Yeah, I know. I'm a softie when it comes to feeding my birds. At least for the moment, I'm this chickadee's newest bestest friend!

November 13, 2012 – Tuesday

20 degrees/overcast/breezy

Pentoga Road

It appears fall is sliding into winter with little difficulty. Monday’s temperatures fell into the upper teens during the morning hours and here on Pentoga Road, never peaked over 21 degrees. Coupled with the strong wind, it was a nippy day.

It was snowing hard and the roads were covered going into town on Monday morning. At one point, I almost turned around as I had difficulty recognizing the difference between the road and the shoulder. Thankfully, it was only in one place.

I’ve got to find some warm hiking boots. The light-weight running shoes I generally wear provide maximum protection with little added weight for eight months out of the year. I attempted hiking yesterday and turned around soon after leaving the drive. My feet were already cold.

It's warm inside

Most of Monday was spent moving the deer blind to the barn. Porcupines had gnawed around the base and I’m not sure what kept the old building standing.

I attempted to use the front end loader on the tractor, but that required two people, one to lean the outhouse-like structure back onto the frame while another worked the controls. In the end, it was the Man Truck that came to the rescue.

After loosening the structure from the ground with the tractor, I simply leaned it into the back of the truck.

The bottom of the walls were chewed and rotten all ‘round. I have enough scrap plywood to remake them, but in the end, decided to cut off the bottom 8 inches, reframe it, and call it good enough. After all, my chances of actually seeing a deer close enough to shoot are fairly slim and I’ll use the building what, six or eight times in the next two weeks?

Framing and moving the building to its new home should be completed today. After, wood chips will be brought in for the floor, I'll clean ‘er up a bit, and it should be ready for opening day of deer season on Pentoga Road.

Time was spent playing with the birds, chickadees. I’ve now got them trained to sit on my hand to feed and one allowed me to pet it yesterday. When I went back into the barn and closed the door, three followed me and chirped and sang the entire time. One even landed on my arm while I was working.

Strange how such little creatures can give a big ol’ ugly crusty guy so much pleasure. Oh well, some folks have their dogs or kitty cats. I have my birds. I think the bears are denned up now so I’ll be bringing out the large bird feeder and suet soon. Time to feed my feathered friends! It’s one of the pure joys I appreciate here on Pentoga Road.

I worked on classes during the late afternoon hours. There’s so much to do and I’m trying hard not to wait until the last minute. Plan’s B and C for next semester’s graduate class are already in place and could be implemented today, but I want the course to be really special, something unique. We’ll see. For sure, the income derived from teaching certainly helps. I’d love to be able to teach these classes for the next ten years and if it all works, vision won’t be a factor for teaching in the future, but hearing will be!

It's okay that she graze on the OUTSIDE of the orchard.

It was dark and cold and windy. Poor Sargie had to fight the snow going to work and the cold and wind coming home. That girl would need a good meal. As Mom says, “Something that would stick to your ribs.”

I fixed split pea soup with ham and homemade biscuits for supper. Mmm. Sargie walked into the house and the first words from her mouth were, “It smells good in here!”

She pronounced the supper very good and I ate enough that if it all stuck to my ribs, I weigh ten pounds more this morning than yesterday.

Today should see a repeat of yesterday’s activities. I’d like to get the deer blind finished and out of the way. The rest of the day should be spent inside working on classes. I’m going downstairs in a bit to try and find some appropriate footwear for cold weather hiking. Other than that, there’s always the classes.

Sargie works early today then will have supper with Mr. Milligan. Her next day off is Sunday. It’s a long week for my favorite babe optician in life.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Sunrise Tuesday morning on Pentoga Road