June 15-21, 2026

Weather | 6/15, sunny, 50°, 75° | 6/16, p. cloudy, 0.01" rain, 58°, xx° | 6/17, xx°, xx° | 6/18, xx°, xx° | 6/19, xx°, xx° | 6/20, xx°, xx° | 6/21, xx°, xx° |

• Monday, 6/15: 
  • Katie called and talked to us for about an hour. She made it back to Anchorage. Katie enjoyed her trip to Italy.
  • Mary hoed out the weeds in the second row from the west in the near far garden.
  • She then mowed the west yard, putting grass clippings on the row she hoed.
  • Using a ladder and a pole with 8' and 10.33' cuts into it, I cut walnut and cedar branches that were intruding into any place in the lane that was in a space of 8' wide by over 10' tall. These branches grew inward so that even our pickup was hitting them. My measurements equaled the width and height of a UPS or FedEx delivery van. Some cedar branches were big and heavy, requiring me to use the small Stihl pruning saw.
  • I mowed the lane. I keep beating back small poison ivy plants growing in the grass on the east side of the lane.
  • Mary ran into enough poison ivy plants while mowing to produce a slight red rash with bumps on her neck that started to move to her face. She soaked infected areas with a comfrey-laden cotton ball that greatly decreased these symptoms. I walked Cooper alone on his final outing of the night, giving Mary a reprieve from walking down the lane where I cut several poison ivy plants with the mower.
  • During a couple breaks from mowing, we noticed online that a major fire broke out at a gas station in West Quincy, MO. It completely burned down the building. HERE is a WGEM report. We drive by this location when we go to Quincy. The Missouri side of the Mississippi River in West Quincy is full of gas stations with cheaper prices than in Illinois.
  • Each evening I wash chicken waterers, then dump the wash water around apple trees in the south orchard. Cooper sniffed up a rabbit while I dumped water today and chased it into tall grass. Once in the tall grass, Cooper leaped high in the air with each stride, looking like a kangaroo dog.