Dec. 29, 2025-Jan. 4, 2026

Weather | 12/29, cloudy, 9°, 20° | 12/30, p. cloudy, 10°, 36° | 12/31, cloudy, 26°, 40° | 1/1, cloudy, 22°, 34° | 1/2, cloudy, 19°, 27° | 1/3, sunny, 18°, 35° | 1/4, mostly cloudy, 18°, 40° |

• Monday, 12/29: 35th Anniversary
  • For today, our Missouri Department of Conservation calendar stated that "Squirrels gather in nests to conserve energy." Well, our squirrels didn't read that calendar entry, because three of them were running around under the nearest pecan tree on a cold morning. Conserving energy wasn't part of their makeup.
  • We experienced a cold, single-digit morning with a strong northwest to west wind. From a measly 9°, it gradually made it up to 20° for a high temperature.
  • Today was our 35th anniversary. Mary and I got married on a much colder day in 1990 in Red Lake Falls, MN. For some unknown reason, Mary still likes me.
  • We watched a bald eagle fly over our property while we were washing dishes. It had a partially white head and tail, so Mary guessed it was a four-year old bird.
  • Mary heard a four-wheeler in the woods west of our property this evening. Some goofball froze his buns off while hunting deer. Missouri's final deer hunting season is on right now, which is the alternative deer hunting season, when you can shoot a deer with a black powder rifle, a center-fired pistol, an airgun, or a spear-like device called an atlatl. This season ends on Jan. 6th, then there's bow hunting until Jan. 15th.

• Tuesday, 12/30: A Clean Up Day
  • I cleaned up the west room and put winemaking items away. It's been a mess for several weeks.
  • Mary took decorations off the Christmas tree, cleaning them as she went. I hopped in at end and helped remove lights, then we disassembled and put away the Christmas tree. Now we have our living room back.
  • Mary and I watched a red-shouldered hawk fly into a walnut tree near the east end of the near garden. It landed next to a squirrel that zoomed to other side of the tree trunk to get away from the hawk. Blue jays bombarded the hawk, so it flew away.
  • I heard a black powder gun go off to the southwest of us while I was doing evening chores. They have a distinct sound. It's an explosion that is loud and lasts for several seconds. Regular rifles register a quicker bang.
  • We watched the first episode of The American Revolution (2025), by Ken Burns. This is a Blu-ray disc that Katie gave Mary for Christmas. It's quite thorough and very good.
  • We enjoyed a bottle of perry. It has a really light taste. Pear wine tastes better.

• Wednesday, 12/31: New Year's Eve
  • Other than fixing meals and washing dishes, we had a very quiet inside day today.
  • There were lots of doves flying out of cedar trees along the lane when walked down to the gravel road with garbage bags to put in the trash bin for pickup tomorrow. I heard trumpeter swans somewhere to the north, but never saw them.
  • I spent the day online, looking at house construction ideas, YouTube videos about a bell auger, and potential dog adoptions.
  • We watched the second episode of The American Revolution.
  • At midnight, someone was shooting off either fire crackers or a gun to the southwest of us. The only fire crackers we were involved with were text messages to our kids, Bill and Katie, with images and sounds resembling fireworks.

• Thursday, 1/1: A New Year's Walk & Cutting Firewood
  • Our midday meal was barbecued pork, potato, and a salad that included some kale from our winter greens tubs. Our winter greens are finally retired for the year.
  • Mary took a walk after our midday meal and took some photos (see below).
  • She spooked a bald eagle from the trees above the dry creek bed just south of Wood Duck Pond. She also saw four deer in that vicinity.
  • I installed the new chain on the small Stihl chainsaw and cut wood from downed limbs in our yard. I walked into the woods just north of the machine shed and noticed lots downed trees and branches. One ash tree went over next to the Boys' Fort Deer Blind, so I cut it up into firewood lengths. I also cut up several tree branches. Mary and I decided we'll collect everything and stack it under cover, tomorrow.
  • On a trip back home to refuel the chainsaw, there were three quick shots from the woods west of our property. It was from a lighter caliber gun. It was probably a pistol, which is one of the guns allowed in the alternative deer hunting season.
  • Four deer ran off a little distance when I walked down to the gravel road to put the trash bin away. They didn't go far, then stood and watched me walk by on the lane. 
  • We watched the third episode of The American Revolution.
  • My blood glucose numbers are up...too many Christmas cookies, which are almost gone.

Christmas ferns emerging on Bramble Hill.

An acorn in a bird's nest, probably put there by a blue jay.

• Friday, 1/2: Collecting Firewood
  • Chickens are laying eggs every day, now. Mary has a young barred rock hen that follows her everywhere Mary goes while in the coop. Mary even petted her, today.
  • I removed the tire chains off the 8N Ford tractor and discovered that Bill, my son, did a far better job at wiring up the closures on the chains than I did. I cut and removed the wires on the tire I worked on quite easily, whereas, the tire Bill did had wires that were much harder to remove.
  • Mary and I picked up firewood that I cut yesterday to overfill the wagon behind the tractor with wood. Most of this firewood was ash that will need to be dried a little more. We also pitched a few chunks of oak firewood over the fence that I'll try to get tomorrow. There was too much in the trailer, so those pieces had to be left behind.
  • We saw two red-tailed hawks fly over us while I was driving the tractor to near the north woods.
  • We ate a late midday waffle meal.
  • I took in a Missouri Department of Conservation Webex session about bobcats. They are in the lynx family of cats. The instructor showed photos to demonstrate their amazing camouflage characteristics. In both instances, I couldn't detect the bobcats until she pointed them out. We notice bobcat foot prints in snow and mud, but we've never seen one, except I thought I saw one while hunting last year. I now know why we hardly see them. They eat everything we have here...bunnies, mice, and squirrels.
  • We watched the fourth episode of The American Revolution.
  • Below are more photos that Mary took on her walk, yesterday. 

Milkweed seed pods between Bass & Dove Ponds.

Mushrooms on a tree near Wood Duck Pond.

• Saturday, 1/3: Beautiful Trumpeter Swans
  • I skinned the back of my left hand on a bed frame while lifting a cooler full of wine bottles in the upstairs north bedroom. I got the blood flow stopped with cayenne powder, then with Mary's help, bandaged it up. This altered my outdoor plans for the day.
  • I received the book entitled Favorite Flies and Their Histories, by Mary Orvis Marbury. It looks wonderful. The author, born in 1856, was the daughter of Charles F. Orvis, who started making and selling quality fly reels the same year Mary was born. The company he started in Manchester, Vermont is still in business. She found fishing flies fascinated and studied methods from around North America, then compiled this book that was first printed in 1892. Mary died in 1914. The book was reprinted in 1955. The version I bought for only $7.54, was reprinted in 1995, and it is in pristine condition. The color plates in it are very good. I bought it to use as a reference to make my own flies.
  • I did a bit of unloading firewood out of the trailer and making a crisscross stack of wood in the machine shed.
  • I heard two shots in the woods west of our property at dusk. The shots sounded like they originated from a regular gun and not a black powder rifle. I think they came from a pistol. I wouldn't want to hunt with a pistol. Accuracy is lacking with the short barrel, unless the target is six feet away.
  • We saw several flocks of Canada geese fly west to east over our property. They looked like they were slowly lowering in elevation and maybe getting ready to land in the Mississippi River. Canada geese have been rather absent this autumn and early winter. This is the first time we've seen a significant number of them flying overhead.
  • We also saw about 24 trumpeter swans flying very low over the treetops, heading west. As they approached from the east, the orange of the setting sun reflected off their white bodies. What a sight! These swans are well named. Their call is like a trumpet sounding off. It's a distinct sound that you can't miss and you can hear it from a long way off.
  • Mom texted that she is back home. She's been in Glasgow, MT, helping Hank. 
  • I finished the 16th novel by Alexander Kent entitled Colours Aloft! Obviously, the author is British, with a spelling of colours.

• Sunday, 1/4: Hawks & Swans
  • Around noon, Mary heard a red-tailed hawk call and looked up to see that hawk swerving to the north to avoid the west to east flight of an immature bald eagle. Then, off to the distance a red-shouldered hawk called, after hearing the call of the red-tailed hawk.
  • I laid low nursing the skin scrape on the back of my left hand. It's looking better.
  • In the evening, Mary and I saw several trumpeter swans flying in all directions (see video, below). They are very impressive birds and we think several showed up from the north, today.
  • I watched the neighbor southeast of us unload a pickup off a tilt trailer behind a semi truck. He's a so-called diesel mechanic for the Christian commune a few miles west in Knox County that once owned the dairy a mile west of us. That dairy is now owned by an entity in Wisconsin. He rolled the pickup back on the tilt trailer until the back wheels were on the ground and then drove forward with the semi. The front of the pickup crashed to the ground with an enormous thundering sound. I'm sure that helped the pickup's front suspension! He seems to collect vehicles that never get fixed. There's quite a junkyard over there.
  • Mary and I watched the fifth episode of The American Revolution.
  • I've noticed temperatures in the -40° to -50° range at the Fairbanks International Airport day after day. That means it's about -65° in North Pole, AK, where my folks once lived.
  Turn up your sound to hear the calls of several trumpeter swans.