May 17, 2013 – Friday

38 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

For as lousy as Wednesday was, Thursday decided to head the opposite direction and we had a great day here on Pentoga Road. Nothing broke down, the weather was perfect, the UPS man brought my blueberries, the topsoil/compost was delivered, and Sargie was home. All was right in my world.

Brutus also returned to his super-pup status. He was never far from my side and seemed very content to go back to his duty of being my partner. I’m not sure what his problem was on Wednesday, but I did take a few minutes every couple of hours on Thursday to play fetch and that seemed to keep his energy levels at bay. He’s back in the will.

We're discussing what still has to be done to put the mower back together. It turns out he's no better mechanic than I am.

Thursday began by laying mulch and spreading wood chips in the garden area. It seems like a slow chore, but when I think how far it’s progressed in the past week, I’m well satisfied. With the snow just leaving a couple of weeks ago and the frost finally out of the ground, the summer rush is on. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

The blueberries arrived yesterday in great shape. They’ve been soaking in a bucket the past eighteen hours and will be planted in fifteen-gallon pots this morning.

I had an elongated discussion with ATT yesterday morning. The giant company told me they couldn’t process my phone/internet order because there was no such address as ours. After much discussion and intermittently being placed on hold for almost an hour, I finally told them to contact their billing department as they’ve had no trouble finding where I live the past four years. It was finally straightened out and phone service is to begin today, internet DSL in three to five days.

Sargie busied herself doing laundry and other household chores. Brutus was in Bulldog Heaven being split between Sargie and me. The majority of his time was spent with me, but when she’d exit the house to hang clothes on the line, he enjoyed trotting over to that area where they would have a girl-to-bulldog talk, then he’d trot back when she’d go in. 

Sargie didn’t appreciate the old deer skull, complete with antlers, which he drug out of the woods and laid at her feet directly under the clothesline. Some people have no sense of humor.

I talked with Andy yesterday. He and Mollie will be coming for a visit later this month or early June. Sargie and I are very excited. At one point, we might have Marley and Aubrey for a day or two so it will be nice to have a house filled with big and little people all at once. Sometimes it seems too quiet in the little house on Pentoga Road; like a couple of old people live here.

Sargie and I took a break yesterday and went for a two-hour drive around one of our local lakes to see how the other half live. It was nice putting along enjoying the perfect spring day.

A random plywood man standing alongside a remote road.

The topsoil people brought five yards of perfect topsoil/compost mix late in the afternoon. I also talked with Don about landscaping the old popple woods, the lot next to the garden, and making some trails through the maple woods, and he said he’d be happy to do it… and for less money than anyone else I’ve talked with. It appears things are shaping up as I hoped they would.

I finished changing the oil and filters on the mower, put the mowing deck back on, and mowed the yard last night. I must have been holding my mouth just right as everything worked on the first attempt. The yard looks like a freshly mown golf course this morning.

Hmm, let me tell you what we've got here...

We ate canned pike, ala tuna fish, on pretzels for supper and watched television. I think I fell asleep in my chair around 8:30 and Sargie finally woke me up and told me to go to bed. She didn’t have to tell me twice. Right out of the shower and with the sheets crisp and fresh smelling from drying on the line, I quickly fell into a deep slumber with a smile on my face.

To show you how bright I am... I forgot that I have a camera on my iPhone4. Though the quality of pictures isn't always as good as my old Olympus, it'll suffice for now. I'm back in the picture business.

Sargie works early today. I’ll ride over to Iron Mountain with her to retrieve the Blazer. Hopefully, it will start and I’ll have no electrical problems.

I want to plant the ten blueberry plants today in the pots then empty the flower planters of the old dirt and replace that with the new compost/topsoil that was delivered on Thursday. After that, it’s back to the garden… mulch, till, plant… Have I ever told you a man’s work is never done?

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…