Weather | 1/5, cloudy, 30°, 49° | 1/6, cloudy, 39°, 45°
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- Monday, 1/5: Fly Tying
- I emptied all of the firewood out of the trailer behind the tractor and stacked most small pieces in a crisscross fashion inside the north machine shed wall. Large pieces were stacked next to the splitter. A handful of dry pieces went to the woodshed.
- I heard lots of trumpeter swans flying around as I unloaded the trailer.
- Mary made a big batch of chicken noodle soup.
- I attended the first fly tying class put on by three Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) folks who are located in northwest Missouri. They are TJ, Mike, and Ginger. I've taken in a couple fly tying sessions from this trio. This beginner's class involves eight two-hour online meetings every Monday and Thursday and ends in early February. TJ is the main commentator. Mike is a retired MDC employee who's tied flies for decades. Ginger, another fly tying expert, handles technical issues and delivers corny jokes at the end. Together, they give out great information. They provided several kits, with hooks and materials for each fly enclosed in baggies and labeled, that were sent out over the Holidays to registered participants.
- Today we practiced using the whip finisher, laying a bed of thread on a hook, and tied two flies, which were a Glo Ball, and a Woolie Worm (see photos, below). Each baggie of materials for each fly includes three hooks. I only made one of each fly during the class. I will make the other two of each fly in the days between now and the next class, so that I practice techniques. I also need a lot of practice at using the whip finisher, since I goof up all of the time.
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| Glo Ball...Mike puts a spinner and a weight ahead of this. |
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A Woolie Worm with a bit of red yarn as added attraction.
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- Tuesday, 1/6: Sawing Firewood & Anchorage Snow
- I took the small Stihl chainsaw north and cut down a standing tree that had part of its bark missing, which is a sign that the tree is dead and probably dry. It was an ash tree. After cutting it up, I loaded it into the trailer, hauled it home, and unloaded big chunks next to the splitter and small dry pieces into the woodshed.
- I also cut up several old persimmon sticks and some large kindling branches that Mary saved in the machine shed. These pieces went into the woodshed.
- Mary broke up and made kindling from dried branches collected from around the yard in past months and dried inside the machine shed.
- Mary and I watched an amazing display of trumpeter swans fly over our property. They're close enough that we can hear their wing strokes. At one point their calls sounded as if a traffic jamb was on in New York City in the 1920s and everyone was honking their old style car horns. A trumpeter swan's honking sound is heard well before you can see them in the air. Mary thinks we saw 150 swans fly overhead this evening. That's the largest number of swans that we've seen at one time.
- Katie is thrilled with the big dump of snow that came down today in Anchorage. It will make for good skiing this weekend. She uses trash cans as an indication of how much snow fell (see photos, below).
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Snow on right trash can cleared 12 hrs ago.
Snow on left can hasn't been recently cleared. |
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Car recently moved in an Anchorage, AK, parking lot.
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