Though the park bench is completed, it's too long. I'm going to make it shorter than the seven feet shown above.

June 8, 2013 – Saturday

50 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

I ventured into town first thing Friday to get some boxes from Yooper Brother Mark’s plant. I wasn’t there long, but we had a good conversation. I took Brutus to show Ann who is Mark’s administrative assistant and a real dog lover. I think she fell in love with his bushel basket-sized head and puppy dog personality.

Brutus is ready to go to town. You don't have to ask him twice. I thought we should leave the freezer outside to add to the ambience of the yard, but Sargie said it needed to go back in the garage. The cement crew later stopped by and carried it in.

The rest of the morning was spent finishing the park bench. I put a final sanding on, then painted, the two cement ends. 

Next came notching the two-by-fours, but the hardest part was putting the silly thing together by myself. 

At one point, I even had Brutus sit so I could lean the bench against him while attempting to put in the last two-by-four. He did well, but moved at the last moment and the entire thing fell over.

Speaking of the dog, I know there are a lot of pictures of him. I'm not necessarily enamored with his looks, but one has to realize, he's seldom more than a few feet from me at any given time. In fact, I often tell him to move so I can take a picture without him in it. During the day, he's pretty much my constant companion. Swam the Goldfish just wasn't working out. 

The bench eventually went together, but after, I decided it was too long. I looked at various plans on the internet for benches and most called for lengths from four to eight feet. I decided seven sounded about right. That’s too long. I’ll cut it down over the next day or two, assuming I get the barn ready to empty out.

The concrete boys stopped by and carried in the heavy contents of the garage. I remained impressed by their ability to pick up the very full upright freezer as if it were an empty cardboard box. I still have small things to put on and under the workbench, but half-an-hour’s worth of work should see it back to normal. So far the door is holding up. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t have to buy another one for a while.

I worked for an hour in the garden mowing what little grass there is, then planted marigolds along the perimeter of the raised beds. I’m not completely finished, but the mosquitoes finally ran me off. They have been horrific this year. We’ve had plenty of moisture and as of three weeks ago, I still had an acre lake a few hundred feet away. The annual tick invasion seems to be subsiding and they should all but disappear over the next few weeks.

The pole beans are now sprouting

I ended the day by mowing the yard and all the trails and meadows. I enjoy that task a great deal, but will be glad when the person comes to landscape the popple woods and side yard and can remove all the big rocks from the trails. Even knowing where the rocks are, I still manage to hit a few each time I mow. I guess I should spray paint them florescent orange so can see the darn things.

It was past 9:30 when Sargie arrived home. We ate a late supper and talked until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. She said she came upstairs a few minutes after me and I was already sound asleep.  Thankfully, she’s off today.

Ah, today… I am going to finish moving anything that belongs in the garage back. After, I’ll move to the barn and begin packing the smaller tools and accessories into the boxes. Sargie said she’d give me a hand later today, but I don’t think it’s going to be a horrible ordeal. I’ve been putting in an hour here/an hour there this past week and it should go quickly. The pavers said they would be here on Wednesday, but he thought it could be as early as Monday or Tuesday. He also promised to give me 24 hours notice. I know how that goes. I’ll be ready regardless.

I think I’ll get another cup of coffee and listen to the news. Between the IRS scandal, Benghazi, phone records being kept, social and cell phone conversations recorded, and the tapping of the AP and other news outlets, I’m not even sure why I want to listen to the news. I wonder when the American people will say enough? It’s a new America we’re living in these days. I liked the old one.

Time to get busy pouring that cup of java. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

We should be eating radishes in another week or two