary and I walked Plato to Bass Pond. We saw several schools of fish in the pond. Some of the bass were nice eating size. After the walk, we pulled 20 ticks off Plato. Mary and I found a handful on us. 'Tis the season.
  • Our resident red-shouldered hawk was disturbed and squawking due to a stupid cropduster flying in and out of the airstrip at the dairy west of us all day. Of course it makes great sense to spray killing juice over everything on Earth Day. The silly jackass was even spraying after the sun set beyond the west horizon. Someday he will plant that airplane into the ground. We hope its not on our property. 
    
  • I ordered a large 500-gram package of Red Star Premier Côte Des Blanc wine yeast from Winemaker's Depot in Tumwater, WA. It's the yeast I use the most. I keep all wine yeast in the freezer, so it lasts indefinitely. This package gives me enough for 100 batches.
  • I drove to Monticello, our county seat, and got the trailer licensed, and a license plate for it. There always is a long wait anytime you get a vehicle license. This time, a Spanish-speaking young man who is a student at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO, was getting a driver's license. He needed several documents that he was downloading on his cell phone, which took quite a bit of time.
  • After I got home, I installed the plate on the trailer.
  • Mary mowed the north yard, or what she calls the mush pit, aka, the seventh circle of hell. It's rather soggy after two inches of rain.
  • More plants are showing in the spinach and pea areas of the near garden. Mary fertilized the strawberries with fish fertilizer after seeing signs of nitrogen deficiency.

• Wednesday, 4/23: Shopping
  • On our morning walk with Plato, we noticed that our resident catbird came home. It was picking a fight with a house sparrow in forsythia bush just outside our door. The catbird drove sparrow away. Two pairs of catbirds nest in that bush.
  • We went shopping in Quincy. In an initial stop to Cross Country Trailer Center, I bought a trailer coupler, a tongue jack, 19 feet of half-inch wire loom, and some wire clamps. I was tickled to find these items, locally, at reasonable prices.
  • We got a new comforter for a new dog bed for Plato and a Mills Brothers record at Salvation Army. 
  • I picked up fluorescent pink and purple nail polish, along with bright colored pompoms for fly tying purposes at Dollar Tree. Mary and I got into a giggle fit when I put those items and a package of Band-aids on the checkout counter (see photo, below). The combination looked funny, especially when plunked down on the counter by a guy.
  • We got receiver and coupler locks for the trailer at Lowes.
  • We met an elderly couple, Diane & Chet, at Sam's Club who with their dog, Harley, was one of my dog training recipients when I worked at Petco. They recently moved from an old multi-story house with stairs to a home built with everything on one level, because Diane finds it hard to maneuver up and down stairs. It's a main reason we want to build a one floor home...to get away from steep stairs.
  • We made it home by 4:30 p.m. Mary immediately watered the garden while I unloaded the pickup.
  • After eating, we watched a movie...no NHL for me. I figured it's good to get a break from hockey games.

  

  It's for fly tying...really!
  

• Thursday, 4/24: Freak Thunderstorm
  • Autumn olives are blooming and their fragrance is so strong that it's almost sickening. They're pretty invasive and I need to clear them out.
  • While walking Plato, I took a photo (see below) of the catkins hanging off a pin oak tree in the north yard. It's the reason we're noticing a yellow dust on our green pickup.
    
  • I mowed between the far garden and the compost bins, between far garden fences, and halfway around outside of the far garden electric fence. I'm almost done putting mulch down around the Empire apple tree.
  • Mary started mowing the east lawn north of the near garden. She also started mulching the rows of lettuce in the near garden.
  • Mary took photos (see below) of violet flowers in our lawn. Imagine this times several thousand and that's what we have throughout our lawns. They're very beautiful.
    
  • Mary sensed that rain was coming and put her mower and wheelbarrow away. I followed suit, and sure enough, as I put my wheelbarrow away, a clap of thunder roared overhead. We had a thunderstorm develop on us, dump a downpour of rain, then dissipate completely. It was really weird and very uncommon. We usually see weather evaporate away before getting to us.
  • Mary saw a ruby-throated hummingbird and heard the chimney swifts. That means no more fires in the woodstove, not that we're firing up the stove when temperatures are in the 70s or 80s.
  • We're noticing small developing fruit on the Liberty apple tree and the large pie cherry tree.
    
  • I watched a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Webex presentation on mushrooms. The speaker was Mike Snyder. He's really knowledgeable about 'shrooms! It was a fun session and very interesting.
    
  • I watched Game 3 of the Blues/Jets NHL playoff series. The St. Louis Blues dominated with a 7-2 win. The game was played in St. Louis' Enterprise Center. It was fun to watch. The Winnipeg Jets are still ahead two games to one game.
     

  

  Catkins emitting pollen from a pin oak tree.
  

A blue violet flower in our lawn.

A white violet blossom in our lawn.

• Friday, 4/25: Mowing
  • Since the chimney swifts arrival means we aren't using the woodstove, Mary moved the little bit of firewood to the woodshed and took the metal wood rack out to the machine shed.
  • Today was a big mowing and mulching day, since it was cool and cloudy...great conditions for outside work. Mary mowed the lawn east of the lane. She delicately mulched next to the tiny plants of spinach, lettuce, radishes, and snow peas. This meant all white laced curtains are gone from the near garden.
  • I mowed the rest of the area outside the fence of the far garden, then inside the south end of the far garden. I then helped Mary by mowing what remained of the east yard beyond the lane so she could concentrate on just mulching the near garden. I mowed the east yard between the house and the lane. I finished mulching around the Empire apple tree and under two cherry trees.
    
  • A strong northwest wind blew thousands of maple keys into surrounding areas. They came down like snow into all of the gardens. We would hear a gust and the whirring, helicopter-like sound of keys coming down. They travel an incredible distance with a strong wind.
  • We saw the pair of chimney swifts flying around in the late afternoon.
  • At dusk, I heard a hiccuping barred owl. Their call is "who cooks for you, who cooks for y'all." HERE is an audio of their call. The owl I heard repeated the first part of that call about three times.
  • I made a point of not watching the Edmonton Oilers/LA Kings NHL playoff game, so I wouldn't jinx the Oilers. It must have worked. The Oilers won 7-4.

• Saturday, 4/26: A Day Off, But Not From Hockey
  • I took the day off...too many days of pushing lawnmowers.
  • Every morning we hear the pounding of squirrel feet as one crosses the machine shed's metal roof. Mary noticed that it's eating elm seeds off a tree on the south side of the machine shed.
  • I ordered a gallon of concentrated herbicide containing ammonium nonanoate. It's a broad spectrum herbicide which is naturally derived and biodegradable. This herbicide is recommended by Lee Reich, a former scientist for Cornell University and gardening author.
  • I also ordered four dozen dumbbell or hourglass weights, some with painted eyes, along with some Krystal Flash, for fly tying supplies.
  • Mary baked a small turkey, a bean casserole, potatoes, and gravy for our midday meal.
  • I watched Game 4 of the Minnesota Wild/Vegas Golden Knights NHL playoffs. Vegas won in overtime, 4-3. It was a very close game.
  • While Mary watered plants in the near garden this evening, she noticed that all plants doubled in size in one day after applying grass mulch alongside them.

• Sunday, 4/27: Two NHL Games
  • We had a rather cool day, outside.
  • Mary cross stitched while I watched Game 4 of the St. Louis Blues/Winnipeg Jets playoff series. The Blues won, 5-1, to tie the series at two games, each.
  • Mary took a video of a wild female turkey strolling up our lane (see below). We suspect it has a nest somewhere to the east.
  • I started a batch of dandelion wine. The only thing I do initially is to pour seven cups of boiling water onto dandelion blossoms that are put into a nylon mesh bag. I also added 0.2 grams of Kmeta. This now sits for two days in the pantry.
  • I became an ultimate video blob and watched even more hockey in the evening. This time it was Game 4 of the Edmonton Oilers/LA Kings playoffs. The Oilers came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game, 3-3, with 29 seconds left in the game. Then, they scored in overtime to win, 4-3, with a powerplay goal with less than 2 minutes left in overtime. The series is tied at 2-2. It was an amazing game, but extremely long. I guess I was shouting a lot, because Mary said all pets were with her, upstairs, in the north bedroom. Part of the problem was a weak wireless signal to our router, giving the TV an on-off-on and stuttering video at the end of regulation play. Despite this, I was able to catch all goals. I restarted all electronics at the intermission before overtime, and everything ran fine. I was so hyper after the game, it took a bit to go to sleep.
  A female turkey walking up our lane and in front of the near garden.