March 29-April 4, 2020

Weather | 3/29, 41°, 61° | 3/30, 40°, 61° | 3/31, 41°, 59° | 4/1, 32°, 59° | 4/2, 45°, 63° | 4/3, 0.13" rain, 35°, 55° | 4/4, 0.02" rain, 27°, 48° |

• Sunday, 3/29: The wind blew very hard out of the west all day. We had midday nachos and watched the movie, Pan. An actor in that movie has Hedlund as his last name. Looked him up online and he was born in Roseau, MN. There are lots of Hedlunds there. His parents divorced when he was young, he graduated from high school in AZ, eventually living in L.A. The movie is good, even though I wonder if the director was on drugs, due to the psychedelic colors. Mary crocheted for an hour. After chores, we walked to below the Swim Pond, looking for gravel dumped there by the renter of the land when Mary's uncle, Herman, was alive. We found it, plus big rocks put there from when fields were plowed on the property. While looking at it, I turned to the NE and saw a deer looking at us. Pointed it out to Mary. We all stood looking at each other, then it turned and bounced away, showing off its namesake, its white tail. We walked to the Swim Pond. A kingfisher flew back and forth on the opposite shore, occasionally skimming the water. Lots of fish were surfacing, some pretty good sized bass. The water that was murky a couple days ago is clearing up. We also watched a great blue heron fly by. I researched growing strawberries in containers and the cost of titrets, an item that measures SO2 in wine. Costs $26 for 10...I might just guess on my wine's sulfur content.


• Monday, 3/30: It was a nice, sunny day, without wind, a rare day in March. We heard a brown thrasher for the first in the morning. Mary washed sheets and furniture covers, then made spaghetti for our main meal. I checked out 4 gallon cat litter buckets that I drilled holes in the bottom last year, threw away some that were all chewed up by mice, kept 27 for planting strawberries and apple tree root stock in , with 4 alternates. Mary cleaned old grass that grew on the 2nd compost bin last year and said the compost in it is perfect. She fertilized the asparagus with compost and wood ashes. She then fertilized the garlic with fish fertilizer, then made kindling out of saved branches in the Machine Shed. I drove the tractor/trailer to the ash tree I downed to the east a couple days ago, cut it up, along with 2 dead cherry trees, loaded up a wagon load of firewood and drove it back home. The ground is drying up, but still squishy in places, especially on trails. Pretty tired...some of the logs from the ash tree were quite heavy.


• Tuesday, 3/31: Mary washed the towels. She planted pepper seeds and put 3 big sweet potatoes in Mason jars, filled with water. She cleaned dead plants out of the near garden. I cleaned the air filter and spark plug on Mary's lawnmower. I also sharpened the blade. Mary mowed inside and outside the fence of the near garden. I unloaded firewood out of the wagon. Mary figured March 2020 weather stats...this March was the 3rd warmest and the 2nd wettest since we started keeping records in 2012. Average temperature was 44.23 degrees and rain for the month was 3.39". Last year's rain was higher, over 4". Mary found a plan for making a face mask, which we might do, so we have it when we go to Quincy on shopping trips.


• Wednesday, 4/1: I was going to put copper spray on all of the fruit trees, but a SE wind was blowing too hard. With the SE wind came the neighbor dairy spreading huge mountains of cow manure on a field that is located SE of us...ah, the odor of spring in the air! Mary did 2 loads of laundry. She also dug up about half of the near garden, getting it ready for planting. She said she noticed about 14 earthworms per shovel full. Some were huge...about 16 inches long. Mary also planned where various plants will go in the garden. I worked on the near garden fence by loosening the wire braces on each corner, then pushing down corner posts, then tightening the bracing. Tightened 2 wires running around the perimeter of the fence and tamped down soil immediately under the bottom wire. I turned on the electric fencer and it wasn't getting above the yellow color on the strength lights (red is lowest, then yellow, orange, and green is best). The bottom electric wire is rusty and touching the ground it too many places...something I'll have to fix tomorrow. We're hearing Bob White quail, now. The forsythia bushes are kicking out yellow blossoms. Mary texted Bill, asking how his first day of work was. He said he ought to take time off more often. His most troublesome worker was fired and they're offering him a new position. The returns department is a mess and they'd like him to fix it. Details are yet to be worked out. Texted Mom. Snow was falling with about an inch or 2 on the ground and it was 18° in Circle, MT.


• Thursday, 4/2: Got a text from Mom...snow and a morning temperature of 5° in Circle, MT. It was garden prep day for us. Mary dug up the remainder of the near garden, finding lots of huge worms. I replaced the bottom electrical fence wire and rusty parts of the 2nd from the bottom wire. Replaced orange bailing twine going around the top of all fence posts. Thoroughly stomped down all soil under the bottom electrical wire. Replaced bottom gate handle and 2 gate wires. Turned on fencer and still had a low reading. Fortunately, Mary was in the garden when I plugged in the fencer and initially heard a snap where vertical wires connect horizontal electrical wires, making alternating ones either hot or grounded. I replaced all of these vertical connecting wires and then had peak performance from the fencer. Now for the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom story...Nick, our mainly white cat, spotted something behind the cabinet doors under the sink. It was a fairly large black racer snake. Mary carefully grabbed it behind its head (something I wouldn't do, because it gives me the weebee geebees) and hauled it outside into the tall grass. After dark, Mocha came into the living room several times with a live mouse that she batted around, let loose and chased after. At one point she chased it into my empty moccasin and another time under the dog bed blanket. Eventually, she didn't have it. Hope she ate it and it didn't crawl off to die and stink somewhere in the house. An evening call from Bill revealed his interesting day. He took most of the day at work sleuthing the loss of 50 iPads worth over $18,000 that shipping records showed they received, but could not be accounted for. Video recordings pointed to 2 employees in Bill's department showing the movement of full boxes to a door out of the building near "going home" time, followed by the video showing an empty cart returning back into the building. Once they had video evidence, Bill's boss asked him to keep those 2 employees busy until 6:30, when police arrived to make an arrest. Good news...thieves are gone. Bad news...tasks done by those 2 employees means the only person remaining who knows how to do those tasks is Bill.


• Friday, 4/3: Our high temperature was just after we got up, then it got colder throughout the day. Spent morning online, reading news. Mary was planning on planting some seeds, but decided not to with temperatures probably dropping below freezing tonight. We got a notice that the powdered milk we ordered a few weeks back from Sam's Club is waiting for us at the Walgreen's store in Quincy. When I saw it was being shipped from the grand powdered milk cow in California via FedEx, I changed its delivery to the Quincy Walgreen's, so we'd actually see it. We also got notice that our strawberry plants and apple tree root stock was shipped from Fedco in Maine, again, via FedEx. It's due in on Wednesday, so I'll try to coordinate that so I can pick up both shipments in one visit. Mary made flour tortillas, and then chimichangas. I was going to move rocks into the tractor tire ruts in the Machine Shed, but incoming storms prevented that. We walked back down to below the Swim Pond dam to determine whether to come in with the tractor from the SE or NW. Would have to cross a quagmire of mud via the SE route, so NW is better. While walking around checking this out, I spotted an owlet with just white feathers at the base of an oak tree. Left it alone...hope it survives. I also discovered a head-high mound of gravel that we can use, A small cedar tree is growing out of the top of it and it's covered with grass. Rain started at 3:30. We watched the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, then did chores, then watched the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows. 
• Saturday, 4/4: A cloudy to sunny day. Morning temperature was below 32°, but a warm ground prevented anything from freezing. Even the yellow forsythia blossoms stayed healthy. Honey bees are buzzing in the weeping willow tree flowers. Mary found directions online for making face masks. It was through a blog by an British woman who recommended a website called craftpassion.com, developed by a Malaysian woman, an engineer, who created face mask patterns for her kids who were suffering from allergies due to air pollution. Mary worked at creating the pattern on graft paper, but it didn't come out right. I said I'd give it a shot. She hand washed some fabric that will become masks. I took the tractor and wagon, along with a spud bar, to below the Swim Pond dam and collected up some big rocks. While driving there, I spotted an animal looking at me from the NE as I crested the hill. I thought it was a deer, but when it spun around and ran off, I realized it was a coyote, and a pretty big coyote, at that. After getting the rocks, I drove back to the Machine Shed and partially filled the tractor ruts. I'll need more rock to finish the job. Makes for a bumpy ride driving the tractor under cover, now. Asked Bill how work was for him and he said it was okay...his boss is looking for replacement workers for him. He took a fictional character personality test that told him he was most like Bruce Banner, the person who turns into the Hulk. I asked him if he was turning green and he responded, "Nope, showered this morning."

March 22-28, 2020

Weather | 3/22, 0.13" melted snow, 28°, 35° | 3/23, 31°, 45° | 3/24, 32°, 49° | 3/25, 39°, 57° | 3/26, 41°, 55° | 3/27, 41°, 55° | 3/28, 0.35" rain, 51°, 71° |

• Sunday, 3/22: It snowed most of the day, but it all melted as it hit the ground. It's a squishy step everywhere you walk. Mary made venison stew and biscuits. She also did some drawing and cross stitching. I was an internet news-reading bum throughout the day. I did take time out to order Mary a pair of boots, since her's started cracking just a couple days ago. Was going to have them delivered to home, but Home Depot's shipping was too high. Added buying another smoke alarm to make their $45 minimum for free shipping, but it's shipped from a different location, so they still charge shipping. I said, "Fine, you asses!" and had it shipped for free to the Quincy store. We'll make a reconnaissance mission, equipped with alcohol and latex glove artillery, when her boots arrive in Quincy. Bill is feeling much better and texted that it was the first day since Tuesday that he hasn't taken a acetaminophen. Katie texted that she traded some potatoes and beer bread for some homemade rabbit and sausage gumbo and some fresh eggs.


• Monday, 3/23: After I woke and was staring out the north bedroom window to the NE, I saw the following: 1) a coyote walking east to west, 2) a big raccoon lumbering south to north along the edge of our far garden, 3) two deer that headed SE, got spooked by something on the gravel road and ran to the north, and 4) two more deer deliberately walking south to north. Then I looked out the east windows of our bedroom and saw 2 more deer walking toward the house, then turned at the garden and followed it to the north, then veered NW into the woods. Then saw a barred owl land on a cedar tree near Dove Pond. We are just visitors on our land. The wildlife own the land. I was online all day. Mary drew a wine bottle and crocheted. I put part of a crushed Campden tablet in the grapefruit wine, since the bubbling was nearly stopped. It fizzed a great deal with the introduction of that powder, which would be sulfur gas being released from the Campden tablet. I tasted a tiny bit of the Campden powder mixed with distilled water and it tastes like intense rotten egg...really hideous...had to wash it down with 2 Cokes.


• Tuesday, 3/24: Mary made a batch of flour tortillas and then chimichangas. She drew a set of 3 acorn caps. I spent time online. We heard a wild turkey for first time while doing evening chores. I found several wine making suppliers online. Midwest Supply, in the Twin Cities, boosted shipping charges to close to $20, which made me look elsewhere. In the evening, I produced a chart listing various wine types I want to make, along with yeast types and unique ingredients required by each wine. Mary's boots are in Quincy, so we might go there tomorrow to pick them up and a couple items.


• Wednesday, 3/25: Even though we knew that Mary's boots made it to Quincy's Home Depot store this morning, we decided if we didn't get an email from them by 1:30 pm, we'd postpone and go in tomorrow, since there are fewer people shopping in mornings than afternoons. We got the email mid-afternoon, so we stayed home. I cut a wagon load of firewood from dead trees that are located on both sides of a creek that flows down the hill, eastward from the house. My chainsaw ran out of gas just after I downed a good sized ash tree, so I still have to go back and saw it up. I parked the load of wood in the Machine Shed. Mary cleaned house, drew a crumpled jacket, and did cross stitch.


• Thursday, 3/26: We went to Quincy, picked up Mary's new boots at Home Depot, and bought items we couldn't find the last time we shopped. This time, we found everything. The streets were quiet, and the stores were emptier, but not as vacant as one would imagine. Prior to going, I soaked 5 folded paper towels with alcohol for the 5 expected shopping stops and put them in a Ziploc baggie. We also took our boxes of latex gloves that we already own for butchering deer every fall. We wore a new set of gloves for each store we shopped in. We were the only shoppers doing that. Mostly, we saw older people wondering around as if there wasn't a care in the world, which is kind of weird with the explosion of coronavirus cases in Illinois and Missouri. It took us 2 hours to shop. Bought gas on the way home at $1.57 a gallon, the lowest price we've seen in years. After putting stuff away, doing chores and eating, we watched the 2017 version of Beauty and the Beast, 2 times, again.


• Friday, 3/27: I made breakfast waffles. Mary did more cleaning today. We both vacuumed bugs several times. The Asian ladybugs are really on the go with increased temperatures. I unloaded the wagon of firewood and cleaned and sharpened one of the chainsaw chains. Cleaning each tooth with gasoline and a brass brush, then sharpening with a round file and an appropriate jig takes more time, but the result is tremendously better than using the grinder. While working on the chain, I heard chickens squawking, ran next door to the chicken yard and a Cooper's Hawk had Goldie, the Buff Orpington hen, on the ground at the north end of the run. I ran up and the hawk flew up and landed in a tree just north of the yard. I then growled and shouted loud enough to echo off the trees and it flew away to the north. Goldie walked off just fine, after losing about 20 feathers. It was a good thing I was nearby, or she would have died. Mary made an autumn olive pie, which we snarfed half of while reading and enjoying loose leaf tea. Bill called and talked to both of us. He feels fine and actually ran yesterday. He's in his confinement until Wednesday (4/1). His place of employment is still working. He talked to his boss for an hour today, helping with a program that no one else seems to know how to use.


• Saturday, 3/28: We woke to a thunderstorm in the morning. Read a bunch online. Silly John Hendrix is still organizing for a class reunion in Homer, AK. I think it's nonsense with a worldwide pandemic escalating. Mocha first spotted it out the south window of the living room and when I looked, she was eyeballing a large black racer snake in the grass. Mary made Maid Rites for our main meal. She also gathered dandelion greens that we ate as a salad. Again, we alternated between each of us vacuuming the bugs many times today. They were thick inside the house. I took the dogs for a long walk to Wood Duck Pond. When we got into the woods next to Wood Duck Pond, five deer ran off through the woods to the south. The dogs loved the walk. Mary discovered that 3 pie cherry trees that we thought died last summer are actually alive. My wine is still bubbling and it shouldn't be. I might have to rack it again and add another Campden tablet to kill the yeast.

March 15-21, 2020

Weather | 3/15, 28°, 38° | 3/16, 0.05" rain, 35°, 43° | 3/17, 38°, 51° | 3/18, 0.53" rain, 40°, 50° | 3/19, 0.35" rain, 47°, 65° | 3/20, 35°, 36° | 3/21, 24°, 45° |

• Sunday, 3/15: Mary made flour tortillas. I did research in our books and online on ways to support a leaning apple tree. Modern high-tech orchards use a trellis of cables to support wispy dwarf trees planted 2' apart and maximize apples produced by minimizing the tree needing to grow a heavy trunk. Old fashion way, or the way I would go...3x3 wooden material built into a Y and resting on concrete. Or, I might let the tree grow at an angle, graft other trees from it, and not worry about it. Karen said Erin starts working from home this week and brought her computer tower and electronic equipment home to do so. We went to bed early, since we have to be up at 4:15 am tomorrow in order to get Mocha to the vet by 7:30 to get her fixed. 


• Monday, 3/16: After breakfast, Mary put Mocha in the pet carrier...boy was the kitten mad. We took her to the vet, getting there 5 minutes early, even though we stopped for school buses and slowed for a Lewis County deputy's flashing lights. Vet said she should be coming out of anesthesia by 3:30-4:00, and we can probably pick her up around that time. We bought a couple items in County Market, Walmart. and Aldi in Hannibal. At Walmart, they were holding a staff meeting in the back and after going through the self-checkout scanner, an employee wiped it down with a sanitizing wipe. Hannibal Walmart and Aldi stores are stocked better than their Quincy counterparts. Maybe Quincy really is a shit hole, like Shane Mace, my former Petco boss, always said. While driving back home, we got a voicemail from the Iowa State Extension that the tree grafting seminar is canceled due to the coronavirus and they'll send my money back...guess I'll spend it on a grafting knife and book and practice here at home. Arrived back home at 10:30, ate, and passed the time before heading back to Hannibal to pick up Mocha. There was an interesting write-up by Ruby Hollembaek on Facebook that I shared about her grandfather going from England to Alaska and enduring family deaths and illnesses. Picked Mocha up at 3, because the vet office called early telling us to do so. Cost was $90. She's coming out of surgery just fine...sore, but eating and drinking well. We watched the Mary Poppins Returns movie and liked it.


• Tuesday, 3/17: Mary washed sheets and furniture covers. After walking through the kitchen and seeing that the cats sacrificed a mouse all over the floor, Mary gave all of the floors a good mopping. She ended up doing all of the chores, due to what I did, which was to split all of the large logs left in the Machine Shed from 3 sessions of cutting firewood, and stacking them. One of the cherry trees had a huge colony of black ants in several pieces. I banged and shook all that I could see out of split pieces, then stacked them in different locations from the rest of the wood. Started at 2:30 and ended around 7:00. Mocha is doing excellent. We feel that the General Veterinary Clinic in Hannibal is the best in this region. We tried a little bit of the pear wine (see photo below). It's good. The pear taste has returned and it's not so harsh. Three months of mellowing helps. I'm sure it will get better with more aging. 

The first tasting of the 2019 pear wine.

• Wednesday, 3/18: Rained in the morning. It's splishy-splashy everywhere. I swam in online news. Checked Swanson Vitamins in Fargo ND, since we ordered 4 days ago and never heard word that they shipped...they're just swamped and will get to my order, soon, which by bedtime, a message arrived stating that the package was shipped. Wish I could attach a smell file. The woodshed is filled with the aroma of cherry wood and it's an amazing scent. Frogs are really loving the weather. In the evening, the air was filled with the sound of spring peepers (frogs) and blackbirds that are migrating through. We watched the Akeelah and the Bee movie made in 2006 about a girl winning the national spelling bee. It's excellent. My Samba amaryllis has all 4 flowers blooming atop its second shoot and looks great on this last day of winter (see below).

Second blossoms of Samba amaryllis.

• Thursday, 3/19: I woke up to the sound of thunder, so I looked at weather maps on my phone and then unplugged all electrical appliances. Then a line of thunderstorms rolled through. Mary baked a batch of bread, so we had fresh bread with vegetable soup...good food on a rainy day. She also did some drawing and cross stitch. I updated the checkbook after checking a bunch of online news sources. We learned that they have their first coronavirus case in Quiincy, today.


• Friday, 3/20: Bill texted us that he felt sick, so he stayed home and contacted a Teladoc, who called him back. He told Bill it sounded like he had the flu and that Bill is low risk for getting serious symptoms from COVID-19, so he is low priority for getting a coronavirus test. The doctor recommended quarantine until April 1. Mary did some drawing and some crocheting. I moved my wine diary into a new loose leaf, zippered binder that Bill tossed out that once was a planner. I put college-ruled 5.5"x8" paper into it with dividers. It was interesting revisiting the trials of making wine. Also, added a fruit tree spraying record to it. Learned from online news that the IL governor declared a stay at home order, with only essential businesses open. When I looked at what's essential, it amounts to most everything. I also learned that there was a coronavirus death in the county Bill lives in. In the evening, I looked up homesteading, Alaska, and travel blogs to read for fun.


• Saturday, 3/21: Mary washed clothes and dried them on the line. I burned trash and boxes that have accumulated in the Machine Shed. I racked my grapefruit wine for the 2nd time (see below), removing about 1/2" of yeast poop (see below). The dregs tasted specifically like grapefruit peel, even though the color is very orange. It also has a tannin flavor, from the powder I added. It's bitter, too. Probably the taste will mellow with time. Bill is feeling better. Katie texted that she made bear bread and sent Mary her recipe, along with photos.

Tightening stopper after 2nd racking of grapefruit wine.

Yeast poop. We tasted the clear liquid above the yeast residue.

March 8-14, 2020

Weather | 3/8, 39°, 68° | 3/9, 1.38" rain, 45°, 54° | 3/10, 0.04" rain, 32°, 52° | 3/11, 38°, 58° | 3/12, 40°, 55° | 3/13, 29°, 49° | 3/14, snow or 0.56" moisture, 28°, 33° |

Sunday, 3/8: Mary washed all of the clothes. The wind was howling out of the south. The last load went on the line at 12:30 and was nice and dry 2 hours later. She also vacuumed bugs, did all of the evening chores, and figured our funds for the month. That damn cat, Mocha, has put a wrench into our savings plans. But, she's so cute. I sent a series of texts to a used truck owner in Alexander, IL, who has a 1996 Chevrolet 1500 pickup for sale for $3600. Kelley Blue book puts that vehicle in excellent condition at $2500. I offered $2400, because it has some clear coat pealing on the hood. He said he won't go down that low. He's going to own the truck well into the future. I took the chainsaw down the ditch just east of the house and sawed firewood from elm and cherry trees, plus fallen maple branches. The newly hand-sharpened chain worked very well. I drove the tractor down and loaded up a very full wagon load of wood, parking it in the machine shed. My wine still bubbles, but it takes over a minute for the airlock to burp.

Monday, 3/9: It rain all day, today, until there were puddles in the lawn and down the lane. Mary made tortillas. I vegetated on the computer, accomplishing absolutely nothing. Mary helped me look for leathercraft blogs and websites.

Tuesday, 3/10: We voted in the primary election in Lewistown, MO. I mixed up a batch of dormant oil spray and started spraying the Esopus Spitzenburg apple tree's trunk when the sprayer quit. A vinyl bladder that inflates in the sprayer had a small crack in it. I tried to patch it with a rubber tire patch, which held for about 2 minutes. I looked online for availability of sprayers in Quincy and then drove there, visiting Home Depot, Lowes and Menards. Bought a Solo 2-gallon sprayer at Menards. While driving up the driveway upon returning home, a woodcock flew up and ahead of the car, then landed in the driveway. I had to get out of the car and shoo it off the lane, or I would have squished it. Woodcocks are smaller than I imagined...about the size of a dove. Their bill goes halfway down their body. When they fly, their wings look like a hummingbird's wings...really odd-looking birds.

Wednesday, 3/11: Mary washed towels, cleaned weeds out of the asparagus bed, vacuumed bugs, and sprayed the bay trees, taking scales off them. I sprayed dormant oil on outside fruit trees using my new hand sprayer, which is a vast improvement from the crappy old one that we bought in early 2000s from the hardware store in Circle, MT. All told, it involved 11 trees (apple, crab apple, cherry, and pear trees). Then, I looked at the Grime's Golden apple tree, that Mary said was too far gone. I spotted what looked like live buds on it, so I sprayed it. Had leftover mixed-up spray, so I did the ancient McIntosh apple tree. It's in horrible shape, with a hollow trunk, many dead branches, and in need of intense pruning. I hope to take graftings from it to start new trees next year. Cleaning the dormant oil from the sprayer involved getting Mary's skinnier arm in the bottle. Katie texted us that she was supposed to leave for Ireland on her tour today, but decided against traveling, due to the coronavirus...a smart decision.

Thursday, 3/12: Last night on Facebook, I found a 2003 half-ton Chevy pickup for sale in Canton, MO. It was priced about half what Kelley Blue Book said it's worth. I left a message asking for details. Never got an answer back, then this morning, I saw it retracted from Facebook, and then put back online, so I asked if it was still available and where the guy was located. The seller, Nathan Bringer, only told me he was near LaGrange, never answered questions about the truck's details, and then took the listing off. Good riddance! A couple days ago, I attempted to order rubber boots from Galeton, a New England company, but when I discovered that shipping was $24.90, just $1 less than the cost of the boots, $25.95, I quit. After an online search, I discovered the same boots could be ordered through Home Depot for $23.50 and shipped free to the Quincy Home Depot store. I ordered them on Monday and got an email today that they were in Quincy, so we decided to get them and items we couldn't find when we last shopped in Quincy. We got some of the items, but panic coronavirus shopping has eliminated several items from stores, such as powdered milk...there is none in any Quincy stores. We didn't need any, but TP is only signified by shelf labels. With TP out, shopping carts are loaded with nose tissue boxes. People must think this virus is going to give them excess shit and snot. Cases of bottled water were going like hotcakes, too. I tell you, people are nuts! After returning home, we ate nachos and watched the movie, Australia. The spring peepers (frogs) are really loud each night, now.

Friday, 3/13: Before the morning sun rose, I watched 4 fairly large deer walk by the north end of the far east garden into our north yard. They were probably bucks with their antlers gone. Mary washed the rest of the towels and last of the sheets from visiting kids at Christmas. Late morning, I got into a Facebook discussion with Lynn, said something to Mary, who said, "Two retired guys with lots of time on their hands getting into an argument over a damn spider!" I thought, you're right, shut off my laptop, and went outside. I moved all of the firewood I cut a few days ago to correct locations via a wheelbarrow. Used old pieces of OSB to walk across mud in the machine shed to get to the wagon. The ruts from driving the tractor in and out are so deep, I occasionally talk to little Chinese people. Read a bunch online and looked for powdered milk...don't think it's available nationwide. Texted Mom a little bit about chicken pox and shingles. When we shut devices off for the night, the only state that didn't have a confirmed case of coronavirus was West Virginia.

Saturday, 3/14: It alternately snowed, sleeted, and rained most of the day...kind of a nasty day. The floor of the machine shed is mainly full of standing water. Puddles are everywhere. Rubber boots are a necessity. In the morning, when there was still snow on the ground, we saw a big turkey track crossing the lane. Spent all day inside wallowing in internet news. Ordered some calcium pills. Bill called and talked to both of us. Katie texted both of us. She's happy she didn't go on her Ireland trip. Coronavirus showing up more in mid-Illinois, so Quincy is closing down all schools on Monday. The Quincy Symphony Orchestra concerts are postponed. It's easy for us to hole up at home...hell, that's how we live, anyway.

March 1-7, 2020

Weather | 3/1, 39°, 64° | 3/2, 32°, 48° | 3/3, 35°, 55° | 3/4, 34°, 54° | 3/5, 36°, 53° | 3/6, 28°, 48° | 3/7, 28°, 58° |

Sunday, 3/1: Mary and I took the day day off, since firewood collection and burying Churchill yesterday took the stuffings out of us. I rolled up the 3 blankets that Churchill used, so we can  throw them away with outgoing garbage. They're too messy for washing. We heard our first Eastern meadowlark. We also heard the first frogs croaking in the evening.

Monday, 3/2: This was another lazy day. Mocha started meowing profusely, so she's in heat. She gets fixed in 2 weeks. Mary made a turkey pot pie.  We watched 7 episodes of Long Way Down, featuring Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's motorcycle trip from Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa. Bill let us watch his version of it. We have 3 more episodes to see. The wine still fizzes, but with less gusto, and the solids are settling out in the bottom of the glass jug.

Tuesday, 3/3: Mary made a shopping list for tomorrow. I balanced the checkbook. We looked up what we need to do to spray fruit trees and reviewed our supply of tree spray. In the evening, we watched the last 3 episodes of Long Way Down.

Wednesday, 3/4: We shopped in Quincy. I ordered a Stihl chain sharpening guide at Farm & Home. Mary got seed potatoes from there. We also found a 2-gallon jug of 10 weight mineral oil, a key component in dormant spray for fruit trees. We bought a good supply of food, so that we can stay home to avoid coronovirus issues, if we want to. We watched the 2017 movie Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, two times. It was that good.

Thursday, 3/5: I got a call from Farm & Home that the Stihl part I ordered yesterday was in, so I drove to Quincy and got the part. I guess they get parts that they don't have in stock from somewhere in Missouri, so next-day delivery is a usual thing. I got gas for the car, a 5-gallon can for the tractor and log splitter, and a 2-gallon can of 93 octane gas for the chainsaw and weedwhacker. Mary sorted out bad garlic, potatoes, and acorn squash and threw then out. We noticed that the ground is drying up outside. My grapefruit wine is still fizzing, but a lot less than it was just a few days ago.

Friday, 3/6: Mary washed sheets, then trimmed all of our fruit trees and blueberry bushes. She also added ashes to the sugar maple tree. I updated the checkbook, and sharpened the 2 chainsaw chains using a file and my new jig, which helps to give you the correct 30° angle for the sharp edge of each tooth. It took me the afternoon, because I'm new at sharpening this way, but both chains looked in remarkable shape. After reviewing the chains once done, I'm sure that the grinding wheel I've used in the past turns too fast and takes the temper out of the teeth and bites too far down, into each tooth. In the evening, we watched the Wizard of Oz movie.

Saturday, 3/7: Didn't do a hell of a lot during the main part of the day. We went to a Quincy Symphony/Choir concert in the evening, this time featuring the choir in the old church which the choir director HAS to hold it in. We went into the balcony, which was much better than the crowded seats down below, which is where we sat during the Christmas choir presentation. It was okay, but we've heard better singing back when our kids were in choir in Circle, MT. Got home around 10:30. 

February 23-29, 2020

Weather | 2/23, 34°, 59° | 2/24, 0.24" rain, 33°, 39° | 2/25, 1/4" snow or 0.18" moisture, 29°, 39° | 2/26, 0.07" moisture from overnight snow, 26°, 33° | 2/27, 21°, 41° | 2/28, 23°, 43° | 2/29, 16°, 48° |

• Sunday, 2/23: Mary did laundry, washing and drying all of the clothes. She filled the outside line 2 times. The hose that connects to an outside discharge hose came loose and spewed water all over the laundry room until Bill jumped back there and pulled the electrical cord on the washing machine. Consequently, I had to dry the bottom cardboard box that holds the Christmas tree. Bill went through 2 boxes of books he had stored here, sorted out ones he doesn't want and took the rest with him. He also changed oil on his car engine and while cleaning up, he stumbled over some wires of an old lightning rod at the east end of the Machine Shed and fell on a piece of angle iron, putting a gash into below his left knee. It also put a hole in his pants. He didn't notice the injury until he felt wetness on his pants. Dr. Mary worked on him and bandaged him up. He sent a photo of his injury after he drove to St. Louis and it was bleeding, again. He got it to stop. He needs to check on a tetanus shot ASAP. We had lots of snow geese flying west over the property. I heard the first American Woodcock of the season while walking Churchill. Mary vacuumed bugs that were in all of our windows, due to warm temperatures. I ordered more of a type of pill that helps me with keeping blood sugar levels down.


• Monday, 2/24: We woke to rain. I found a nice 1996 Chevy half-ton pickup located at Alexander, IL, or about 120 miles east of us. Mary doesn't feel up to riding and driving today. Looked up Kelley Blue Book pricing and the requested price is about $1100 higher than one in excellent condition, so we're going to let that one wait and then offer a price closer to the KBB rate. I called the Iowa State Extension and put my name down for fruit tree grafting workshop at the Appleberry Orchard near Donnelson, Iowa, on April 2. It's a 65-mile one-way drive NNE of us. Checked the grapefruit wine and it's fizzing more than ever. Mary and Katie texted a bunch about a personality test she took for a college class. Bill's injury hurts, but is healing.


• Tuesday, 2/25: Woke to about 1/4" of wet snow. Churchill has complete conniption fits going up the stairs of the porch, so starting last night, Mary and I carry him up the steps...easier than me trying to carry him, since he's the size of an oxen. They're predicting 2-4" snow tonight. I saw an owl flying between oak tree limbs next to the west field this morning. Wine still fizzes abundantly. I split wood that was in the Machine Shed. Found hundreds of black ants in the mulberry wood. What I thought was white oak is actually ash...can tell by how it splinters when split. Around 3 pm, several Vs of snow geese filled the sky. I took 2 videos from the porch of them going overhead, but the videos don't do justice to how many were flying overhead (see below). Churchill only ate 1 meal in the morning and refused all other offers. His last outside visit was at noon.

• Wednesday, 2/26: Woke to 1/2" of snow and strong NW winds. Mary made a batch of chocolate chip cookies...yum! I researched ideas on boosting the amount of chain lubricating oil that gets deposited on the bar and chain of the chainsaw. Professional arborists say my saw, a Stihl 361 Professional, is a good one. It uses 50% less oil than older machines. My grapefruit wine is still bubbling, with a burp in the airlock every 14 seconds.


• Thursday, 2/27: I cleaned the chainsaw, increased the chain oil adjustment to maximum, which is what professionals do, put on a different chain, and cut firewood near the gravel road, just west of our lane. I sawed up an oak branch that was the size of a medium tree, 3 small mulberry trees, 2 ash trees, a cherry, and several maple branches. I then stacked all of it on small branches in the field. I'll move the wood when the ground is frozen tomorrow morning. Mary made 2 egg quiches, washed a load of towels, dried them on the line, and did some cleaning. She still has to stop and stretch her back and leg, occasionally. We saw thousands of snow geese flying east to west. I noticed 2 American woodcocks after sunset. Found 2 small cracks in both of my rubber boots...time to order a new pair. I put them through hell around here. This pair lasted about 11 months, which is better than most. We sorted through Bill's throwaway books and I kept an old ROTC loose leaf planner that I'm going to get regular paper for and turn it into my wine diary. The wine is burping every 15 seconds.


• Friday, 2/28: Ate a quick breakfast, then drove the tractor down to my temporary wood pile and moved the firewood I cut yesterday to the woodshed and stacked it. Moved big pieces to be split with the wheelbarrow to the wood splitter in the Machine Shed and moved split ash from the Machine Shed to the woodshed. Seeing thousands more snow geese. Saw 3 Cooper's hawks flying south to north. Mary baked 4 loaves of bread and did some cross stitching. I cleaned my saw and cut more firewood just a little north of where I was yesterday...mainly dead standing white oak trees, 4 cherry trees, and a mulberry. I didn't stack...just left pieces where they fell. Churchill barely ate today, but took a walk around the north yard, longer than he has in a couple weeks. Wine burping every 16 seconds. We had 5 American woodcocks calling at dusk, one was right behind the cars as we stood on the porch.


• Saturday, 2/29: Churchill was panting when we woke. Did another quick breakfast and drove tractor to cherry tree that I cut yesterday at edge of woods and collected up all of my firewood. It filled the wagon. Ground was frozen when I arrived, but thawed when I left to go home. While I was gone, Churchill died at 8:50 am. I arrived back home around 10. Mary and I carried Churchill's body outside and used a wheelbarrow to move him to behind the second grain bin, out of the sun. We unloaded the firewood, then ate lunch. Bill called. His leg is better. He got a tetanus shot on Wednesday. His car battery died Wednesday morning, so he bought a charger. I started digging a grave about 1 pm, immediately north of where we buried Klondike, our golden retriever who died in 2016. Mary joined me. It was really tough digging, because it's wet, heavy clay with half-inch tree roots through it. At 3, we took a break and had some cookies. The hole was about 2 feet deep. I went back out and got it down to 3-4 feet. The sticky clay got wetter as I went down. Mary did all of the chores, then we buried Churchill, covered his grave with concrete blocks to prevent critters from digging, and finishing up at the dark end of twilight, at 6:35 pm. We ate chili. I had 2 brandy/Cokes. Mary just had Coke. We watched Leap Year, of course, and then While You Were Sleeping. I snored through most of 2nd movie. Went to bed with a lot of sore muscles. My second amaryllis is blooming (see photo below).

Samba single Royal Dutch Amaryllis (lipstick-red, white star).

February 16-22, 2020

Weather | 2/16, 23°, 43° | 2/17, 0.07" rain, 31°, 42° | 2/18, 25°, 39° | 2/19, 17°, 33° | 2/20, 10°, 27° | 2/21, 10°, 39° | 2/22, 27°, 52°

• Sunday, 2/16: Made a big waffle brunch. Mary still has a bad leg. She hot padded it a lot. Took tons of minerals and drank a ton of liquids. It was a little better at the end of the day. I did all chores, again. Checked my grapefruit wine. The specific gravity is 1.090, down ever so slightly from 1.093, but it's bubbling. I stirred it and tasted it...very strong grapefruit, bitter taste, plus quite sweet. I could hear the fizzing kick up by evening, so stirring helped. Churchill is doing better...eating healthy and able to walk outside. I put the RSS news feed app called Feedly on Mary's phone to replace the crappy Apple newsfeed that gives you breaking news like people upset because Jennifer Lopez wore nothing during the Superbowl halftime show...we don't give a rat's ass!!! Mary is happy that she can now select news she wants to see. Most of the snow melted today.


• Monday, 2/17: Mary still has knotted leg issues, but it felt better in the morning. By nightfall, she was tired and it was tightening more than ever. I did all chores, fixed meals, did dishes. We had chicken sandwiches as our main meal. Checked the wine...specific gravity at 1.080, so it's coming along. Churchill ate all meals and is doing better. Rain in the morning made everything mushy, even though it wasn't much, since nothing is seeping into the ground.


• Tuesday, 2/18: Mary is doing much better...not perfect...but she's doing stretching exercises and getting around more. She even fed pets (accept for Churchill) in the evening and helped with fixing meals. I cleaned resin off the chainsaw chain, walked down to south of the Bluegill Pond and just west of our lane and sawed up a dry dead mulberry tree that fell into the base of a big oak tree. It's super dry. I also fell a dead dry white oak and cut it up. Stacked all of the wood and I'll get it tomorrow when the ground is frozen. Saw the skull of a deer with a big rack on it in that bit of woods. It probably was shot nearby by our neighbor, Rich, and then went there to die. Rich isn't a good shot. I also saw a dead blue jay that I thought at first was a piece of blue plastic. While I was cutting up firewood, Mary fed chickens and found an opossum in the coop. She collected it up in a plastic garbage can and hauled it to beyond the swim and dove ponds, using the shovel as a cane. Checked the wine and specific gravity is at 1.068. It tastes like fancy soda pop...a little sweet with tingly effervescence. It's bubbling quite nicely, now. Mary drew up a shopping list. She texted Bill and he said he's arriving here on Thursday at 11 am...going back home Sunday.


• Wednesday, 2/19: Mary baked a cherry pie. I went shopping in Quincy for human and pet food. Mary's doing better, but with a lot of stiffness. Wine specific gravity is at 1.064 and fizzing well. Discovered a crack at the top of the hydrometer I've been using. Checked with a different hydrometer and it read 1.070. I'll use the cracked hydrometer, even though it's probably compromised.


• Thursday, 2/20: Mary is better today, moving around quite a bit. Bill arrived at 11 am. Mary fixed a turkey dinner that we ate mid-afternoon, celebrating my 63rd birthday. Mom called. She really enjoyed her recent visit to Arizona and Nevada. Katie called, but we didn't talk much because of poor telephone service. I racked my wine, since the specific gravity was at 1.040 in the morning and 1.034 in the evening. It was at 1.040 on the good hydrometer in the evening. You're supposed to transfer the wine to a second fermenting vessel (rack it) when the specific gravity is between 1.040 and 1.020. Bill helped. We filled a 1-gallon glass jug and had a third of a quart that I stored in the fridge to fill after future rackings. I had problems with the new solid rubber stopper, so I went with an old stopper that isn't solid. Mary, Bill & I drank what was left. Unique taste...tasted good...grapefruit taste, slight bitter with tannin taste, with the feel of champagne on the tongue, due to yeast fermentation. The yeast sludge gave me a stomach ache, but not so for Bill and Mary. See the fermentation in video below.

• Friday, 2/21: A low day for me, since I nursed a stomach ache from last night's wine tasting. Note to self...stay away from yeasty wine must...feed it to Mary, instead. Bill did a basket of his laundry. I asked him to include 5 pairs of my socks, since I was out. Mary made a pumpkin cake. We had another possum in the chicken coop. Mary and I put it in a plastic garbage can and took it to Wood Duck Pond. She's doing even better, today. We watched the movies Super 8 and Angels and Demons.


• Saturday, 2/22: Thousands of snow geese flew over us heading west today. I could even hear them going overhead at night. We discovered that the big freezer got turned off a couple days ago. Items in the baskets at the top were thawed, but meat in the bottom was frozen. The store-bought chicken breasts were in the baskets, so we added it to pork loins that we roasted outside on a fire in the afternoon. Bill shared some 5-year oak barrel aged dark beer that he got as a present from his friend, Mike. It was really delicious stuff. After chores, we watched the movies Shrek II & 2 episodes of the BBC Cadfael series.