January 19-25, 2020

Weather | 1/19, -1°, 13° | 1/20, 7°, 17° | 1/21, 6°, 30° | 1/22, 1" snow, 0.14" moisture, 23°, 35° | 1/23, 3" snow or 0.44" moisture, 29°, 36° | 1/24, 29°, 33° | 1/25, 27°, 35° |

• Sunday, 1/19: Mary baked 4 loaves of bread. She also figured out what we wanted to plant and then the seeds we need for our gardens. She made a turkey pot pie for our main meal. I researched how to do grafting, budding, and cuttings on trees, especially apple trees. My main source is a book Mary bought 10 years ago called Plant Propagation, a British book. It's excellent. I then picked rootstock, from Fedco in Maine, where I can get 10 semi-dwarf apple rootstocks for $30. I can take one of those and grow more rootstock. This one can be used for grafting on both apple and crabapple trees. We have an old McIntosh apple tree, with a hollow trunk, that I want to graft buds or scions onto new rootstocks and create several new trees, so we can remove the old tree. It will take a few years. Mom said they visited Flagstaff, AZ, where they saw an ancient crater and a petrified forest (see photos below). Overnighted in Holbrook and drove back home to Buckeye, today. She said Sedona was a tourist trap, where they didn't stop. Bill texted that he was making another batch of beer and bought a bucket to start making wine, sometime. We listened to the AFC and NFC championship football games...Chiefs 35, Titans 24; and 49ers 37, Packers 20. Turned off the radio at the start of the 4th quarter of the 49ers/Packers game, because we were sick and tired of the 3-4 ads that they aired over and over. Thought it was pretty funny when they announced the Pepto Bismol "Most Upsetting Play of the Game.”

Mom at the crater formed 50,000 years ago that is 1 mile wide and 700 feet deep.

Petrified forest in Arizona.

• Monday, 1/20: Snow was falling when we woke, so we called the vet and told them we'd try to make it in on Friday (things might be thawed by then). Freshly fallen snow on ice makes it really slippery outside. Mary created a 2020 garden calendar to keep track of monthly garden chores. I ordered seeds, apple tree rootstocks, and 50 strawberry plants. I also ordered tea from Stash Tea. Looked at vitamins, but didn't order anything. Looked for pickups online. Several schools closed in the area. Don't even see the neighbor's 4x4 pickups moving. You'd need chains on all 4 tires to travel on this stuff. It's nice and warm in the living room, where the woodstove heat exists (see below).

Mocha on Mary, taken 1/21/20.

• Tuesday, 1/21: I read and took notes in a book entitled Prescription Alternatives. Mom texted that she visited with Pete Robison, her cousin that she hasn't seen for 63 years, when he was 19 years old (see below). She said Pete reminded her of her father, Jack Robison. They had a good visit. Bill said his newest beer brewing is coming right along (see below). We had a little bit of thawing outside, but there's still a lot of slippery ice. Saw an immature bald eagle at noon and Vs of geese flying about.

Cousins Pete Robison and Ruth Melvin.

Bill's latest batch of beer.

• Wednesday, 1/22: Mary made blackberry crunch for a dessert. She made barbecued pork loin, corn on the cob, and sweet potatoes for our main meal. She also worked on cross-stitch and a puzzle Katie gave her for Christmas. I researched different vitamins and minerals online and ordered some from Swanson Vitamins in Fargo, ND. A bit of mist, followed by sticky wet snow, that was coming down at about 30°, makes traction much easier outside.
• Thursday, 1/23: Mary made 32 flour tortillas, and then chimichangas for our main meal. I tore into the ground floor west room closet, where I have empty wine bottle stored. Discovered dead, dried up baby mice on the floor in there...knew I needed to get that cleaned up. Removed items, cleaning as they came out. Didn't finish the job. Bill called. He has a camshaft position sensor warning on his car. Since he has a warranty, he's thinking that should cover this issue. We watched the 2017 movie, Wonder, starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. It's exceptionally good. Saw a bobcat track in the snow. Mom flew to Las Vegas and will spend a few days with Pam, her niece.
• Friday, 1/24: Woke with about 3" of freshly fallen snow on the ground. Saw tracks where a coyote checked out rabbit trails north of the Machine Shed, then went off into the west field. I cleaned snow off the Cadillac, started it, and drove to the pavement and back, just to see if I could make it...everything was fine on State Highway J, even though MODOT (Missouri Department of Transportation) showed covered roads. We took Mocha to the vet...got her stitches removed and she got another dewormer dose, plus a first batch of shots. She weighed 3.38 pounds, up from 1.8 pounds the last visit. Drs. Carson and Briscoe were happy with her progress. Stopped at Aldi in Hannibal and bought a handful of items. 
• Saturday, 1/25: We saw a Cooper's Hawk flying near the chicken coop in the morning hours. Chickens were inside the coop, so no harm there. Mary cleaned up books on the living room shelves. She also pulled 81 books out of our book collection to be donated. I finished cleaning the west room closet. I have 91 750-ml sized empty wine bottles. I have 48 four-inch square plastic containers with big lids on them that formerly held Sam's Club corn starch or baking powder that I'll use to store bolts, nuts, nails, and various hardware. I packaged them up into large plastic garbage bags and draped plastic bags over the wine bottles. Used a plastic tote to store all of my other wine making stuff. Added my 2 glass 6-gallon and 5-gallon carboys and the 6.5-gallon brew bucket to the closet. Now I have some order to my wine making material and it's in one location. Mom texted about her visit with Pam in Las Vegas.

January 12-18, 2020

Weather | 1/12, 20°, 27° | 1/13, 27°, 35° | 1/14, 37°, 49° | 1/15, 39°, 42° | 1/16, 6°, 27° | 1/17, skiff of snow, 1/4" ice, or 0.80" moisture, 15°, 31° | 1/18, 9°, 31° |

• Sunday, 1/12: Mocha is playing like a real kitten should...first time, ever. She's eating with gusto. We've turned the corner to recovery. Listened to a wild NFL Kansas City/Houston game where it was 24-0, Texans, and then the Chiefs scored 41 unanswered points. Final score, 51-31, Chiefs...a lot of defense! Then, listened to the Packers beat the Seahawks 28-23...boo, hiss...wanted Seattle to win. Guess we'll root for Chiefs, since they are in the State of Missouri. I looked to the online site where I got my W-2 forms the past 2 years and found the 2019 W-2 form for me from Petco. Now, I just need to find the form for Mid-Rivers' Pension, and I'm ready to do taxes. I did more online research on pole buildings. Mary rolled the rest of her yarn and read. Kind of a duddy Sunday as far as activity.
• Monday, 1/13: I removed two 10-year old fire alarms, plus their brackets, and installed 2 new ones. Also, assessed other old alarms and batteries for the old alarms. We need to buy 3 more to replace existing 10-year old fire alarms. Mary made laundry soap from Fels Naptha bars. She also made 40 tortillas in 1 hour...a new record. Katie started college classes in Gulfport.
• Tuesday, 1/14: Found what I thought was a good pickup for sale online near Ewing (only a few miles away). What was listed as in very good condition was a junker...tailgate held on with a rachet strap, a broken rear shock absorber hanging down, completely bald tires, a grinding sound when driven, air gushing through the heater core, a low coolant light on in the dashboard, a crack from top to bottom in the windshield, rusted body...we respectively told the woman that we wouldn't buy it. At least we didn't have to drive far to witness what she lied about online. I burned trash in the afternoon, which took 2.5 hours...a lot of boxes, Christmas wrapping, and old oily rags. The last time we burned was in April, so it was quite a stack of stuff. After sunset, several flocks of snow geese flew east to west. They are way early...usually we see them in February/March. Mom flew to Phoenix to visit friends. In the evening, I looked online and in books for various types of wine to make. Some that I'm considering include grapefruit, watermelon, parsnip, pumpkin, blackberry, elderberry, cherry, autumn olive, white clover, strawberry, dandelion, garlic, rhubarb, apple, apricot, and snow pea pod wine.
• Wednesday, 1/15: Mary did laundry, swept, and dusted. A cloudy day meant most of the drying took place inside, over the wood stove. Clothes drying lasted until midnight. Emailed Lisa at Mid-Rivers to find out that I'll be getting a 1099 tax form related to my pension, which will be mailed the last week in January. I removed packing tape that blew loose covering the NE chicken coop window and re-applied it, this time using a heat gun to make the stickum work better...worked like a charm. Did the same trick on the other north and 2 south windows...3 more windows to do. Looked up soils info through USDA's online soils maps and downloaded a pdf file of a soils map of our property. We have 4 basic soils, all heavily laden in clay...no surprise there. What is surprising is a bulk of our soil is classified as a silt loam, especially where the land is covered with timber. Where our Bartlett Pear tree is located is in this soil, which explains why it does so well. All of our soil is highly acidic, which we know, because wood ash, which is basic, helps the garden thrive. With this info, I have a better understanding of soil types and characteristics for building.
• Thursday, 1/16: I sharpened 1 of my chainsaw chains and we cut down 2 dead cherry trees in the SW woods, sawed them up, split them and stacked them in the woodshed. Discovered a healthy piece missing out of the sprocket of my chainsaw. My chain was super dull, even after sharpening it. Took an entire tank of gas to cut 2 trees that were 5" at their bases, which is pathetic, even though these 2 trees were thoroughly cured and very hard. It's time for some parts refurbishing on the chainsaw. Had cod & sweet potatoes.
• Friday, 1/17: About 8 am, it started snowing. Then, it started raining at 24° and rained very hard, while freezing. All tree branches became waving castanets in the wind. By the dog's nighttime walk, the lawn was covered with sheer ice...even grass blades sticking up through the ice were covered with ice. Churchill, who is petrified of walking on ice, wouldn't walk up the steps into the house. It took 2 of us to get him up the steps and because he walks so stiff-legged on ice, he fell at the top, but we got him back on his feet, immediately. We watched The Heat movie and 2 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Mom sent a photo of herself next to a Joshua Tree in Arizona (see below).

Mom with a Joshua Tree.

• Saturday, 1/18: The temperature today, started roughly at freezing, so we took shovels to the ice on the porch and removed it. We're all walking gingerly on the ice outside. Temperatures are dropping as the day progresses, while a strong wind shatters ice out of all tree branches. I'm so, so glad I don't have to drive to work! Mom and her friends went on a trip to Sedona, AZ. She texted another cactus photo, this time with her in front of a Saguaro Cactus (see below). I looked for pickups online throughout the day. Mary started crocheting her afghan. By nighttime, ice on the ground was thoroughly frozen and when you step on it, cracks echo off to the left and right. We walk on eggs outside, because it's so slippery. Had the 2nd half of the world's best apple pie that Mary made yesterday, along with tea, while watching 3 episodes of Cosmos, by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a DVD set that Bill gave to Mary at Christmas. It was made in 2014 and it's very good. When we went to bed after midnight, the NW wind was howling, and the temperature was 9°.

Mom with a Saguaro Cactus.

January 5-11, 2020

Weather | 1/5, 29°, 52° | 1/6, 20°, 40° | 1/7, 26°, 42° | 1/8, 17°, 36° | 1/9, 45°, 59° | 1/10, 1.02" rain, 27°, 43° | 1/11, 1/2" snow or 0.16" moisture, 20°, 23° |

• Sunday, 1/5: Katie texted several times prior, during, and after the Vikings/Saints Wildcard NFL playoff game in New Orleans, where she was one of several military people to hold a big flag during pregame ceremonies (see photo below). She watched the game in nosebleed seats with other Vikings fans. We listened to the game on the radio. Vikings won 26-20 in overtime. Also, listened to part of the Seattle Seahawks 17-9 win over the Eagles. All the right teams won. Mary did money wrangling to pay bills and figure 2020 savings funds. Since funds looked solid, I paid our credit card bill to-date. Went to bed earlier than we have in eons, since we want to be to the vet with Mocha when they open at 8 am.

• Monday, 1/6: Drove to Hannibal and to the vet by opening time. Dr. Jill Briscoe, the first vet we saw with Mocha at the General Veterinary Clinic, thinks Mocha might have an enlarged kidney, a congenital condition. That's different from what Dr. Robert Carson, the other vet who saw Mocha, said the last time we were there. A serious kidney issue might mean we have to put her asleep. They're going to do blood work and kidney problems would show up with that. We'll see what develops. Left Mocha in Hannibal, got gas at Fastlane in Taylor, MO, and went home. Mary and I went for a walk to Wood Duck Pond and up the creek bed that drains into the pond. Lots of deer and huge raccoon tracks. On the way back, we walked down the trail I cut prior to deer hunting season into Rose Butt Field. Katie called when we returned to the house. She's tired with a bit of congestion. Part of volunteering to hold the flag involved putting white towels on every seat in the stadium in New Orleans the day prior. Her legs are sore from marching up and down the stadium. She enjoyed herself at the game and said it was a good one to be her first NFL live experience. She was surprised at how average-sized a lot of the good Vikings players were. The Vikings equipment guy she borrowed the helmet from and who took her photo, was surprised at how many Vikings fans there were amongst the military folks. The guy holding the flag next to her was from the Twin Cities. She said, "We were nerding out, together," about Vikings players. They were on the same side as the Vikings sideline. We didn't receive a call from the vet today, but they said they might have to give Mocha an IV and build her fluids up prior to taking a blood sample. That will take time. Saw a bald eagle while doing chores. Listened to several chapters of the audio book, Educated, by Tara Westhover, a spellbinding book about breaking away from a survivalist family in Idaho. 
• Tuesday, 1/7: Our vet called around 9 am. The blood work on Mocha showed that kidneys were operating fine and white blood count was normal. We gave Dr. Phil Briscoe (husband of Jill who saw us yesterday) the go-ahead to do exploratory surgery on Mocha. He did and called at 1:30 pm. He found a large bone in Mocha's small intestine, removed it, sewed her back up, and she was starting to lift her head at that moment. "I don't know what critter she was trying to eat," he said, "but it was definitely bigger than her." He wants to wait 24 hours and see her get an appetite. He said he'd call us in the morning. I moved all of the wood that has been drying in the machine shed to the woodshed. Then, I split the most recently cut red oak logs and stacked most of them in the machine shed to dry. Built an outside fire and had a "meatie" roast...slabs of pork tenderloin stabbed with metal weiner-roasting sticks and cooked on an open fire. Was delicious. Mary made a shopping list for tomorrow. She swept and dusted, and opened up the north bedroom that was housing Mocha's food, water, and litter box. 
• Wednesday, 1/8: At 8:46 am we got a message from our vet that Mocha was alert, doing well, and would be ready for us to pick her up after 2 pm. We were going to go shopping in Quincy, but decided to postpone that. Drove to Hannibal and got Mocha. She's much more alert and eating like gangbusters...4 meals between 3:45 and bedtime. We watched 3 episodes of Ken Burns' Civil War to finish it. Set up a bed on the floor in our bedroom for the kitten. Mocha said the hell with that and slept between our pillows.

Mocha Bean is home!

• Thursday, 1/9: I shopped in Quincy while Mary stayed home with pets and Mocha. Dropped off more electronic stuff (mostly old computer cords) at Staples. Got 2 new smoke alarms at Home Depot. Shopped Sam's Club, Walmart, County Market, and Aldi for food and Farm & Home for pet food. At 1 point, I texted Mary, asking how Mocha was and she sent the photo below. Mocha ate 6 times. Mary added hay to the chicken coop in prep for bad weather. Goldie, our newest Buff Orpington hen, is laying small eggs. Mary waxed the human door, so we can get in. Prediction is for 0.1 to 0.3 inch of ice and 30 mph winds over the weekend. Can you say the potential for no electricity? Glad we heat with a wood stove.

"Looks okay to me."

• Friday, 1/10: Started day with Mocha refusing to eat. Gave her laxative, twice, and she slept all day. She perked up around 9 pm, was in the kitchen while Mary was making a ham sandwich, ate a bit of ham and meowed for more. I fed her bits of mine, then made a ham/water slurry in a bowl, which she drank and ate, then snarfed regular cat food. She obviously needed a day of rest. With a potentially bad ice storm coming, Mary made a big pot of vegetable soup and biscuits, and raked leaves, which she put on the compost. I removed a rain gutter that was over the north AC, so it wouldn't clog with ice and break off, pumped up the driver's side front tire on the Buick that had gone flat, and split the remaining big logs and stacked them in the Machine Shed. It started pouring rain while I was stacking firewood (after sundown) and rained all evening. We even had a bit of thunder. When we walked the dogs after midnight, the lawn and our lane was awash in water. It was starting to freeze at that moment, with mist coming down...glad I don't have to drive anywhere.
• Saturday, 1/11: After a pile of rain overnight, it was snowing by morning. Kept chickens inside and we stayed inside, too. Mocha is eating healthy. Did the ham/water slurry twice to make sure she consumed water. She's pooping, too. We're probably the only kitten owners who cheer when our little cat takes a shit. Mary made a pear cake, heavily laced with brandy. Vikings lost to 49ers in playoffs. Titans beat Ravens...don't care. Watched 2 movies...Hot Fuzz and I.Q. Had tea and cake with the movies. Storm is over for us and we didn't get much, which is just fine. A bald eagle flew low over the house...kind of common this time of year...we usually see 1 every day.

Dec. 29, 2019 - Jan. 4, 2020

Weather | 12/29, 1.30" rain, 49°, 53° | 12/30, 27°, 32° | 12/31, 29°, 36° | 1/1, 22°, 49° | 1/2, 37°, 52° | 1/3, 31°, 40° | 1/4, a few snowflakes overnight, 31°, 39° |

• Sunday, 12/29: Today is our 29th anniversary. Bill left, after a venison stroganof dinner, at 2:30 pm. Katie finished her moose cross-stitch and took Plato and Amber on a walk on the East Trail. We played Sorry, a game that Katie picked out, in the evening and then watched the WW I movie, They Shall Not Grow Old, along with its extras.
• Monday, 12/30: At 9 am, we got a call from Dr. Carson, our vet in Hannibal handling Mocha. He said he's given her several enemas. X-rays still show something he can't recognize, but she's eating and seems normal...said the unrecognizable item might be just something "kitteny" that she'll grow out of. Said we could proceed with exploratory surgery, or take her to Quincy for an ultrasound. Both cost about $250, each. He recommended getting her home and seeing if she can come out of it on her own. Mary said fine to his recommendation. After morning chores, we went to Hannibal. One of the vet assistants said Mocha demands attention anytime anyone enters the cat kennel area. The 3-day stay, 8 enemas, 4 x-rays, and stool softener medicine cost us $237.15, which we thought was very reasonable, considering all that they did. Mocha snuggled with Mary on the way home. Decided to introduce her to our herd...normal cat reaction from our cats to Mocha...they hate her and hiss at her. Plato went up sniffing her and got too close, so Mocha smacked him on the nose. First, she ate 6 cat food pieces, then 8 pieces. In the evening, she ate for 10 minutes straight. Katie and I left for St. Louis at 3 pm, so she could catch her flight to New Orleans. Dropped off cat dewormer that we didn't use at Tractor Supply in Troy, MO. Katie's flight was delayed. The screwed up St. Louis airport, Lambert Field, has 2 terminals, 1 for departures and 1 for arrivals. Went to Terminal 1, which is departures. Southwest, who Katie is flying with, wasn't listed there. Went to Terminal 2, which is for arrivals, and Southwest is there for both departures and arrivals...what a stupid mess. Signs indicated arrivals and departures based on terminals. You're just supposed to know that Southwest's departures are at the arrivals terminal. Dropped Katie off and went to Bill's apartment. He shopped after work, so I waited a little while for him, then we drove to a nearby Best Buy and recycled more electronic junk...a printer/scanner, a Gateway 12-volt AC/DC converter, and an HP laptop. Ate at the House of India restaurant. Food was delicious. Went to Bill's apartment and watched the 2002 Bourne Identity movie.
• Tuesday, 12/31: An early morning text from Katie indicated she got to New Orleans, but her luggage didn't make it with her. After a shower, woke up Bill and ate an egg breakfast in his apartment. Bought gas for $2.09 a gallon and drove home. Stopped at Hannibal to buy a couple items at Aldi, including a New Year's celebratory bottle of Irish Cream. Got home just before noon. Enjoyed a chicken, sweet potato meal. We let Mocha out. She's eating and drinking with gusto and most importantly, pooping. Katie texted that her bag came in. We watched 3 sessions of Ken Burns' Civil War miniseries, but dozed off through the third one.
• Wednesday, 1/1: Kind of tired from all the driving in the past 2 days. Mocha seems to be doing well. Eats on a regular basis. She's getting along best with the dogs. She explores every so often, so we chase her around the house while she's doing this, since we don't want her getting hurt from other cats. Mary washed sheets and furniture covers. We took down the Christmas tree, dusting ornaments as we put them away. Moved living room furniture back into better positions, giving us more room. Watched episodes 3 (since we slept through it last night) and 4 of the Civil War. Katie texted photos, videos of her visits around New Orleans.
• Thursday, 1/2: Feeling tired again today...attribute it to after holidays "ahh!" moment. Mary washed clothes. She wrapped up some skeins of yarn she got for Christmas into balls. I applied labels to my 27 pear wine bottles, placed them horizontally into 2 boxes apples came in and stored them in the upstairs north bedroom, turned to the wall to keep them dark and the wine corks away from cat claws.While bringing back mail and the garbage can from the gravel road, I heard a bald eagle, looked to the east and saw 3 large lumps in a cottonwood tree. Told Mary when I got to the house and with glasses, she saw 3 bald eagles sitting in that tree. They let out with their song every so often. Had venison General Tso for main dinner. Read in evening. I finished the 4th book of the Captain Jack Aubrey series by Patrick O'Brian, called The Maritius Command. Mocha was very busy exploring the house today.
• Friday, 1/3: Seemed like we babysat a kitty all day. Mocha didn't poop overnight, so we gave her a dose of stool softener. She found a liter box in the freezer room and did her duty. She wasn't eating, so Mary cooked up a little piece of sweet potato and a bit of turkey meat. She snarfed the sweet potato, then the turkey, then a few pieces of cat food. Mary made chili. We watched more of The Civil War. After the movie, Mocha vomited her sweet potato, then drank a bunch of water. I slept with Mocha in the recliner in the north bedroom to keep her warm.
• Saturday, 1/4: About 4 am, Mocha crawled out from under a blanket and barfed up more sweet potato on the Mid-Rivers wall calendar under the litter box and on the carpet. I cleaned up, told Mary about it, and went back to bed. After getting up and eating breakfast, decided not to call the vet, since Mocha ate and drank yesterday. After the vet office closed at noon, she drank a couple times and barfed liquid vomit. She's not eating today. Left a voice mail with the vet explaining that we will show up at opening time (8 am) on Monday with Mocha. Katie got tickets to the Vikings/Saints football playoff game tomorrow and she texted us that she "volunteered to be one of the military big flag people in Sunday's game." She added to watch for the military person with the red ball cap. I updated our checkbook register, did some checkbook balancing, and assessed the credit card balance. Mary worked on a puzzle that Katie gave her for Christmas in the evening.

Dec. 22-28, 2019

Weather | 12/22, 29°, 53° | 12/23, 32°, 58° | 12/24, 37°, 59° | 12/25, 41°, 63° | 12/26, 38°, 49° | 12/27, 30°, 43° | 12/28, 37°, 55° |

• Sunday, 12/22: I made waffles for breakfast. Mary baked cookies. Katie reviewed presents she ordered that got sent to us, then wrapped Christmas presents. I drove to Quincy and bought an air bed from Menards and fresh veggies from Aldi. The air bed took some time, because they had only 1 and it was on the bottom of a shrink-wrapped pallet in the back. Katie wants to do cross stitch, so Mary gave her a pattern book. Katie poured over it and picked out a pattern of a moose. Mary got Katie materials and helped her get started. We watched the Love Actually movie. Katie inflated the new air bed. It's a queen size and 22" high, so it's the height of an actual bed with a frame.
• Monday, 12/23: Our new kitten didn't eat for a couple days, so we decided to take it to a vet. Called the General Veterinary Clinic in Hannibal when they opened at 8 and they said to bring it in immediately. Katie grabbed it after chasing it around the north bedroom a bit. Turns out it's a female, so her name is Mocha. Loaded her into a pet carrier and into the car. Got to the vet clinic at 9:30. The vet was excellent. Mocha weighs 1.8 pounds, so estimated to be 2-3 months old. She got some dewormer. Had flea excrement in her fur, so she also got flea medication. Got an appointment for 2 weeks, to give Mocha another batch of dewormer and initial vaccination shots, if she's eating better by then. I held her for the first time in the vet office. She's very affectionate and purrs like a freight train. Bought gas and Katie a coffee at Hannibal. Back home at noon for our first meal of the day. Mary made blackberry bars, pumpkin pies, and speculaas cookies. Katie worked on her moose cross stitch design. I spent time with Mocha.
• Tuesday, 12/24: Mary made a pistachio torte and put the bed down in the upstairs north bedroom. Mocha immediately decided that was her bed, thank you very much. Bill arrived at about 1 pm. He quietly sneaked into the house and Amber barked at him, then Plato and Amber wiggy-wammed him all around the kitchen. Mary and Katie cleaned up the veggies. Mary and I saw a V of cackling geese. Bill, while laying down on the bed, got to where he could pet Mocha. She really likes him. We all got to petting her. She's very thin, but eating some dry cat food...won't touch the wet food. We played Triopoly and drank a bottle of wine. Katie won the game. We watched A Christmas Carol and got to bed around midnight.
• Wednesday, 12/25: Unwrapped presents after breakfast. Some very thoughtful presents from Katie and Bill. I called Mom after unwrapping presents and Katie and Bill got to talk with her for quite a few minutes. We did a wienie roast outside. Perfect day, with sun and temperatures in the 60s. We saw a couple Vs of snow geese heading west. We watched the movie Tolkien, a very good movie. Mocha is very affectionate (see photo of Bill & Mocha below).

• Thursday, 12/26: I changed the chain on the chainsaw and Mary, Bill and I drove the tractor/trailer to the edge of the woods SW of the house. I cut down a dead red oak tree, but down really isn't the correct word. This tree was thick with branches to the ground, so it stayed upright the entire time I sawed it up into firewood chunks. Had to continually cut off lower branches and drag them out to the field, then cut off chunks of firewood. Katie showed up and helped with loading firewood. Then, Mary and I unloaded firewood into appropriate locations. Had nachos and watched the Katie & Leopold movie. Mary used a syringe to try to get chicken broth into Mocha. She's too thin and not getting nourishment and liquids.
• Friday, 12/27: Called the General Veterinary Clinic in Hannibal to get Mocha in with a 1:45 pm appointment. Mary came this time. We saw Dr. Robert Carson, the principle vet who bought this clinic in 1976. He's very good. Gave Mocha an xray and showed it to us. She's got a lot of blockage in her colon and 1 item that he couldn't identify in her belly. He is keeping her and giving her an enema. Said he'd call with information as he knew more. After getting home, I washed and scraped labels off 12 wine bottles. We watched the first 4 episodes of Long Way Around, a series about Ewan McGregor and his friend taking motorbikes from the UK to New York, via Russia, several other countries, flying to Anchorage, then driving through Canada and across the U.S. It's very interesting.
• Saturday, 12/28: Since I didn't hear from the vet, I called when they opened at 8 am. Dr. Carson answered the phone. He had already given Mocha her 3rd enema since we dropped her off and took an X-ray. She still has 1 blockage left to remove and the unidentifiable item looks like another ball of poop, so he's going to continue to try to get that to pass. Bill & I washed/delabeled 23 wine bottles to give me a total of 35. Then, Bill made pizzas. After eating, Bill & I sanitized bottles and equipment. We racked the pear wine to the brew bucket and added 1 crushed Campden tablet and 2.5 teaspoons of potassium sorbate (stops any remaining yeast from working). Then, we bottled, with Bill filling bottles, Mary holding full bottles upright and me installing corks. Decided that the bottle-filling device I have isn't as good as what Bill has...a bottling bucket with a on/off tap at the bottom of the bucket. Also found it best to have 3 corks soaking in order to better slip them into the bottles. Bottled 27 bottles holding 750 ml, each (see photos below). Was about 5.25 gallons. Now we wait a year for the pear wine to age. We tasted what didn't get bottled. It tastes better than the last time we tried it. Age will probably make it even better. Dr. Carson called around 3 pm. Mocha still was bound up. He was going to continue to do enemas to get Mocha to pass the final material out of her bowels, naturally, but if that doesn't work, he'll have to do surgery. She will be home by Monday, at the earliest, if this all goes naturally. If surgery is involved, it will be several days later before she'll be coming home. We cleaned up the wine bottling stuff and watched the last 3 episodes and extras of Long Way Around.

27 Bottles of Pear Wine

A Bottle of my 2019 Pear Wine

Dec. 15-21, 2019

Weather | 12/15, 4" snow or 0.44" moisture, 15°, 20° | 12/16, 15°, 29° | 12/17,  11°, 23° | 12/18, 8°, 27° | 12/19, 25°, 38° | 12/20, 27°, 45° | 12/21, 29°, 49° |

• Sunday, 12/15: It started snowing at 10 am and snowed until midnight, giving us 4" on the ground. No firewood cutting, splitting, or stacking today. My sore muscles are thankful. Fed only 1 kitten in the machine shed. We think the fluffy orange kitten got too bold and was nailed by a wild animal overnight. Mary baked an apple pie. As darkness was coming on, we tried to get the remaining kitten to eat in the machine shed. It just meowed, but wouldn't eat. It was very cold and lonely, without its litter mate. Decided we needed to help it. I put a package of soft food, tuna-salmon flavor, in a bowl and grabbed a pet carrier. Unfortunately, it was our small carrier, so I gave the bowl of food to Mary and ran back to get the larger pet carrier. When I returned to the machine shed, I asked Mary if she saw the kitten and she said, "I have the kitten." It ran up to the food immediately. She tried to grab it and failed. It came back. She petted it and then grabbed it. The kitten struggled a little, but was too weak to put up much of a fight. We put it in the carrier with the bowl of food. It freaked out and dumped wet cat food all over the inside of the carrier as I hauled it inside. We took it to the upstairs north bedroom, set up a litter box, water, and food, and let it loose with the door to the bedroom shut. It ran for under the stuffed chair. Turned on a lamp and let it be. Returned a few more times and it always hid behind a blanket under the bookshelves. We wrapped Christmas presents. I asked my former Petco workers for good, yet inexpensive, veterinarians. Molly had the best advice, the General Veterinary Clinic in Hannibal. I looked them up online. They look good. Once this little guy or girl is tame, we'll go get it neutered and get it a set of shots. Yes, we now have 6 cats. Sleeping arrangements might be altered for Christmastime visitors. Someone is getting the room with the kitten, we just don't know who, yet.
• Monday, 12/16: Mary cooked up a midday meal of cod and sweet potatoes. I was a bum. Don't see much of the kitten when we enter the upstairs north bedroom. It did use the litter box and ate and drank. We suspect it was once inside a home and was dumped near our place. Got a message at 8 pm from FedEx that the delivery of our package wasn't attempted, due to weather...4" of snow didn't stop the mailman from delivering. We researched and decided on some loose leaf teas, which we'll buy after Christmas using a $50 gift card reward from our bank. We figure an after-holidays purchase might avert shipping issues. Plus, Stash Tea doesn't ship with FedEx.
• Tuesday, 12/17: We've got deer tracks in the snow all through our yards and by all of the out buildings. Spent an hour in the morning and an hour at night with our new kitten. It came to within a couple inches of both of us in the morning session. It knows to use the litter box instantly...no training necessary. In the evening, it ate an adult portion of wet cat food, producing a huge belly. There's no problem with its appetite. Haven't been able to determine its sex. Decided to call it Mocha if it's a girl, and Binx if it's a boy. A package Katie sent is now back to supposedly being delivered by FedEx. I texted her, advising her to change its destination to the Quincy Walgreens store. I found a 2x8 board, cleaned it up, and installed the nutcracker on it. Tried cracking a black walnut. It worked great. I cleaned the 30:30 rifle I used for deer season. Boxed up 35 empty wine bottles that I'll clean, remove labels, in the future. Didn't want to be trying to dig them out of the downstairs west bedroom when a kid will be in there during holidays. Removed anything important out of the old Lenovo laptop, removed the hard drive, purposefully damaged it, then reinstalled it. Will drop it off at Staples for recycling in the near future.
• Wednesday, 12/18: Plato and Amber always roar out the house door when we walk them, running north to woof at squirrels or bunnies. This morning, Plato came back with a big bunch of fluff in his mouth. Mary asked him to drop it, which he did, and it was a dead squirrel. He nailed it. He was very proud of himself. This explains the mystery of the dead squirrel a couple weeks ago. Mary tossed it into the north woods and while doing so, saw a beaten-down path into there by coyotes. It was an amazing, sparkling spectacle of frost-laden grass, tree branches, and cedar boughs this morning as the sun rose. I took down 1 of the 2 ceiling light fixtures in the kitchen and hung a new 7-bulb chandelier fixture in its place. The old 2-bulb fixture had cloth-covered wires on the backside of it. Good to be done with that! The new light is 1000% brighter. I cleaned the bathroom sink drain. Rust in the device that opens and closes the drain will require a replacement. I smashed several hickory nuts with the new nutcracker. It works well, but it takes time. After 1.5 hours, I had a little bit of nutmeats in a sandwich bag. I cleaned up and stacked at the back door several old electronic items to recycle at Staples, including a Gateway desktop computer, its monitor, its speakers, a Lenovo laptop, and a VCR/DVD player. Mary figured her monthly menu and drew up a shopping list. A FedEx email announced that our package is finally at the Quincy Walgreens store.
• Thursday, 12/19: We shopped in Quincy. Had to charge the Cadillac's battery, first. It was dead. Lower price for aluminum can recycling. Uploaded iPhone operating system 13 for my phone while on the Quincy Library's wifi. Also downloaded an audio book. Ate at Chinese restaurant where we swore 2 years ago we wouldn't eat there, again. We won't eat there, again. Picked up FedEx package at Walgreens. Dropped off electronic stuff for recycling at Staples. They won't take VCR/DVD player. Bought pet food at Farm & Home. Got bathroom sink drain ball rod assembly at Menards. Grocery shopped at Sam's Club, Walmart, County Market, and Aldi. Got home at 4:30, did chores, unloaded car, ate an Aldi pizza, and watched the Trading Places movie. Bill texted, asking about Saturday's schedule and I responded. Checked Gateway Arch info online. Sent texts to Katie and Bill related to visiting the arch.
• Friday, 12/20: I cleaned up the 2 tube-type TVs and moved them to behind our entrance door. Cleaned our rug shampooer (it had Merlin's pee on it & took a great deal of scrubbing to get it clean) and put it away in our upstairs bedroom closet. Cleaned up and put away several other items in the downstairs west bedroom, then swept its floor. Mary and I then scrubbed that room's floor with Lysol and a couple rags. We also clipped all dog nails.
• Saturday, 12/21: Mary cleaned house and baked bread. I left home by 7:15 am. Picked up Bill at his place in St. Charles, MO, then drove to Lambert Field in St. Louis and waited for Katie, who flew in on a Southwest flight from New Orleans, arriving in St. Louis at 10:30 am. That is the worst airport in the world for vehicle traffic congestion. After getting Katie, we went to a Best Buy and recycled the TVs...cost $25 each to get rid of them. Then, we went to a Schnucks grocery store and bought lunch...salad for Katie and I and Bill got a sub. Drove to downtown, found a parking garage, and walked to the Gateway Arch. Spent over an hour in the museum, then took the tram to the top of the arch and back. Then, drove to the Sameem Afghan Restaurant in the Grove neighborhood of Forest Park. The food is excellent. Bought some cat food and a syringe at the St. Charles Petco store. Couldn't find cat deworming medication, so called a couple places. Dropped Bill off at his place and picked up his air bed. On the way home, bought some dewormer at Tractor Supply in Troy, MO. Ran into a dog while slowing down to the first stop light coming into Hannibal. Pulled off the road. Katie walked through the woods down the hill where I hit it, but couldn't find it. Got the Hannibal Police's phone number and called them. Two squad cars showed up. While one was getting info from us, the other officer found the dog. It was okay. That took us about an hour. Got home around midnight. Bill's air bed had a 4-5 inch slice in it, so Katie slept on the couch.

Dec. 8-14, 2019

Weather | 12/8, 33°, 50° | 12/9, 19°, 47° | 12/10,  12°, 31° | 12/11, 17°, 37° | 12/12, 27°, 49° | 12/13, 24°, 49° | 12/14, 26°, 27° |

• Sunday, 12/8: Woke at 6 am, ate a sandwich and hunted the Cherry Tree Stand. Got there at 7, crawled up onto the stand, looked down to load my gun and realized I didn't wear my hunter orange vest that has the bullets in the pockets...boy, what an idiot! Walked back, got my vest, returned to the stand, and was boiling hot due to my quadruple forced march. Didn't see deer. Thought I heard some under the cedars immediately south of the stand, but that might have been rabbits or squirrels. Not a good idea to go hunting while the sun is rising. Mary washed sheets. I hunted the SE deer blind at 2:30 pm. Didn't see a single deer. Saw a small coyote trot by, running south to north. Saw gobs of squirrels...one came up to 3 feet away. Heard turkeys landing in the trees NE of me, two great horned owls hooting in that same general area, and coyotes howling in the woods just north of me. Tonight's the end of deer hunting. Got 1 doe on opening day. Including most of part of one of last year's deer, we have a total of 42 packages of venison in the freezer, so we're not hurting. Also, this means we're doing the traditional smorgasbord meal at Christmas, instead of some venison thing Mary was going to do. It also means we go back to normal life, instead of not planning, in case we had to spend time butchering a deer. That makes Mary happier. Watched The Holiday movie. Katie texted at 11:15 pm that she is in Anchorage. I texted back, asking how her flight was and she called. She was eating Thai food at a restaurant. They had blizzard conditions in Mertarvik for 2 days, but temps warmed when she flew out today. She said it was different flying into Anchorage in a small plane. With a jet, you drop out of the clouds and there are the town's lights. In a small plane, you see Anchorage's lights a long way out. Her flight out of Anchorage is Wed., 12/11, so she'll be there for a few days.
• Monday, 12/9: Started out as a dark, cloudy day, but cleared in the afternoon. I used a tank full of gas in the chainsaw and cut up a wagon load of firewood. Unloaded wood in various places, based on its dryness. Mary baked 4 loaves of bread, so she couldn't help me with firewood. While unloading wood in the machine shed, I heard kittens meowing after I said something to myself. They seemed to respond to my voice. Told Mary. She found 2 kittens, both very fluffy, 1 orange and 1 a brownish/gray tabby, both with swirls on their sides. She guesses they're 4-6 months old. She gave them food and water, which they gulped up. They seem to be familiar with humans. We're guessing they were dumped...hate humans! Pulled the cat food and water after dark, so it wouldn't attract wild animals. Mary also found a couple winter wrens in the machine shed...we ought to rename it the zoo. When Bill found out we were doing a Christmas smorgasbord, he asked all gung-ho, "You want me to bring some cheeses!"
• Tuesday, 12/10: Some mornings, when I wake early, I go to the easy chair in the upstairs north bedroom, throw blankets on, and look out the north window. This morning after doing that, I saw 5 doe deer walk by the north edge of our garden, heading to the west. They were happy and sassy, saying, "Nanny, nanny, you can't shoot us!" Mary put feed and water out and the 2 newest outdoor kittens in the Machine Shed ate, then slept in the sun. We don't know their sex, so Mary named them Frankie and Johnnie, from the song by that name. Mary and I moved split wood from the Machine Shed to the woodshed, then cut another gas tank load of firewood from the downed elm tree...this time mainly large pieces that need to be split. We're leaving the rest of that tree for Mother Nature, since it's full of knots and has poison ivy growing up the trunk. We stacked the firewood in correct places. After chores and our nightly meal, we did a Christmas-related job, which took all night, that will be revealed after Santa visits.
• Wednesday, 12/11: I split the firewood from the last 2 sessions of firewood cutting. This job took all afternoon, creating 2 waist-high firewood piles, about 5-foot long. Mary dusted the DVDs. We watched the movie, Miss Potter.
• Thursday, 12/12: I'm sore from several continuous days of firewood work, so took morning and half of the afternoon off. Every morning for weeks, I've been browsing online sites for used pickups. I'm always finding junk, based on the money we have saved up for buying a pickup, so far. Decided to wait until February/March, when we'll have a bigger pickup nest egg, and then look again. Mary and I sorted and stacked firewood into the woodshed and machine shed that I split yesterday. I took down temporary lights in the machine shed and coiled, cleaned up and put away electrical cords. Katie called around 11 am to tell us she made it into Gulfport in the early morning hours. She called in the evening and talked for 1 hour, 24 minutes, while driving to Florida to do her makeup Air National Guard duty. Talked about her job in Alaska, about earlier sunrises here in the Lower 48, compared to AK, upcoming spring college attendance (she's 2 classes away from an associate's degree), ideas on becoming an AK resident, and thoughts about moving.
• Friday, 12/13: FedEx strikes, again. All day, the online tracking of a package indicated it was on a delivery truck. Since a package sent via FedEx was lost Thanksgiving weekend, we monitored this one regularly throughout the day. It never showed. At night, an email indicated that the package had the wrong address, yet the address listed in that email for the package was our correct address. I called FedEx, only got a computerized voice, which said the address was wrong on the package and that only the entity shipping the package could change the address. I sent an email message to the originating company asking them to forward explicit directions on how to get to our home to the Quincy, IL office of FedEx. Mary washed clothes and dusted books. I sharpened the two chainsaw chains. Attempted to cut firewood from a downed white oak tree north of the chicken yard, but it's so wet, it's almost soil, just like it was a year ago. Went to the woods west of the west yard. Cut up a downed red oak tree and several branches. Also, felled a tall red oak tree and cut it into firewood. Loaded a full wagon load and Mary and I unloaded it. There's still cut firewood left in the woods...it was too dark to go back. While doing chores and getting the mail, Mary saw a red-tailed hawk and a sharp-shinned hawk. At the mailbox, Mary saw 10 trumpeter swans flying low and on the way back from the mailbox, a belted kingfisher. 
• Saturday, 12/14: A 3:54 am email from FedEx says our package is out in a delivery truck due to be dropped off at our place today. Obviously, our email worked. We also got a 8:53 am FedEx email that a Florida package is out for delivery. Hopefully, we'll see these 2 packages by the end of the day. Knowing FedEx, they'll screw something up. I drove the tractor and trailer back into the woods and picked up the red oak tree that I cut up yesterday, unloaded it into the machine shed, and split the firewood I cut and hauled in yesterday. Mary helped me stack it. We're now shoulder-high with a stack of firewood in the woodshed. Mary raked leaves and insulated potted blueberry plants with the leaves. Watched The Polar Express and The Seeker movies. We got Mom's package...a case of oranges from Florida. That was delivered, because it was a FedEx package handled by the U.S. Postal Service from St. Louis onward and the postal folks know where we live. The FedEx delivery bozos don't know where we live. The other package that was on a delivery truck never showed up, for the second day in a row. I found a website that is dedicated to complaints about FedEx. They do the same trick around the country. On FedEx's website I found where you can ask for the package to go to a Walgreens store, where you can pick it up. I selected that option. It takes 5 business days for them to do this. We'll be through Quincy after 5 business days and can hopefully get the package before Christmas, since it's a gift. In the future, we will not do business with anyone who ships via FedEx.