Sunday, March 25, 2012

It is Sunday, March 25 and the rain is coming down hard. Luckily I got a hike in before it started and was able to finish cutting back the butterfly bush so it doesn’t block the greenhouse (which has been producing lettuce every day for salad). I also put the blocks back on the platform by the pond. No sight of my two trout but I wish them well.
Yesterday I went on a hike up to the poplars where I have found morels but there were none to be found. I did see that the bluebells had started, and along the way I saw yellow dog violet, birdsfoot violet, common chickweed, a few twinleaves still flowering, bloodroot gone, purple dead nettle, golden corydalis, shepherd’s purse done, redbuds starting, bittercress done. In the hollow hepatica is done, rue anemone is peak, star chickweed, ground ivy by the orchard and trilliums starting. I had dinner with Rachel and Benjamin and then I babysat Benjamin while Rachel taught the sufi dance class. I had fun playing with him in the playroom and then holding him and singing the Sufi songs to him as he watched the class. Jeff’s father has passed and I spoke to him last night and I will be glad to see him when he gets back.
I have fished the north fork about 5 times and I have caught two trout and one nice bluegill. Not much but close by and full of promise.

Friday, March 16, 2012

A good day for a hike (bitter cress, violets, coltsfoot, purple dead nettle, henbit, first bloodroot and toothwort, hepatica by the big pine, bluebell plants close to flowering, witch hazel flowering).
Then I went out to play golf and shot a 48 on the back even with making one of the holes harder.
I went back home and sprayed the foam insulation in the shed, moved and stabilized the bed in the back of my truck so the fishing stuff will fit in better, filled the generator, cut off the plastic on the new truck passkey.
Then I drove in for a nice walk with Rob on the trail, before having dinner at Indian Garden and watching Duke play horribly and lose to Lehigh.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Yesterday was fish stocking day and it didn’t work out at all as I wanted. Dale got there about 1:30 and by 1:45 the stocking had begun. Jed had a couple of people there helping so I drove up to my pond with the two small rainbows and released them. I drove back and helped with carrying the nets full of 12 inch trout (including 10 very large ones) to different spots on the river. I had thought it was clear that I wanted 50 for my section (I even mentioned it once) but by the time we got to the ford, there were about 12 fish left. I was pretty upset and after putting about five at the ford (and I think they went upstream), I only had a handful left for my gate. I paid my share, 264 dollars, for basically ten fish. I did tell Jed that I would like to fish up to the bend and he said that I could fish the whole river if I wanted.
On Saturday I took a nice hike up to the orchard, raked some of the dirt and evened out the tractor tire marks, then reseeded the grass in a couple of places. I hiked back and then drove to the river and fished the bend, using a big wooly bugger and then a small spinner. I had no luck with either. Still it was fun and I felt a little better about the stocking deal.
I did some more work around the house and found out, after I chiseled off the plastic, that the key for the truck didn’t work.
On my way out of the hollow, I saw four trucks by the river (at the bridge and upstream) and I hoped they would leave the bend alone.
Jeff is on his way back up to Connecticut to see his father who has had a stroke and I will have lunch with Rachel tomorrow and watch Benjamin for a while.
My blood is back up a pint and Rob agreed to put me back on the losartan even though he is not sure if it wasn’t the hemoplex that helped. We shall see in a month or two.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Thursday, March 08, 2012, turned out to be productive, but I was also pretty tired since I am back taking more of the second blood pressure medication. My blood pressure this morning was in the low 150s and that is no good. I didn’t hear from Rob about my blood work today so I don’t know if I can go back on the Lorsartan.
I took a walk to the orchard in the morning, checked the lawn tractor battery with a flashlight that I left there and then walked back, fixing the water bars with the shovel. Then I took a nap and when I got up I wanted to fix the road with the tractor and put some dirt around the trees in the orchard (so the lawn tractor won’t bump around so much and so I can get even closer to the trunks). I decided to tighten the nuts on the scraper blade and after taking off the keeper pin and getting the two pipe wrenches on, the nut slipped out and I was stuck. I called Mike but he couldn’t come till the morning so I looked things over and figured if I loosed a few things I could get the bracket back on. It worked and I was off, leveling the road and then putting two buckets of dirt in the orchard. It was a lot of work but cutting the grass should be a lot easier.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

On Friday I brought my truck in for them to look at the transmission and though they thought it would last till October, I didn’t want to worry about it breaking down before then so I bought a 2012 Frontier that ended up costing me, with a tow hitch and a 120000 mile warranty, 380 a month for four years (with 5000 down and 7000 for a trade in), a reasonable figure and now I don’t have to worry about transportation for at least four years.
I did head off for Charlotte on Saturday and it turned out to be a good choice. I rode my bike up near Mt. Airy, played golf (or rather I hit wildly at golf balls for nine holes) at Twin Oaks, and then had a dinner in my truck at P.F. Changs off Harris Blvd. At 5:20 it was an hour and a half wait for a table and the traffic was too much. But the food was very good as always. I drove into Charlotte and found out that there were no rooms (the CIAA tourney was going on) so I had to make a reservation in Fort Mill at a Quality Inn there. I walked around downtown Charlotte and there were a lot of people there. I stopped at Valpiano to watch the Duke game and Duke got killed. Then I walked around some more and drove to Fort Hill.
Today, Sunday, I decided to drive down to Columbia and I had a great bike ride/hike in the Congaree National Park. I then got a room at the new Motel 6 there and after a nap went to Motor Supply for a very good dinner, including some Brussels sprouts that weren’t half bad. I have gotten some grading done and have looked at Amara’s poems, which are quite good.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

I finished cleaning out the cattle guard and fixing the water bars and I also used the tractor blade at an inward angle to bring in a lot of dirt and leaves to the middle of the road. I did both sides twice and then I straightened the blade and kept it about an inch off the ground and it leveled things out pretty well. The road is much better and I think I will do it again.
I also used the tractor bucket to clear the orchard road of the two trees which had fallen on it. The snow wasn’t too bad but it did cause me a lot of work.
I have been seeing small flowered bitter cress for almost three weeks and on the 24th of February, coltsfoot appeared, much earlier than usual.
My classes are going well and I am now on spring break so I can relax a bit. Unless the weather gets miserable, I think I am going to stay around. Perhaps I’ll drive down to Charlotte for a couple of days. It is very pretty in the fourth ward in early spring.
I think my proposals for the Creative Writing Concentration and the Creative Writing Minor are going to work.
I talked to Jed Sisson and we are going to stock the north fork next week. He wants about 200 fish with 10 large ones and I want 50 for the stretch between the hollow gate and the ford. It should be a lot of fun once we get them in. I will also get the 2 small ones for my pond. I am going to spend $275 and Jed will pay for the rest of the $750.
I am not sleeping very well but my headache stopped after reducing the blood pressure medication.