Oct. 13-19, 2019

Weather | 10/13, 33°, 61° | 10/14, 32°, 62° | 10/15, 53°, 67° | 10/16, 39 °, 55° | 10/17, 32°, 59° | 10/18, 39°, 67° | 10/19, 0.01" rain, 45°, 61° |

• Sunday, 10/13: Second morning in a row of white frost...the garden plants are dark and dead. Mary looked for hickory nuts in various locations in the woods, but didn't find any signs of them. I added to my pear-making notes on the various steps where we varied from the directions I wrote down prior to making the wine. After looking online, I learned that the wine bucket needs to be vented while the crushed campden tablets are in the brew, so I sanitized a fermentation lock, put distilled water in it, pulled the stopper I had in the bucket's lid, and put it in place. I also left the pantry door open for several minutes to let heat in while I guarded it from cats. Temperature is staying at 68-70°. Seventy is ideal, but it can be anywhere from 55-80°, as long as temperatures don't change drastically. I weedwhacked more of the Swim Pond Trail and veered to the beginning of the Wood Duck Pond Trail, then grabbed Mary's mower and mowed that section. I then fired up the chainsaw and cut up limbs that fell out of the weeping willow, pecan, and old apple trees (dried apple wood is extremely hard). I also sawed up part of an old oak tree that fell across the West Field Trail. Then, I sanitized a glass, heated water to 95°, and got my wine yeast going, then gently poured it into the pear must in the wine fermentation bucket...started bubbling immediately. Stirred it gently, then tasted the juice off the stirring spoon...very sweet and tasty. Replaced the lid and fermentation lock. Sent wine-making photos to family. Bill texted several times. He's removed labels from all bottles and will be bottling his beer tomorrow, after work. Mary and I watched the 5th Harry Potter movie.
• Monday, 10/14: Third morning of frost. Wrote down info into my wine making notebook. Mary washed 2 loads of towels/wash cloths. I cut a foot-square piece out of a larger piece of hardboard and rubber cemented the checkbook leather to it, in order for the leather to keep its shape while I tool it. I then alternated 1 minute of running with 5 minutes of walking just 2 times, instead of 5 times. Last time I did this running/walking trick, I did 5 times..a total of 30 minutes and was too sore to do it again in subsequent days. Obviously, I need to run/walk less initially. Mary mowed the south third of the far garden. I weedwhacked more on the Wood Duck Trail. Grabbed the mower and before finishing a loop of mowing on that stretch of the trail, I hit an ant hill with the mower, the blade dug into red clay and it bent down 90 degrees into the dirt. Walked home, got a wrench, took the ruined blade off, and pushed the mower home. I've got to buy a new blade. Picked up some of the wood I chopped up yesterday. Checked the wine...absolutely no fermentation, plus, the hydrometer is at 1.100 specific gravity, so sugar content has risen, not gone down, as it should have with fermentation. Guessing that the campden tablets haven't off-gassed thoroughly. Mixed up a second batch of yeast, added it to the must, but didn't stir it in this time. There were bubbles, but it seemed like they were only due to pouring the yeast in. Put the lid and fermentation lock back on to leave one more day. Bill texted a photo of all of his beer bottled up, and we texted back and forth.
• Tuesday, 10/15: Found the following things online that I've done wrong with my wine: 1) No lid or fermentation lock should be used for 24 hours after adding campden tablets, or during primary fermentation. Instead, a towel or cheese cloth should cover the bucket. 2) Use spring water, not the distilled water I used, because distilling water removes air and minerals required for yeast reproduction. Like Mary says, if this doesn't turn out, at least we're learning a lot. Mary's Carhartt coat arrived via UPS. It fits her, though the sleeves are long. She likes it. Walked Plato and Amber on my newly weedwhacked Swim Pond/Wood Duck Trails. Knocked down the mounds that took out the mower blade with a shovel. They aren't ant hills, they're mole hills. At the same time, the dogs did laps running through the tall grass. Switched mower blades so Mary could use her mower. Checked the pear wine...there are bubbles. We put a flour sack towel on top of the fermentation bucket, after removing the lid, and tied the towel tight with a string. As the day progressed, the yeast/pear smell increased...we have lift off!!! Mary mowed the front lawn, raked it up, and put mulch on future rows in the far garden for garlic. I walked the trail twice, then picked a stainless steel bowl full of autumn olive berries. Then, I weedwhacked another tank full on the Wood Duck Trail...making it to just before the woods south of Wood Duck Pond. Read how to graft apple trees, since I want to take graftings from the old McIntosh apple tree in the north yard and plant new trees from that. We watched the 6th Harry Potter movie.
• Wednesday, 10/16: Ordered 2 lawnmower blades through Amazon. Pear/yeast smell gets stronger in the pantry. Decided not to disturb it, so left the fermentation bucket alone, today. Walked 2 laps on my newly whacked trail...going to call it the Ponds Trail, since it goes by the Swim Pond, Dove Pond, and ends at Wood Duck Pond. Scratched a line 1/8th inch in from the stitching holes on the checkbook leather, giving me a boundary to tool to. Mary made slumgullion and canned 12 quarts of it. She also chopped up all of the bell peppers that were in the fridge and froze 18 packages. We use them to give smoked scrambled eggs a taste. I picked another bowl of autumn olives. Weedwhacked the remainder of the Wood Duck Pond Trail. Squirrels ate holes right through the middle of the plywood top of my Wood Duck deer stand. I'll have to replace it. All that's left of my Wood Duck blind is a milk crate tied to a tree. Wood that I stacked up around it as a blind is all washed away and the pond's edge is right next to that crate. I started a trail down the field due east of the swim pond, because I often see deer down that field when I walk the Ponds Trail. I'm going to move the aluminum ladder deer stand to somewhere down there, since I haven't used that stand, which is further NW, for years. Found a very excellent online wine making source, Jack Keller's WineBlog, and learned a better way to develop yeast over several hours prior to pitching it into the fermentation bucket. He also has an autumn olive wine recipe.
• Thursday, 10/17: Woke to low-lying fog with the sun shining through it...very pretty. After letting out chickens, a white young chicken crowed for the first time, an indication that chicken butchering is just around the corner. Around 10 am, the wine brew bucket started fizzing and bubbling with gusto. You can hear it anytime you're near the bucket. We took off the towel and the specific gravity is the same, so it needs time to burn off sugar and make alcohol. Mary froze 4 quarts of autumn olives. With 2 from last year and 6 from earlier this summer, we now have 12 quarts in the freezer. Picked another bowl of them. Mary trimmed weeping willow branches so we can walk under it, better. She checked hickory nuts and persimmons. It's a bad hickory nut year and the persimmons are still green. Then, she picked up small branches around the yard for kindling. I weedwhacked more of the trail to a new deer stand location and located a crook in a maple tree that will be perfect for the aluminum ladder stand. We lit the outdoor fire and had a weinie roast as the stars appeared. Mary heard a woodcock, probably heading south. Went in at 8:30, since an east wind made it cold. Sitting in the living room, we had coyotes serenade us who were near where we had our fire in the west yard. We are but guests in their wild world.
• Friday, 10/18: Left the wine alone, today. I drained the 8N Ford tractor's hydraulic/transmission fluid and then added new fluid. Drove the tractor down and up the lane. Checked the dipstick when I returned and it's way above the full level. Mary froze another 4 quarts of autumn olives, giving us a total of 16 quarts. She mowed the north lawn areas, and washed clothes. In the evening, I learned that even though 8N Ford manuals say they take 5 gallons of hydraulic/transmission fluid, it's more like a quart or 2 shy that amount. Also, dipsticks are usually wrong. Better to remove lowest bolt of hydraulic pump's viewing plates on either side of the tractor and when fluid starts flowing from there, the correct level is obtained. Then, the dipstick can be re-marked.
• Saturday, 10/19: Checked the wine's specific gravity and it is1.045, so the sugar level is dropping quickly. I picked a half of a bowl of autumn olives. I also removed the lowest viewing plate bolts on the 8N Ford and drained hydraulic/transmission fluid from the tractor. Checked dipstick. It has "Full" with an arrow to a line, followed by "With rams fully extended" above that. The new full line is right at the "I" in the word, "With," or 2 letters above the full mark. Mary took the day off, due to a sinus headache. We watched the last 2 Harry Potter movies.

Oct. 6-12, 2019

Weather | 10/6, 45°, 69° | 10/7, 45°, 69° | 10/8, 45°, 68° | 10/9, 45°, 67° | 10/10, 0.69" rain, 55°, 63° | 10/11, 0.12" rain, 39°, 45° | 10/12, 29°, 63° |

• Sunday, 10/6: I decided To Do's for the week, then took a wire wheel on the electric hand grinder to rust on the wood stove, then painted the top and sides of the stove with flat black spray paint that's good to 2000°F and painted the front with similar silver colored paint. Mary peeled, processed, and froze 12 quart bags of Bartlett pears. I realized a trip to Quincy was needed to get items to make pear wine and for woodstove pipe caulking. Bill called in the evening and talked to both of us for about 90 minutes. He and his friend, Mike Push, are getting into beer making.
• Monday, 10/7: Went to Quincy and bought stove pipe silicone sealant for the woodstove pipe, a dozen lemons, 5 lbs. of golden raisins, 5 gallons of water, and a large plastic spoon for making pear wine. Mary peeled and processed 8 quarts of pears. She then mowed 1/3 of the lawn. I mowed the lane after I returned home. We had nachos and watched the first Harry Potter movie.  
• Tuesday, 10/8: I took down the stove pipe, removed the soot out of the chimney, took a wire brush and cleaned soot out of the inside of all the stove pipe sections, applied stove pipe caulking, and with Mary's help, installed the stove pipe. Mary washed clothes, and turned grass over she's drying. Had an outside fire and cooked pork loin until about 10 pm. After bathing, discovered the outside of the left lens of my glasses was full of wavy lines, as if the coating melted (maybe from the fire). I'll have to get new glasses. Dug out my old glasses and I can see better at distances with them...never thought the optometrist we saw at the now defunct Shopko eye department was any good. Looked up eyecare businesses online.
• Wednesday, 10/9: UPS delivered a Carhartt coat we ordered. It's a large Yukon Extreme work coat. It fits me fine...large enough to put layers under it, which is what I want. It's too small for Mary, so we'll need to get her an extra large. Bill texted us, saying he's sick with a fever and staying home. Called an eye glass place in Quincy. Their full-time optometrist is the same guy we saw a year ago at Shopko...hell no on that place! Checked with Sam's Club in Springfield, IL, since the Sam's Club in Quincy doesn't have an eye care center, and their optometrist recently retired. Checked with an elderly couple in Quincy who I had as a dog training client (both wear glasses) and they recommended International Eye Care. Called them, got pricing, and set up an appointment for tomorrow at 10:50 am to get an eye exam. Mary washed sheets and furniture covers, and then cleaned out garden items, since they're predicting a low of 34° Friday night. She collected 51 acorn squash, 2 buckets of hot and bell peppers, and several more tomatoes. She also harvested comfrey and sage leaves. Mary brought in the wood rack, wood, and kindling. With all of the windows open, I lit a small fire in the wood stove to burn the oil off the outside of the stove pipe. I used up a tank of gas to weedwhack a part of the trail to the Swim Pond, then mowed that same part of the trail. Mom texted me that it snowed and blew all day in Circle...about an inch, but melted on the streets.
• Thursday, 10/10: Went to eye appointment at International Eye Care in Quincy an hour early to pick out frames. The optometrist, a woman, was excellent...very meticulous. My prescription is slightly stronger, especially in the left eye. Eye retinas are good. She's seeing the start of cataracts, but says I shouldn't need surgery for 15-20 years. She said we all get them, but she mainly sees them starting with people in their 50s, so I'm better than most. She also said I have blephartitis, a fancy word for crusty eyelids that can turn into sties, bacterial infections and vision loss. Her solution...cleaning a closed eye with a wash rag containing baby shampoo. Tried it this evening and my eyes feel better already. The total bill was $710.32. After paying, it leaves us with $50 in our emergency fund. Shopped for baby shampoo and a couple food items in Walmart, chick food and hand warmers at Farm & Home, and celery, strawberries and chips at Aldi. Mary found my wine yeast order wrapped in plastic and in our mailbox...the UPS driver left it there rather than driving up our lane in the rain. She baked 4 loaves of bread and made a big batch of vegetable soup, which I ate when I got home. After chores, we watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie. Bill stayed home for a second day...felt better in the evening, when he was soaking labels off beer bottles.
• Friday, 10/11: It blew hard overnight, knocking a branch out of the weeping willow tree. Made waffles and ate with strawberries for breakfast. I went through all of my books and wrote down in a rough draft all of the steps to making pear wine. This is something Bill recommended, so you aren't wondering what to do in the middle of the process. Then, I transferred that into a theme book...there are 34 steps. I also created a calendar of dates on when to siphon (rack) from one container to another. We'll be able to start drinking the wine in a year, or 10/13/20. This took most of the day to accomplish. Mary made tortillas, then chimichangas, and helped me hash out the wine recipe. She also strung up the last of the hot Portugal and Ho Chi Minh hot peppers to dry in the living room. We had a fire all day in the wood stove. Wood heat is such a thoroughly penetrating warmth. Saw little deer tracks in the trail I recently mowed while walking Plato and Churchill in the morning, then in the late afternoon, I saw many more larger deer tracks on the same area, in our north yard. We live with a lot of deer. We watched the 3rd Harry Potter movie. 
• Saturday, 10/12: Mary and I made pear wine...what a chore!!! After sharpening knives, getting equipment out, and sanitizing everything, we started. I squeezed juice out of 10 lemons while Mary diced golden raisins. We cut up 3, instead of 5 pounds of raisins. Raisins give the wine a more "vinous" character. Then, we peeled and cored 104 pears. It lasted 2.5 sticky, slimy, wet, and gooshy hours. Mary peeled while I cored and cut them into quarters. Towards the end, we were joking about Mary jumping off the roof hollering, "No more pearssss...plop!" It was her third day of peardom! We filled 2 huge stainless steel bowls with them, floating them in lemon water, so they wouldn't brown. We snarfed snacks and then put a layer of pears, then a layer of raisins in our long, sturdy, nylon mesh bag, then mashed each layer with a potato masher. Three gallons of juice emerged around a big, long, white nylon covered turd of pear mash. Next, we put 18 cups of sugar into 2 gallons of heated water, stirred until dissolved, then cooled it down to 75° after several cold water baths in the sink. Poured into my brew bucket and came up with a total of 6 gallons...oops...was only supposed to have 5 gallons. Two gallons of water, plus a ton of sugar, equals 3 gallons of sugar water. Also, added pectin enzyme (kills pectin for clearer wine), wine acid, yeast nutrient, and lemon juice. Checked specific gravity...it was 1.100...is supposed to be 1.085 for making dry wine. Even though we cut back the sugar, it was too much. Obviously, there was quite a bit of sugar in the pear juice. Removed some juice and added 5 cups of water to get specific gravity to 1.090. Quit, because we're afraid of getting liquid level too high in the brew bucket and bubbling over during fermentation. Put brew bucket, sealed, in the pantry. We are to let it sit for 24 hours with crushed campden tablets (sodium metabisulfite), which kill bacteria and wild yeasts in the juice. Clean up was fierce, with pear juice and mush on counters, the cabinet doors, and the floor. We ate, watched the fourth Harry Potter movie, bathed, and wearily went to bed.

Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2019

Weather | 9/29, 1.36" rain, 65°, 70° | 9/30, 69°, 87° | 10/1, 70°, 87° | 10/2, 0.07" rain, 73°, 83° | 10/3, 2.71" rain, 53°, 60° | 10/4, 43°, 61° | 10/5, 0.01" rain, 49°, 65° |

• Sunday, 9/29: A very enjoyable day. Drove to Quincy 2 hours early, so we could gas up the Caddy and buy dog food and chick food at Farm & Home. Then, attended the Quincy Symphony Orchestra "Disney in Concert Around the World." It was in the Quincy Junior High School Auditorium, which when built in 1933, was the high school auditorium. It's a big place, probably 4 stories high with immense seating that includes balcony seating. They had a big screen above the orchestra showing Disney movie scenes while the orchestra played. It was really good. While driving to and from Quincy, we listened to an audio book from my iPhone, played on the car speakers. It was Brave Companions: Portraits in History, by David McCullough, the guy who narrated the Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. The chapter we listened to was about Alexander von Humboldt...very interesting. In the evening, we watched a BBC documentary on the re-creation of Victoria and Albert's royal wedding. They remade the wedding cake...it was 9 feet in circumference and weighed 300 pounds...11 quarts of Brandy went into it...you'd probably get drunk on that cake. They said parts of it were kept as souvenirs and can still be found and can still be eaten today, because it was so preserved in spirits. I kept falling asleep during that. I guess I was tired. After the movie, we heard a coyote howling in the yard, just west of the house.
• Monday, 9/30: I put purple paint on trees and fence posts along the west and north borders of our property, which in Missouri means "No hunting, no trespassing." The loggers removing trees in the property west of us went on our property in some cases, since we always stepped in from the property line to ensure our purple paint was always on our side of the property. In some cases, they mowed down trees with purple paint on them and in other cases they came right up to our purple-painted trees. I'm going to look into the cost of getting someone to survey our property and then look at fencing the west side of our land. I also found a trail camera strapped to the top of a fence post on the north side of our property aimed into our property. Plan on putting a "No Hunting" sign immediately in front of that camera...bastards!!! Mary peeled and froze 11 quarts of apples. There's a little over half of box left. She also strung up a bunch of hot peppers to dry, and harvested some comfrey leaves to dry.
• Tuesday, 10/1: I purple painted the south and east boundaries of our property. The east fence has several sections completely covered in growth, such as mulberry bushes and cedar trees. Jumped the fence halfway down the east side and walked in the neighbor's corn field. A lot of smut in that corn, plus gobs of ears eaten by raccoons and deer. The east fence just north of Wood Duck Pond has the top wire cut or broken in a few places. I got into chiggers. I must have sweated the bug dope off my forearms...15 bites on my right arm, 8 bites on my left arm, and 1 on my right knee. Mary brought in the house plants after pruning them and flushing ants out of the pots, and picked more tomatoes. Texted Katie and she was leaving SeaTac Airport around 11 PM our time for Alaska.
• Wednesday, 10/2: I was itchy from chigger bites, so I spent time online while dabbing comfrey on them. We got a lot of rain. Mary peeled, processed, and froze 17 quarts apples, for a grand total of 28 quarts in the freezer. She also froze 3 gallon bags of tomatoes. We need 3 more gallons to get all we need for the year. Mary made a shopping list. We watched 8 common night hawks fly over.
• Thursday, 10/3: We left by 9:30 to get to the Quincy Library book sale that opened at 10:30. Bought 42 inches of books for $21. Listened to McCullough's book with a chapter on Louis Agassiz while enroute to Quincy. Did some shopping...bought some mortar mix at Home Depot for fixing the chimney, some chick food and transmission/hydraulic fluid for the 8N Ford at Farm & Home, then groceries at Walmart and Aldi. Ate pizza and reviewed the books we bought. Mary and Bill texted back and forth about some beer Bill is making.
• Friday, 10/4: Updated bank transactions in our checkbook. Looked up recipes for making pear wine in 6 books we have. I dug into the closet that holds bottles and wine making stuff and determined that all I need is yeast. Found the best yeast for pear wine in several websites. Ordered 3 packages of yeast from Midwest Supplies in the Twin Cities for about $4...shipping was higher at $10. Mary took down all of the garlic that was hanging in the Machine Shed, pulled out 66 bulbs from each garlic type for seedstock and filled two 30" long grapefruit bags with garlic to eat. She got stung by a wasp in her left pinky finger. Doctored it with baking soda paste. It swelled to about double its size. Mary also picked an eighth of a cat litter bucket of green and ripe tomatoes and 23 acorn squash from the garden. I spooked up 3 deer when I got mail. We watched the movie, Dave.
• Saturday, 10/5: Mary's finger was hurting from the wasp sting, so we spent the day inside, hibernating. 

Sept. 22-28, 2019

Weather | 9/22, 1.52" rain, 67°, 73° | 9/23, 55°, 75° | 9/24, 55°, 77° | 9/25, .03" rain, 61°, 80° | 9/26, 51°, 79° | 9/27, 0.53" rain, 61°, 87° | 9/28, 1.50" rain, 63°, 73° |

• Sunday, 9/22: Bill texted that he was going to the St. Louis Blues preseason hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets today for a ticket price of $6. Mom texted that they had a wet Town & Country Day in Circle yesterday, but got their Senior Center float through the parade OK and sold several slices of pie, making good money for the center. One item served at the evening T&C meal was gator, which she said looked greasy. We had rain most of the day. Mary baked 4 loaves of bread. I diddled around online. Found a deal where you could pay for 1 season ticket and get another senior season ticket free from the Quincy Symphony Orchestra Association, so I signed Mary for buying a ticket to give me one, free. Their first concert is next Sunday. Katie texted that she stopped to view the Four Corners Monument. Mary made fajitas with garden green peppers and tomatoes. It was marvelous.
• Monday, 9/23: Fog was lifting as I woke this morning. Multicolored jewels of dew glistened as the rising eastern sun cast its light on cobwebs viewed while walking the dogs. The sky is bright blue this morning. It's a beautiful day. I planned my week. Looked online about starting running at my age and found an Australian running coach with good advice of alternating running and walking, gradually increasing running over a 3-month period. He says to start at only 30 minutes, 3 times a week. I like his approach and I plan on following it. Mary mowed around compost area. I divided a 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds into 4 cat litter buckets with lids and put them in the chicken coop. Also, combed Churchill outside. He really needed it. Various texts: Mom says they got 6.2" of rain in Circle, MT, so far in September, making the grass grow. Karen had physical therapy with a neurologist, has to do exercises, and will return to work this week. Lynn is visiting the Big Horn Mountains. Bill had fun at the Blues/Blue Jackets hockey game yesterday, saying some of the rookie players were very good. He sent a photo of the ice sheet from his vantage point in the St. Louis Enterprise Center saying it was supposed to be a bad seat area, but that even bad seats are pretty good in that ice arena. Katie sent a couple dozen photos to us via Facebook Messenger of her Grand Canyon hike and visit to the Four Corners. She left us a voicemail that she was driving to Florida for her Air National Guard stuff.
• Tuesday, 9/24: I cleaned a table that Shane let me have that he was throwing out of the grooming area of Petco. It folds up, yet is very sturdy. They were washing dogs on it. I set it up in the sunroom and will do leatherwork on it, taking it down when I'm not using it. Opened up a Tandy checkbook kit that we bought in Billings. Decided against using their pressed-together leather crap for the insides and instead I'll use some pig skin leather that I have for the inside. Also, I'm going to stitch it together with waxed thread, instead of going around the outside of the checkbook with lacing. I started my running regimen...run for 1 minute and walk for 4 minutes, six times. It's a way to gradually get into running without killing yourself. Still, my legs were sore at the end of the day. Mary picked a full bucket of tomatoes, then processed ripe tomatoes from today's and past day's pickings. This made for 4 more gallons of tomatoes in the freezer. I changed the oil and oil filter in the Cadillac and checked all of the fluid levels. Mary washed clothes and when she was taking clothes off the line, she saw 14 broad-winged hawks migrate through. They made a swirl above the chicken yard and then moved on. Mary woke up with spider bites...3 on her left elbow and 2 on her left thigh. They developed into blisters, some popping. We're hoping they aren't brown recluse spider bites, which can decay skin and muscle. If so, I might be hauling her in to see a doctor. She slept downstairs on the couch and is continually cleaning and soaking the bites with comfrey.
• Wednesday, 9/25: Mary stayed inside most of the day, cleaning and soaking her spider bites, so I followed suit and became a bum, today. Walked my sore legs for 3 round trips up and down our lane. I also did a better job of propping up old Mid-Rivers calendars in the windows of the Buick to block the sun and while doing so, spotted mouse chewings on the floor of the back seat. Vacuumed them up...put out several Bounce dryer sheets and set 4 mice traps in the Buick. Katie called while returning from Florida. Likes her Alaska job. Had fun on Grand Canyon hike/camp out. When the friends she was with tried to start a morning campfire with a piece of toilet paper and big logs, she asked, "Where is your kindling." Their response was, "What's kindling." She showed them and was henceforth known as the fire master. She bought Carhartt winter gear and rain gear. Her job wraps up mid-November, or mid-December. Her company has 2-3 jobs starting in February that they'd like her to pick from. Her pets are doing good and excited to see her. She returns to AK next Tuesday, hopefully getting to the worksite on Wednesday evening. Mary worked up a shopping list for a Quincy visit, tomorrow.
• Thursday, 9/26: Shopped in Quincy. Got a twin-sized comforter to use as a dog bed at Salvation Army, along with new washcloths that Mary will use as dish rags and new dress socks that I can wear with 2 of my tight-fitting shoes. I got a new battery for my phone at Interstate Battery, along with a flashlight with a magnet on the end. The flashlight slides open to reveal a worklight. Plan on magnetically sticking the light on tractor or trailer in order to better illuminate the area while field dressing a deer after dark, instead of asking Mary to hold open a deer carcass and hold a flashlight in her teeth at the same time while I'm gutting a deer. It also has a red light that can be made to flash and be seen a mile away. Bought a holster for it, too. Menards was out of bug dope. You can buy Christmas lights there, but no mosquito repellent...I guess the bugs didn't get the memo that they're supposed to die by now. Got table leg caps there. Bought a box of Jonathan apples at Edgewood Orchards...getting expensive at $50 a big box...need to do better at raising our own. Bought purple paint for marking out property borders, along with groceries, at Walmart. Picked up another pork loin at Sam's Club for $1.94/lb. Also hit Aldi. Had nachos and watched Battle of the Bulge, a movie we drove to the Twin Cities to see when it came out in 1965. As I watched it, I remembered how it was in that "new" movie theater, when you could hear sound all around you as the tanks drove over top of you on the big screen. Mary's spider bites are much better.
• Friday, 9/27: Since we went to bed late, and thunderstorms were cracking in the morning, we slept in and had a lazy day. It was super muggy outside. We picked tomatoes. Mary froze over 5 one-gallon bags of ripe tomatoes. We now have 14.5 bags in the freezer. We only need 6 more to have all the tomatoes we need. There's more than that in green tomatoes in the garden. Mary also picked a bucket of green and hot peppers. Thunder was rumbling as I finished chores and Mary worked on the tomatoes. A tornado warning came up with a thunderstorm that went through Lewistown, just 5 miles north of us. Thunder and lightning cracked and some hard rain came down throughout the night.
• Saturday, 9/28: Lots of rain. I was online a bunch. Discovered how to determine when to plant winter greens...find what day there is 10 hours of sunlight, which for us in Nov. 15th, then figure amount of days greens would be 75% grown. We figured 45 days to full grown, so 75% of that is 32 days, which counting backwards puts the deadline at Oct. 14th, or 2 weeks from tomorrow. Also, we can plant strawberries up to Nov. 15th, if they're still alive in our fridge. Mary swept and cut up the pork loin into 6 meals. The rain poured after dark.

Sept. 15-21, 2019

Weather | 9/15, 0.07" rain, 69°, 87° | 9/16, 68°, 89° | 9/17, 67°, 89° | 9/18, 66°, 89° | 9/19, 0.01" rain, 67°, 89° | 9/20, 69°, 87° | 9/21, 70°, 77° |

• Sunday-Monday (9/15-9/16): On Sunday, I watched Vikings/Packers football game on Mom's TV, plus 2.5 hours of bull riding. Monday, I drove Mom's Buick and recommended she change struts/shocks and have someone check suspension on her car. Back home, Mary picked more garden items.
• Tuesday-Wednesday (9/17-9/18): Drove from Circle to home, stopping overnight in Watertown, SD. Uneventful trip. Car ran wonderfully. I bought coffee beans, honey, and limes in the Sam's Club in Sioux City, IA. After I got home, Mary and I talked into the early morning hours, although she claims there was no "we" about it. Texted Katie Wednesday evening and she was on her way from Bethel to Anchorage, starting a 2-week break from work. Mary had fun chasing snakes, vultures, and chickens on Wednesday. First, she removed 3 garter snakes from the laundry room. Then, she gently chased 6 turkey vultures away who wanted to land on our chimney. Finally, a chick found a hole in the gate, mixing hens with chicks and it took Mary half an hour to sort young birds from old chickens. She stuffed bricks into the hole.
• Thursday (9/19): I asked Katie in a text where she was and she answered, Denver. I caught up on rest and took a 2-hour nap in the early afternoon. We had a lightning strike very close to the west at 3pm right when we were starting to eat our midday meal. Soon after, our power went off. I called Lewis County Electric Co-op and she said it was a service-wide outage. Later, I looked on Facebook and the co-op said it was a problem with their Lewistown substation. After chores, we lit 7 big candles and played Michigan Rummy. The power came on at 8:30pm. We played our game for another 2 hours. I just barely won...344-343...I won by 1 white chip! Right before we started playing our game, Bill called. I told him about my Montana trip. He brewed beer on Sunday with his friend, Mike. The call kept cutting out, so he said he might call tomorrow.
• Friday (9/20): Mary dug up the sweet potatoes, since they're predicting 2-3" rain, and mucking them out of mud isn't nice. Instead, she chiseled them out of hard clay soil. It was a chore, but several were very big. I fixed fence in the chicken yard where a decaying oak post leaned outward and made for a gap in the chicken wire allowing chicks to get into the hen-side of the yard. First, I cut a path through the bottom of a cedar tree to the outside of that post. How things grow?!! When we first put together the chicken coop in 2010, you could easily walk around all of the fence. Since then, trees have grown to press against the fence, requiring me to hack a path to the outside of the fence, as if I'm macheteing my way through the jungle. I hammered 4 fence staples to better attach the chicken wire to the post, then I leaned a cedar pole against the oak post to straighten it upright. Then, I started picking tomatoes, which lasted for hours. Mary can only pick tomatoes for a short time, because the green tomato residue puts itchy welts on her arms. As a result, I found many ripe tomatoes buried deep inside the vines. I picked 2/3 of a cat litter bucket of big tomatoes and about half a bucket of small tomatoes. There are hordes of green tomatoes still on the vines. Mary picked half a bucket of tomatillos and filled the rest of the bucket with hot peppers. One of the Hot Portugal peppers was a foot long. She also picked 3 very nice bell peppers. Mary also picked 9 acorn squash. She did the chores, while I picked tomatoes until nearly sunset. We ate shrimp. Interesting, since I also ate shrimp for a meal Mom fixed earlier in the week. Bathing was interesting. After 4 times washing my arms, I finally came clean of the "Jolly Green Giant" chartreuse green tomato crud. Went to bed very tired after stretching out in all directions picking tomatoes in the garden.
• Saturday (9/21): Mary thought there were some Black Prince tomatoes that I missed, so we made a quick look, which turned into another longer tomato picking session. We found them and many more, adding up to half a cat litter bucket of new tomatoes. Then, Mary processed all of the tomatoes from the past 2 days of picking, which equaled 5.5 gallon bags of tomatoes for the freezer. There are still several picked green ones waiting to ripen. Mary then threaded hot peppers on pink sewing thread (a color she says she'll never use as indicated by its age...older than Katie) and hung them in the upstairs south room. Next, I helped Mary peel husks off tomatillos, she washed them and we froze a gallon and a half of them...more than enough for 2-3 batches of salsa. Katie texted me the following, "Hiked 16.2 miles today. Elevation change from top to bottom was 4530 feet...and had to climb back up." She's at the Grand Canyon. We watched the movie Inferno.

Sept. 8-14, 2019

Weather | 9/8, 0.79" rain, 61°, 69° | 9/9, 64°, 85° | 9/10, 73°, 88° | 9/11, 73°, 88° | 9/12, 69°, 87° | 9/13, 0.13" rain, 65°, 73° | 9/14, 57°, 83° |

• Sunday (9/8): Bill left for home. We finished husking hazelnuts.
• Monday (9/9): I packed for my trip to Montana. Mary fixed up snacks for my trip.
• Tuesday & Wednesday (9/10-9/11): I drove to Circle, MT, stopping overnight at the Travel Inn in Watertown, SD. The big surprise was better gas mileage than expected with the Cadillac, getting as high at 29 miles per gallon. Mary picked hops on Tuesday and picked cucs, tomatillos and tomatoes out of the garden on Wednesday.
• Thursday - Saturday (9/12-9/14): I visited with Mom a lot. Went with her to the Circle Senior Center on Friday. Saw some neat old photographs she had. Cleaned out the gutters of her house. Fixed her car's windows so they'd go up and down. Put new battery in her car's key fob. Talked to Dianne Sukut. She is battling cancer. Learned my old boss, Gerry Anderson, moved from Arkansas to Billings and got his address from Dianne. She said Mid-Rivers Telephone is on the decline. Our old neighbor, Ken Ehli, is Circle's mayor. Back at home, Mary picked and stored about 200 pears on Thursday. She mowed the lane on Friday and picked autumn olives on Saturday with honey bees up to her arm pits while she stood in a blooming golden rod.

Sept. 1-7, 2019

Weather | 9/1, 59°, 78° | 9/2, 60°, 79° | 9/3, 67°, 88° | 9/4, 60°, 78° | 9/5, 54°, 79° | 9/6, 65°, 81° | 9/7, 54°, 78° |

• Sunday (9/1): Checked online every so often related to the Dorian Hurricane blasting the Bahamas. Took all of the peeling paint off the mailbox, using a heat gun and a putty knife, followed by the handheld grinder with a wire brush attachment. It took all day. The original paint failed last winter, when chunks of paint started peeling in subzero temperatures. Painted a layer of Rust-Oleum brown primer on the outside of the mailbox, after wiping it down with alcohol. Mary picked half a grocery bag of green beans and processed them. We now have enough in the freezer. She also did 2 loads of towels. Mary found 1 worm in the tomatoes.
• Monday (9/2): Painted a layer of yellow Rust-Oleum oil-based paint on the mailbox, then set the mailbox out in the sun to dry. Took 2 large wheelbarrow loads of weeds out of the chicken yard and mowed where I've taken out weeds so far. Mary picked and froze tomatillos and hot peppers. She also picked hazel nuts, filling 2 large cardboard boxes.
• Tuesday (9/3): Put a cardboard sign on the plywood that the mailbox sits on that said, "mailbox being painted." Painted red on the mailbox flag and gave the mailbox a 2nd layer of yellow paint, then put it in the sun to dry. Figured what I need to do prior to leaving for Montana and there's too much to do. Drove the Cadillac down to the end of the driveway and waited for the mail carrier, since we have no mailbox there, and read a pages of a book. Only waited 20 minutes. Weedwhacked more weeds in the chicken yard. Took out 3 wheelbarrow loads of weeds. Mary picked a big batch of cucumbers and put up 12 quarts of pickles. With 8 quarts left over from last year, we're good on pickles for another year. I gave left over sliced cucumbers to the hens and Leo, the rooster. While taking the garbage can down the lane, we spotted red on an autumn olive tree next to the lane, so we walked over to it. The berries are ripe and tasty, so it's time to start picking autumn olive berries, which is earlier than usual.
• Wednesday (9/4): I put lettering for our name and address on the newly painted mailbox and put it back up on the post. Mary started picking autumn olives, so I helped her. We got 6 very full quart bags that we froze. In the evening, we husked about 2/3 of the hazelnuts while watching Whose Line is it, Anyway.
• Thursday (9/5): I removed 3 wheelbarrow loads of weeds from the chicken yard to finish that job, then mowed the chicken yard. Then, I tacked up some chicken wire along the east side of the north chicken yard and propped up some wooden oak posts that are half rotten with some long cedar poles. Next, I installed a 2x4 gate holder that fell off of the NE corner of the coop, where the OSB siding is rotting. This time, I screwed it into 2x4 studs. I then sewed hardware cloth into bottom of gate between the south and north sections of the chicken yard, preventing chicks from scooting under that gate. Next, I installed gate latches on the north chick door. Before it got dark, I drilled holes in 11 Gatorade bottles and filled them with mothballs to use under cars and in the engine compartments of vehicles, as a way to deter wire-chewing critters. Mary washed clothes and mowed.
• Friday (9/6): We went to Quincy. Our first stop was to the Quincy Public Library, where I used their free WIFI to download 2 audio books and several podcasts that I'll play on the Cadillac's radio system while driving to and from Circle next week. When I started, a reporter for the Quincy Herald-Whig newspaper interviewed me for a piece they have in the Saturday issue called Five Times Five. Here is a copy of that column.
  
  
  
  After dropping off the Cadillac payment, we went to our bank and got Mary a new debit card,. She never used her card, so it expired. I also got the bank's help in getting my debit card on ePay in my phone. We bought chick feed and groceries. While getting gas at Fastlane, a reporter for WGEM interviewed me about road improvements (whew...I must look like a good person to interview by journalists today). HERE is that video that was on the nightly news. Around 9 pm, Bill arrived.
• Saturday (9/7): I moved the plywood board back to shelter the north chicken entrance from rain, and removed the interior board on the north chick entrance. Then, I opened that door to let the chicks free. Not a single chick went outside today. With Bill's help, one at a time, I jacked up and took all 4 wheels off the Cadillac to check for chewed wires under the car. Good news...there are none. Again, with Bill's help, I soldered a new pigtail into place for the mass airflow sensor connector, put heat shrink over the 5 soldered locations and installed new loom over the new wiring. Started the car and the indication that I need to service traction control and another item quit dinging a bell and coming on every minute...a good thing to have fixed for a 2-day drive to Montana. Mary picked some nice, large green peppers, some hot peppers, several cucumbers, and some more tomatillos. She also mowed. I started a fire and we grilled pork loin while the sun set and the stars appeared. The middle trailer across the gravel road was playing Mexican music outside. It was a nice time for an outdoor fire. I finished reading Inferno, a novel by Dan Brown.