Putting out corn for the deer in the back yard. 

November 19, 2012 – Monday

38 degrees/partly cloudy

Pentoga Road

I was undecided as to whether I should even build a fire this morning. I finally struck a match so the chill would be out of the house before Sargie gets ready for work. The forecast high through Thursday is to be in the lower fifties. After that, reality returns to the UP with snow and cold in the forecast thereafter.

It was warm and sunny enough on Sunday that Sargie could hang out (and dry) the laundry. Wearing a hunter orange coat, she exclaimed that NO ONE was going to mistake her for a deer.

I noticed yesterday, for the first time, that there was a sheen of ice covering most of Indian Lake. It quickly disappeared as the sun rose in the sky, but the skim was a reminder that winter’s not far away.

Sunday was a good one. I’d taken my walk and was back before mid-morning. Wishing to watch the NFL pregame shows, I hurried to shovel the chips from the Man Truck. I think there’ll be more than enough to cover all the paths in the orchard and garden next spring. Not only should it be neat and clean, it will alleviate having to mow the area by hand and save around two hours of trim work each week. Last summer, I occasionally failed to see a vegetable or plant and inadvertently ran over it. That shouldn’t be a problem this year.

If I'm not feeding the deer, I'm feeding the birds. This little chickadee, Jimmy, doesn't hesitate to grab a free tidbit when I'm outside. 

I thought I was going to have to pull out a can of victory whoop ass on the Packers Sunday afternoon. They are so beat up and riddled with injuries. Still, good teams find a way to win and the Packers eked out another victory, even if it was ugly. Hopefully this next week will find more players getting healthy and recovering enough to be able to play.

Sargie and I enjoyed our weekly drive around the area. She spotted one house where the ultimate Packers fans must reside. It is painted Packer green and gold.

We grabbed a quick Sunday afternoon burger and were back home before dark. Sargie enjoyed snapping pictures of the sunset. It was beautiful. I played with the birds for a bit and after, showed Sargie how little is left of the popple project. I’m eager to complete it this week.

Speaking of pictures, I think I’m going to have to start shopping for a new point and shoot camera. The Olympus Tough I’ve used seems to be developing difficulties focusing. It’s been through several years of being dropped, submerged, frozen, jostled and banged around and has been a good camera. Thankfully, I see where the newer models have dropped in price by almost a half.

We played cards last night and I dethroned the Pentoga Road Queen of Rummy… barely. And the truth be known, she let me win. We sat on the floor in front of the wood stove, mostly gabbing and laughing, as cards were laid down and picked up in a game totaling a thousand points.

Wearing her Rummy jammies, the girl is ready for another game of cut throat Rummy.

I’m going to help Mom with a computer project first thing this morning. She needs to attach and send some pictures via email and rather than go through step by step instruction, I’ll use a remote program I installed on her machine and simply do it from here. After, it’ll be out to work on the popple project. I’m so close to the finish line I can smell it.

Sargie should be home early tonight. It’ll be an evening of watching Dancing With the Stars followed by the Bears/San Francisco Monday night football game.

It’s getting light outside. I’m going to sharpen the chain on the saw and get it ready for a day of cutting. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…