End of Winter

The winter of 2017-2018 felt as if it would never end. Plants are 2-3 weeks behind this year, and we finally just got some warm temps last week. Naturally the one year spring is late, the pool opening is early.

Never has the pool been this clean yet this cold.

We have struggled for months with water loss from the pool. After filling it up last week, we came back yesterday to find it several inches down again. I suspected this to be the cause of a persistent wet spot behind the poolhouse. The cattle have absolutely wrecked this ground on the other side of the fence, eventually requiring some fencing reinforcement. Yesterday I found the cause. The fitting on the filter was cracked and dripping water down the side of the filter and right into the drain. It went unnoticed because there really wasn't much of a wet spot on the floor until now. I used a clamp and piece of old hose as a temporary fix, and now a day later, the poolhouse is dry again.

Tom lent us a skid loader and we spread two truckloads of mulch a couple of weeks ago. The late spring allowed us to get much of the mulch down before the perennials came up.

Lisa got the deck cleaned up. My Big Green Egg operation has been pushed to the end of the deck to help keep smoke out of the kitchen.

Big day today - we'll bring some greenhouse plants out. I'm battling some serious issues with thrips, courtesy of a well-intentioned friend who will go unnamed. These plants badly need to get outside and get cleaned up.

Spring Fishing

Not every post can be about central Missouri gardening and grapes. Our winter just broke last week and so everything here in Fulton is 2-3 weeks behind. Gardening posts are on the way, but in the meantime, there is fishing.

Jake, Adam, David and I scheduled a trip to Florida to do some bass fishing. The idea was Jake's; he wanted to celebrate completion of his Step 1 exam, and what started as a camping trip morphed into fishing in Florida. I did a farm pond shake-down the weekend before.

I circled the 2 acre pond 8 or 10 times in under 3 hours. Cloudy water and sky prompted me to go with dark spinnerbaits and shallow crankbaits. The fish were shallow, possibly still spawning, and the bite was very good.

I ended with about 25 fish, and as a result ironed out some of my baitcasting reel issues.

On Wednesday we flew into Orlando. Miraculously, all of the flights were on time, and Adam picked us up.

We fished the Harris chain of lakes with guides Mark and Gary from Lakeside Bait and Tackle.

We think Adam got the big fish but we're certain that each of us lost a bigger one. Great weather, great time! Thanks guys!