A wood shed, twenty foot antenna, and scrumptious ribs

Sargie taking a load of wood scraps to the burn pile on Monday morning

July 23, 2013 – Tuesday

50 degrees/clear/windy

Pentoga Road

I'm going to admit that I could care less about England's new prince. When NBC preempted regular programming last night for an hour special on his royal birth, I knew we'd hit an all time low. NBC also had a special on the Trayvon trial last week. Anything for sensationalism. I guess as long as there are people who will watch, they'll continue to show such nonsense.

Though there were severe thunderstorm watches out for the entirety of last evening, none appeared over Pentoga Road. At one point, we had about three drops of rain. It cleared off after, the temperature dropped fifteen degrees, and the rest is history.

I began Tuesday by working in the garden. The pole beans have outgrown their teepee support so I strung a length of garden twine from another pole fifteen feet away. If they grow across, I’ll have a trellis of pole beans across one corner. The whole thing has spawned some ideas for next year’s garden. Since I’m always short of growing space, why can’t I grow all the beans overhead? Now I’m thinking of making a terrace from a raised bed on one side completely across to one on the other. If nothing else, it would be a conversation piece.

The cucumbers are beginning to bear and the onions growing

Mom had a first in life yesterday as she crawled into the Man Truck and accompanied me to the lumberyard.  I purchased two pieces of OSB board to repair the back and side of the old woodshed. Though she didn’t say anything, I could tell she wished she were me and could call the Man Truck her own.

Sargie helped and together, we made the repairs and cleaned out any old wood and pieces. 

It was quite a job and without Sargie’s help it would have taken me the rest of the week. Soaking up the warm sun, Mom supervised from a lawn chair.

Mom is incapable of simply watching. While I was dumping a load of scraps, she'd hopped up from her lawn chair to help Sargie.

A coat of paint on the outside walls and it will be finished.

The internet guys came out yesterday and hoisted the antenna another ten feet into the air. So far/so good. The reception has been nonstop and the speed doubled.

There’s still a problem of a different nature. It’s fastened on the roof directly over our heads in the bedroom and is so tall and gangly that it’s making a noise as it sways in the wind. I need to crawl up onto the roof today and make sure it’s not doing any damage to our tin roof. I’m beginning to wonder if this internet saga will ever end.

I drove the Man Truck to Mark’s plant and left it off Monday afternoon. Sargie and Mom followed in the car and we spent a couple of hours sight seeing around the area. There’s an old mine shaft that caved in years ago that has made a beautiful pond. We spent some time on the dock enjoying the blue water, breeze, and scenery.

Sargie pulled out all the stops last night and fixed barbequed ribs for supper along with baked potatoes and corn on the cob. The ribs were so tender that the meat fell off the bones and was to-die-for delicious. If anyone was hungry after, it was his own fault.

Sargie’s back to work today. There are a ton of projects around here with my name attached to each. It’s going to be cool and breezy, a perfect day for doing “stuff.” After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

The hydro electric dam on the Paint River is being repaired in nearby Crystal Falls