Weather | 3/31, sunny, 32°, 57° | 4/1, cloudy, 30°, 55°
| 4/2, t-storms, 1.03" rain, 47°, 70° | 4/3, cloudy, 41°, 54° | 4/4, 0.21" rain & heavy mist, 39°, 43° | 4/5, 0.10" rain, cloudy, 39°, 47°
| 4/6, sunny, 32°, 53° |
- Monday, 3/31: First Major Shopping Since January
- We shopped in Quincy, IL. The last major shopping trip to Quincy for us was on Jan. 24th. It was quiet in all stores. The pickup handled beautifully with super quiet brakes that work like a charm. It's obvious to me that the old rear brakes were dragging, because the fuel economy of the pickup improved a great deal, as indicated by the fuel gauge that didn't move much at all.
- Shopping highlights: 1) I ran into difficulty when we stopped at Staples to print off the email I got from RockAuto containing the FedEx shipping label for the package to return the dust shield with missing parts. The label would not show up. The employee at the printing department had me send the email to his computer, he hit an option to show blocked images and printed it. When I asked him how much I owed, he said, "Let's just say, have a great day." I got the print out for free. 2) We shipped out the RockAuto package after driving way the heck north of town to the FedEx shipping office. 3) The last stop was at Farm & Home. When they gave me my parts, only one item was in the bag, even though two parts were listed. They looked around in drawers and in the back and didn't find the second part, which is an oil worm gear for the large Stihl chainsaw. The parts employee then ordered the worm gear, saying it should be in on Thursday. We're back in Quincy on that day, so we'll see if they can finally get it right. If they don't have it, I'm canceling and getting it online. I first called in to order this part on Feb. 6th. Farm & Home's chainsaw parts department stinks and I've had enough of their sloppy work.
- We got home, unloaded the pickup, did evening chores, and rested. Shopping tires us out, especially after making 13 stops to buy stuff today.
- Tuesday, 4/1: More Firewood
- Strong winds blew out of the east, southeast all day.
- We're not seeing bees in the pear blossoms, because it's too cool and windy. I hope we don't have a repeat of last year, when we didn't get pear fruit.
- Mary cleaned and did a big load of laundry, while I split all of the firewood that was in the machine shed. It amounted to eight wheelbarrow loads, one of which went into the house.
- Blackbirds and juncos remain with us, even though it's late in the season to be viewing them.
- Wednesday, 4/2: Old Lawnmower Maintenance
- A strong west wind blew today. West winds mean we smell the wonderful aroma of a dairy dung pond. It's the yuckiest smell imaginable. Fortunately, we don't get many due west winds.
- Mary made pizza, which was yummy. She always puts together two pizzas and puts an uncooked one in the refrigerator for the following day.
- I worked on the old lawnmower. After changing the spark plug, I removed some covers to gain access to built-up dead grass and dirt behind the carburetor. Using small screwdrivers, I dug out a lot of debris that was hindering the correct operation of levers and springs involving the carburetor. I replaced the air filter, changed the oil, and sharpened the blade, then mowed the new area designated for a burn barrel. The mower runs much better, now.
- Thursday, 4/3: Quincy Library Book Sale
- Mary and I drove to Quincy to attend the spring Quincy Library Book Sale. Mary picked up a neat World War I history book. She also found several books featuring areas in England and a John Muir omnibus book of his writings. I got a 1974 Gun Owners Book of Care and Improvement and a 2021 book authored by Bill Gates entitled, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.
- We toured a newly opened store in Quincy called Ollie's. It involves cheaply made junk at average prices. The store reminded me of Big Lots. We won't be going back.
- We also went to Joann's going out of business sale and bought lots of stuff. Most of our purchase was for me...I picked up a bunch of things, such as beads, metallic thread, and a large storage container, that fit into my new fly tying hobby.
- I checked with the stupid asses behind the chainsaw desk at Farm & Home. I was told that they haven't received parts orders that they given to Stihl for over a week. I'm done with them. I ordered the oiler part for the large chainsaw from a company in Minnesota after I returned home. It costs more, but at least I'll probably get it in a reasonable amount of time.
- I watched a Webex featuring a Missouri Department of Conservation ornithologist discussing efforts to halt the decline in migratory birds.
- Mary and I went through the new books we bought today. She laughed through the night at two Zits comic books.
- Friday, 4/4: Mist, Motus, & '21 Pear Wine
- We experienced a misty, rainy day, so Mary and I stayed inside.
- Mary did some cross stitch work.
- I reviewed Motus, an international wildlife tracking system that the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is part of. It started in 2014 by Birds Studies Canada and Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. I learned about it during the latest MDC Webex I joined on Thursday evening. Lightweight radio tags are put on small birds, bats, and even insects, such as dragonflies. The animals are then tracked using automated radio telemetry to better determine migration patterns of various species of birds and animals. MDC has tracking towers all over Missouri, one of which is near Novelty, which is 23 miles west of us. The last bird tracked through that tower was a wood thrush heading south in October. It had an average speed of 23 mph as it migrated south to its winter home in Central America.
- Henbit is turning area fields purple (see photo, below). This shows up every spring in fields around here before farmers disc their land. It has shallow roots. Henbit flowers stink badly.
- We enjoyed a really yummy 2021 pear wine. This mature wine is extremely smooth.
- Mary and I watched two movies. They were the 1996 film, Star Trek: First Contact, and the 2009 movie, Invictus.
- Another item I picked up at JoAnn's yesterday was extra fine glitter in various colors. I plan to use it on homemade fishing lures.
A neighboring field covered with henbit.
- Saturday, 4/5: Sorting Fly Tying Supplies
- We had cloudy and cool weather, so we stayed indoors again.
- Mary did some cross stitch work.
- I went through fly tying items and old lure making things that once belonged to Dad and consolidated like items, such as beads and rubber skirts for fishing lures. I put all beads into plastic zippered bags and stored them in my new container, so that everything is in one place. Some of the small beads I bought on Thursday from JoAnn's are really cool. My only regret is that I didn't buy more, but even at reduced pricing, the total price can get too high. Dad had a bunch of beads that are now together with all of the beads. He also had several frog lure skirts that I could use as legs when I tie flies.
- Mary and I saw a deer run away in the west field when we put the chickens to bed for the evening.
- All pear trees are in full bloom with blankets of white blossoms.
- Several hops plants are growing up the east wall of the house. They seem to grow at least a foot each day. They'll have to duke it out with Virginia Creeper vines.
- Sunday, 4/6: Blooming Redbuds & Honey Bees
- Mary and I took a hike with Plato to the west field, down Bobcat Trail, and then through the woods. We saw several blooming redbud trees. They're spreading in that part of the woods. We also saw spring beauties, the start of may apples, Dutchman's britches, and trout lily leaves popping through the forest floor.
- Upon returning to the house, we saw hundreds of bees in all of the pear blossoms, a few native bees, and even some tachnid flies. We might just get some pear fruit this year. We didn't see much of any pears last year.
- Mary started four sweet potatoes from last year's garden for this year's slips. She also planned this year's garden.
- I went online and bought a supply of tea and coffee. Each year we get a case, or a dozen boxes of Red Rose tea, each box containing 100 tea bags. We buy it directly from the Red Rose Tea Company. I got three bags of coffee beans from Sam's Club. The Sam's Club in Quincy doesn't stock the coffee we prefer, so I buy it online.
- I put the rest of my fly tying and lure making items away. I also sized the hooks that I have, including old ones in my storage. I labeled hook sizes.
- I looked into making a bumble bee fly from foam bodies that I bought last year. I'll need a few more supplies before I can make that fly.
- One of our chickens decided to imitate songbirds and gave us an egg that is about the size of a robin egg (see photo, below).
One of today's eggs was tiny!
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