Just like my little iPod.
Except the wires are not as clean on mine!

my iPod Nano

I broke my ipod.

Not break like I had a hand full of pieces, but broke. I could plug the earbuds in, but little sound came out and what there was did not sound good.

My analysis was that the port that receives the earbud was worn out, so with great sorrow it put it away.

Then I got reading about problems like that.

One guy said he had to take a toothpick and clean out the fuzz and fibers that had worked thier way into that port. It sounded like it might be related to what was going on with my iPod.

So, with a toothpick I carefully dug and I blew and did it again.

When I plugged in the earbuds I was rewarded with good sound, on both sides.

So for the price of a simple toothpick my iPod rides again. It is an obsolete model, the 3rd generation version, but I like it. Besides I got it from a good friend -- Stefanie. I traded her a good old exposure meter, a mid classic in the exposure meter world for the iPod.

Glad it is working again.

garden journal

I am working on a garden journal.

The perfect, totally wonderful version. There is no doubt of the advantage of having years of information in one place.

This one won't be perfect, of course, since I a not remotely perfect, but I will strive!

There is a good version from Lee Valley that is pretty good looking. It is huge (9 by 11) with 544 pages! It also sells for $40 plus another few to get it here,

I debated whether a bound book (one I would make) would be better than a loose leaf version. Since I am not sure exactly what will be in this journal I decided to go with the loose leaf version.

So I reclaimed an old Day Timer (I have a box full), set it up with the sheets and dividers. This DayTimer is one of the larger ones. I can cut and punch paper, almost any paper I might wish, and insert it into the 7 rings.

I have a page for each variety of vegetable, a calendar to remind me when to do different things, and a place for notes and information about each variety of plant in my garden.

Now to find information. I discovered that in 1998 I bought 2 peach trees, a Hale and a Red Haven. I had forgotten what variety they are.

This should give me a place to keep all of this information, and maybe make my garden more productive.

Now to get all of the good data into this one book.

Every book on heating with wood will tell you to only burn hardwood. but those books are written by easterners. Here we have softwood forests, so that is what we burn.
This hunk is from my son in law Sid's collection.

cutting wood

It's fall, no question about it.

Monday is November 1, in case I need to be reminded.

This week I dug the potatoes, brought in the squash and pumpkins, husked the flour corn and generally got ready for cold weather.

A day or two ago this morning was forecast for 27, but right now (7 am) it is 36.

Still cold temps are inevitable.

I should be making plans to go south for the winter, but frankly, as long as I don't have to work in it, I rather enjoy winter!

Yesterday I worked on getting firewood in, today I will continue that endeavor. I should get by on two cords of wood, but I try to have at least 3 in the shed when cold weather begins.

I have a big pile of pallets that I got free from various sources. That is my back up wood supply, but this year, I want to make that pile significantly smaller.

So cut and stack.

Dorris

It happened.

Walt lost his sweet Dorris this weekend.

Dorris and Miriam were diagnosed with AD about the same time. Dorris is gone now and Miriam is doing alright, except she can't remember anything. I met Walt at a support meeting about the time our wives were diagnosed. That was a long time ago.

I wrote a note to Walt, who responded that he is OK, but a bit lost. Habits of looking after Dorris, of making sure she is OK and comfortable are still there.

He will do alright, he has known for a very long time that this day would come.

Walt had two prayers: that he could take care of her at home to the end, and that she die in her sleep.

Both were answered.

Hang in Walt, you have been an exceptional caregiver.