More on threes

Another day and improvement...

1. My mother. The docs did a number of tests and found she has one artery 98% blocked and another one 90% blocked. Due to her weak condition surgery is not an option and the docs plan to try something else to unclog the arteries. Being in Montana I am getting the diagnosis second-hand so it is not completely clear to me. Mom does sound better and is eating more now. I am trying to get stuff wrapped up here and prepared for my being gone a while over winter.
   
   
2. My car. I can kind of shift it now. With the car turned off I can shift it into all gears with no problem. I found the oil level for the clutch was below the minimum. I added oil and now can kinda get the car into gear and shift into all the gears. I test drove down the road and used all the gears. Shifting is still tricky and not "right". But this will last me until I return next Spring. (I plan to take the train to North Dakota and not drive.)
   
   
3. Snow. The predicted snow and wind missed us as it split and went around. We only got a very light dusting of snow and not the 2 to 5 inches predicted. Another snow event comes through Montana Thursday but it predicted to pass south of us. I know we need the moisture desperately, and the ski resorts want snow to open, but I prefer the snow to wait until I have left.
   

With no snow I am still using two traps to go after pocket gophers. I have gotten a gopher each of the past two days. The top of the ground may be frozen, but they and I can still dig. I have one gopher that still buries the trap.

I have dug all of my beets, and the carrots I want, from my garden. The beets weren't too bad to dig out of the garden as they are short and fat. The carrots on the other hand took a long time to dig as I had dig down below the frozen ground taking care not to break the carrot in doing so.

I filled two 5 gallon pails and one two gallon pail with carrots. I left five to seven gallons of carrots in the ground. I covered them with tarps and placed lots of rocks and heavy objects on the tarps so they won't blow away over winter when the wind blows. Keeping carrots in the frozen ground is a good way to store them to eat later. As long as I dig them up early Spring and do not let water get on them as they thaw. I lost most of my ground stored carrots this past Spring because I didn't get to them in time.