The Pam and Jerry Fields' Blog Page

Month: August 2026

Acorns and KitKat

I have several unrelated topics to go over this time. Acorn season has arrived, reclusive KitkKat is spending more time in open areas of the house, I attended a community dinner party, and more firewood was obtained. Lets get into it!

Acorns have begun to fall from our oak trees. It seems early for this to happen, but there it is. Many of the acorns are green and still in their caps but many more are ready for us to harvest. (We put them in our squirrel feeder during the winter months.)

Acorn season has arrived.

Inside the house, our oldest feline, KitKat, has been spending more time in the library, sleeping on chairs and the sunny window sill. This is a bit of a change, as she has historically been the most reclusive of our cats. KitKat was good friends with our late dog JoJo and, I believe, has been missing her doggie companion this past year. Although Pam can occasionally pet KitKat, I have no such privilege.

Here is KitKat sleeping on one of the chairs in the library.

KitKat, our oldest cat.

Our propane and local agricultural supplier held a community “thank you” dinner last week and I attended. Much of the community showed up for the free meal (after calling in a reservation). The food was basic, but good. I had the large turkey sandwich; the other option was a rib-eye steak sandwich.

Innovative Ag Services dinner plate.
Community participated in the dinner.

I had success in my ongoing attempt to procure more firewood for Felicity and Peter. As mentioned before, a neighbor had a couple trees taken down and left in a pile in his yard. I had asked if I could reclaim the good firewood and the answer was yes. This week I finished going through the pile and stacked up more wood along the east garage wall. Now I need to split the larger stuff before taking it to New York this fall.

It probably is not cost effective for me to haul firewood that far, but it will save Felicity and Peter some money and Pam and I will know they have the best quality firewood one can have, old growth red oak and ash. The local stuff Felicity purchased last fall was OK but not top of the line. (It was mostly left-over pieces of wood from a local barrel making company, we were told.) I re-split some of it during my last visit, as some pieces were too large for their wood burning stove.

These are photos of my most recent load of wood and the pile along the garage. Note: Some of the chunks were too large to handle without being cut in half lengthwise. Those rounds are at the rear of the trailer photo below..

Most recent load of firewood.
About 1 1/3 cords of wood salvaged from neighbor’s pile.

A medical note: I am scheduled for a colonoscopy on September 3rd. Not looking forward to it.

There is much color around the yard at this time. The sunflowers, phlox, Grandpa Otts, geraniums, hydrangea, and marigolds are all at their height. Here are a couple photos taken Friday, August 21st.

Multi-headed sunflowers have come into their own.
Hydrangea turning from white to red.

Some family news to report: Pam’s sister, Becky, in conjunction with her daughter Caitlin and Caitlin’s partner Neno, are moving into a recently-purchased up-and-down duplex in St. Paul, Minnesota. Good news for them – it being Caitlin’s and Neno’s first home – but we’ll miss having Becky near us.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

[OK, I’m kinda crazy. Planning for the holiday cards is in the initial stage already. The earlier I start, the more intricate the card can be.]

Re: Himself’s firewood activities, I hated to see such high quality/old growth oak and ash hardwood potentially being thrown out here in Elma (after various tree cutting projects in the neighborhood). Himself has historically enjoyed cutting and splitting firewood. I consider firewood prep his hobby. So, even if local NY firewood deliveries for Felicity might be less $$$ overall than driving this wood to her location, the quality of the Midwest wood plus Himself’s enjoyment appears to be “the thing.”

Rock on.

Today’s Humor:

August Arrives

The worst of the heat is over, sunflowers and Grandpa Otts are blooming, and work continues on the Gilson garden tractor. Long-range winter forecasts are coming out, and Brrrr!

I will begin with work on the Gilson garden tractor. The hydraulic cylinder that raises and lowers the blade had to be removed to see if it can be repaired with new seals. (Currently at a shop for disassembly.) This meant removing the engine and fuel tank to gain access to the cylinder.

Fuel tank and engine removed

This was a greasy job and a real pain. If the cylinder cannot be repaired I will have to scrap this project, sell what I can, and try to find another snow plowing unit. I hope it does not come to that.

Around the yard, the Grandpa Otts and sunflowers have begun to bloom.

Grandpa Otts blooming on the south porch
Sunflowers east of the garage

I have been salvaging firewood, with permission, from the neighbor’s tree removal pile. The salvage task continues.

Salvaged firewood

I celebrated a birthday this month, as did Pam’s older brother, Larry. Coming up in a few days is our 52nd anniversary, so this month is notable for birthdays and other celebrations.

Long-range winter forecasts are coming out, and it looks as if the upper midwest may be in for a cold winter.

Not looking good for NE Iowa

However, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecasts a different scenario, with a 40% – 50% chance of above-normal temperatures through December for most of Iowa.

Still a 3rd forecast, from the Farmers’ Almanac, predicts a cold and snowy winter. I guess we will just have to wait and see who is the most accurate.

Life is continuing at a slow pace due to the recent hot weather. The “feels like” temperature hit 126F in Charles City, located about 22 miles from us. This review is from Rochester’s KAAL.tv’s July weather wrap-up.

In fact, on July 27, heat index values neared 120F in Rochester, and topped 120F for other locations such as Austin and Charles City.

Charles City is one of the local reporting stations. It was a hot and muggy stretch of weather! It has now cooled somewhat, back to seasonal averages, and we can now get outside a bit more often.

It is now primary season and several states have had, or are about to have, primary elections. I would like you to take a look at this AI-generated YouTube music video titled “Living Presidents” that encourages people to get out and vote.

Make sure you turn on the sound, muted by default, by clicking on the speaker icon at the top of the screen when it opens.

Get out and vote!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

No Pam’s Penny Today

Pam says she has no additional comments other than she is glad we had central air installed back in 2020.

Today’s Humor:

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