Journal: Saturday, 11/22/08

►  Chilling down.  27ºF/-2ºC @ midnight.

►  Time for some sleep.  Clear, wind coming up  and 26ºF/-3ºC @ 4:00 AM.


►  Mostly cloudy, damp and gusty south wind and 36ºF/2ºC @ 11 AM. Jo says the day began mostly sunny. Our forecast predicts mostly sunny for this afternoon.

►  Sky well on its way to becoming clear again.  (44ºF/6ºC @ 12:30 PM)

►  PM weather summary:  49ºF/9ºC @ 3 PM.  41ºF/5ºC @ 5 PM.  Clear, moderately gusty south wind and 36ºF/2ºC @ 7 PM.

►  Started kiln on a glaze firing. (Clear, moderate south wind and 35ºF/1ºC @ midnight)



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Journal: Saturday, 11/22/08

Journal: Wednesday, 11/12/08

► Temperature and cloud cover have held steady for the past twelve hours. Fortunately, the wind laid. (54ºF/12ºC @ midnight)

► New day; same overcast. Wind calm. 57ºF/13ºC @ 11 AM

► Skies are trying to clear, but progress is very slow. (61ºF/16ºC @ 2 PM)

► Gradual clearing continues, but it's looking as if there will be no sunshine left by the time skies become completely clear. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow. (55ºF/12ºC @ 5 PM)

► Got a start on loading the van, but didn't get very much done before time for our afternoon walk and then darkness. Getting the two large dog crates worked in may prove very interesting. Normally, we board Rusty and Bucket because it's too hot to leave them in the van. Since the weather is cooler for this fall show, we decided to economize and bring them along. I'm hoping we don't regret that decision.

► Clouds persisting. Forecast calls for dense fog. (54ºF/12ºC @ 7:30 PM) (We never saw any fog up here on the ridge.)

► Skies have finally cleared revealing a big, bright full moon. (Clear, calm and 46ºF/7ºC @ midnight)




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Journal: Wednesday, 11/12/08

Journal: Monday, 11/10/08

►  Finished working in the shop for the day. (43ºF/6ºC @ midnight)

►  Our weather is rapidly taking a turn for the worse. A gusty south wind is pumping up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. The end result is forecast to be rain for a couple of days. Mostly cloudy and 49ºF/9ºC @ 10:45 AM.

►  I need to start making progress toward a trip into town. (Overcast, moderately gusty south wind and 49ºF/9ºC @ noon)

It was close to three o'clock by the time I finally got away from the house and on my way into town.  I quickly made several of the routine stops after getting into town.  (Bank, feed store for propane, service station for kerosene, etc.)  I then backtracked to the county library where I checked out some books on tape for our upcoming road trip.

The major hang up on this trip to town was buying M&M.  Jo wants to make some trail mix/granola type mixture to munch on while we're on the road.  She needed two pounds of M&Ms.  In my mind, I can see large packages of M&M for sale everywhere, but when I needed to purchase a large package, there were none to be found in Marshall -- not at the Dollar Store, nor Fred's nor the Harps (grocery store).  I ended up going back to Fred's and buying two 14oz packages.  Those were the largest I could find.

Gasoline was down to #1.99/gallon.  That's the lowest price I've seen in these parts in a long time.

►  Drizzle off and on all afternoon. Steady light rain since shortly after sunset. (44ºF/6ºC @ midnight)

►  The show we'll be doing this weekend is Three Rivers Arts Festival down in Covington, LA.  (I did not get into this show, but will be making the trip in my capacity as a Porta-Potter and general purpose strong-backed assistant.)




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Journal: Monday, 11/10/08

Journal: Sunday, 11/09/08

►  Got Jo's kiln started on a bisque firing. (Clear, calm and 36ºF/2ºC @ midnight)

►  Time for some sleep. (34ºF/1ºC @ 4:45 AM)


►  Another beautiful day. Our last for a while according to the forecast. (Clear, light NE wind and 48ºF/8ºC @ 10:30 AM)

►  Need to get some firewood split before our weather turns nasty. (Our day is warming quickly. Clear, light north wind and 60ºF/15ºC @ 1:00 PM)

►  I got the log hoop on our porch filled with split firewood before leaving on our afternoon walk. The walk itself was much more pleasant than yesterday's. We heard no shots fired and encountered no hunters cruising around on their 4-wheel ATVs. (Mostly clear, calm wind and 51ºF/10ºC @ 4:45 PM)

►  Nap taken. Now it's time to get back to work down in my shop. (Clear, calm and 42ºF/5ºC @ 7:30 PM)

►  Finished working in the shop for the day. (43ºF/6ºC @ midnight)



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Journal: Sunday, 11/09/08

Journal: Friday, 11/07/08

► Started Jo's kiln on another glaze firing. (51ºF/10ºC @ midnight)

► Fully closed lid on kiln. The temperature is getting chillier tonight than is has been for a week or so. (44ºF/6ºC @ 3:30 AM)

► Checking in under clear skies with a moderately gusty north wind. (53ºF/11ºC @ 10 AM)

► Back from PM walk. Partly cloudy with a moderately gusty north wind blowing. (56ºF/13ºC @ 5 PM)


► I saw a pretty good sized buck down by the creek behind the house around dusk. There were too many branches in the way and it there wasn't enough light for me to count the points on his antlers, but he had a nice rack. It was way too dark for me to get a photo. He needs to start staying deeper in the woods. Tomorrow is opening day of modern weapons deer season.

► Yesterday's really nice weather led me to leave the basement/shop door open for most of the day. The open door led a little field rat to venture inside. I saw it several times while working during the evening. The thought of herding it back outside crossed my mind, but I rejected that idea, figuring the rat would chose to hide rather than be herded. Trapping would be necessary. Late in the evening, I heard scratching over by the door. The rat wanted out. I assumed it would flee when I approached, but it stayed put, letting me open the door and then scampering out into the night.

► Had to crank up the wood stove this evening for the first time in well over a week. (42ºF/5ºC @ midnight)



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Journal: Friday, 11/07/08

Journal: Thursday, 11/06/08

►  Partly cloud skies. Clearing with the arrival of a new cold front. Wind calm at the moment, but it's forecast to increase. Early morning storms greatly overrated. Only .4" (10mm) of rain and no thunder and lightning. (65ºF/18ºC @ 11:00 AM)

►  Clear skies, little wind and 74ºF/23ºC @ 1:00 PM. What happened to the cold front that was supposed to be moving into our area?

►  Back from afternoon walk. Very little fall color left after yesterday's wind. (63ºF/17ºC @ 5:00 PM)

►  As the sun sets the temperature is  falling faster and farther than it has in well over a week.  We really did receive a fresh cold front.

►  Started Jo's kiln on another glaze firing. (51ºF/10ºC @ midnight)

►  Blog post on Nature in the Ozarks:  Camel Cricket.



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Journal: Thursday, 11/06/08

Journal: Sunday, 11/02/08

Finished working in my shop for the day. (63ºF/17ºC @ midnight)

My computer's clock just jumped back an hour, but I'm going to stay on DST until later Sunday morning. (62ºF/16ºC @ 2 AM)

Time for bed. (62ºF/16ºC @ 3:30 AM CST)

G'morning world. (66ºF/18ºC @ 9:30 AM)

More clouds and south wind coming up. No rain in forecast, though. (71ºF/21ºC @ 11 AM CST)

Found an extra hour because of the switch to standard time; lost it piddling around on the computer. (72ºF/22ºC @ 1 PM)

Finished our supply of store-bought potatoes; starting on home grown Yukon Golds. Our 10# harvest won't last long. (67ºF/19ºC @ 4:45 PM)

Jo's fixing sweet and sour chicken for supper. She has the dogs' undivided attention. (62ºF/16ºC @ 8 PM)

Another glaze firing started. (60ºF/15ºC @ midnight)

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Journal: Sunday, 11/02/08

Journal: Monday, 10/27/08

Early Morning:

► Midnight: Down to 47ºF/7ºC and dropping. Gusty north wind has not abated. Chilly out considering I'm dressed for our mid-day 77º.


► 3:00 AM: Down to 41ºF/5ºC outside and 65ºF/18ºC inside. Time to crank up the wood stove before the house loses any more heat. Surprisingly, the north wind seems to have mostly laid, at least for the moment.

Late Morning:

► Sunny, breezy and 42º/5º @ 10 AM. Thermometer says temperature only fell to 36º/2º overnight, but there's a thin ice layer on the birdbath. Methinks the thermometer pickup is located too close to the house.

► Sunny and 51º/10º at noon. It would be almost pleasant outdoors were the north wind not gusty so strongly. Always staying in the sunshine and out of the wind is tricky.


Afternoon:

► Back from PM walk ... 51F/10C @ 5 PM. The north wind that came up again this AM seems to be laying now. Seems warm inside the house after walking. Wish I hadn't thrown those last couple of logs into the wood stove.



► After our end of season harvesting over the past couple of days, we didn't bother turning the electric fence back on. There really wasn't anything needing protection from the deer left out in the garden. This afternoon I saw a doe cautiously approach the garden and then slip inside. She never made it as far as any ot the plants before getting spooked. Now, does the deer entering the garden on the first day the fence was off demonstrate how well the fence is keeping out the deer? Or, was it just a coincidence? I don't know but suspect a little of both -- and probably more of a coincidence. The fence has been off many times.

Evening:

► Spent some time in the basement getting som spoons made.

All photos take on today's afternoon walk.

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Journal: Monday, 10/27/08

Journal: Friday, 10/24/08

Early Morning:

Started Jo's kiln on a bisque firing. 49º F (9º C) at midnight.

Late Morning:

Sunny, but a gusty south wind trumps the sunshine if you are outdoors.. 54º F (12º C) @ 11 AM.

The garlic Jo planted a couple of weeks back is up and doing well. Unfortunately, so are the weeds. The garlic will remain green, but go dormant over winter, then take off growing again as soon as spring arrives.

Afternoon:

Jo just toted a jug of hot water over to her pottery studio. It's chilly enough she wants her throwing water warmed. There's no hot water in her studio so she usually puts a kettle atop her kerosene heater, but that water isn't warm yet. 60º F (15º C) @ 2PM.

Back from PM walk. South wind has laid a bit. A few cumulus clouds scattered around, all the better for adding interest to pix. 60ºF/15ºC @ 5 PM.



Losing the ball yesterday meant today's session of fetch with the dogs was played with a new tennis ball, a ball that still bounced. We usually play with the same ball until it's way, way past dead -- until the cover comes off.

This maple is one of the prettiest trees along the road we walk most afternoons.

(Speaking of playing fetch with a tennis ball... The Chuckit is one of the greatest inventions I've run across in a long time, unless you enjoy having hands covered with dogs slobber, of course.)

Evening:

Another fire this evening. The temperature was down to 44ºF/6ºC at midnight.

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Journal: Friday, 10/24/08