The old apple tree, the one we hang our bird feeders from in the back yard, is in its final season. Each spring I remove more dead branches. This year, only one is showing life and is filled with beautiful blossoms, a fitting tribute to an old veteran that has, no doubt, supplied the fillings to many pies over the past century.

May 30, 2013 – Thursday

66 degrees/clear/breezy/humid

Pentoga Road

It feels more like the beginning of August this morning than the end of May. Just enough rain fell last night that coupled with this morning’s sunshine and warm temperatures, there’s a sauna-like effect going on. The forecast is calling for thunderstorms and showers later today, tomorrow, and Saturday. Sunday night’s low? 34 degrees. Naturally.

Wednesday was a busy one on Pentoga Road. Just as I was finishing writing the log, the International Cub dealer called saying the mower was fixed. I wound through the woods in the Man Truck, paid the man, and brought the machine home. The owner of the business made the comment several times that other than a broken belt that hit the fan and caused it to break, how many parts were missing. I guess they'd vibrated off the mower over the years.

I cleared a space in back of the greenhouse, working up the ground, and planted several Connecticut Field pumpkin seeds. Originally, I was going to sow them in pots in the orchard, but decided to go ahead and put them directly in the ground. I think they’ll do better.

I did plant the mini-table top pumpkins, both yellow and white, in large pots. I mixed a combination of potting soil, topsoil, and regular old dirt and as an experiment, planted large pumpkins, Connecticut Field, in two of the pots.

Six more eggplants were put in the ground as well as six Brussels’ sprouts. Late broccoli and cauliflower plants will follow later this summer for a fall harvest… I hope. Other than subsequent plantings of beans and beets, this summer’s garden is finished.

           

It was late afternoon by the time I finished the pumpkin projects and turned my attention to an old cement park bench that belonged to a distant relative of Sargie’s. I spent quite a while researching how to fix cement furniture and learned that epoxy is recommended followed by more cement. I had some high-powered epoxy and fastened everything together last night. It appears that repair was successful and hopefully, after I fill in a hole with cement, the bench will be ready to paint and be placed in the garden in front of the greenhouse.

After closing the Vision Center and arriving home late last night, Sargie’s off today. No doubt, part of this afternoon will be spent making the house ready for our great nieces, Aubrey and Marley, who are to arrive for the weekend Friday afternoon. I hope the weather is decent as we’re planning a marshmallow roast and possibly kayaking around the edge of our local lake. The girls have a huge above ground pool at their house so they are no strangers to water. 

It’s time to move along. I think I’m going to mix a small amount of cement and attempt to put the finishing touches on the old park bench. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Brutus seldom leaves my side and as usual, is inspecting everything I do.