A curious deer watching me trim along the trail on Friday

August 3, 2013 – Saturday

44 degrees/sunny/calm

Pentoga Road

I didn’t write Friday morning. The Blazer had to be to the shop early and when thinking about what I did the day before, there wasn’t alot to write about.

Thursday began with a three-mile walk to the local lake and back. The knee held up, but I was glad to be back home. I think Brutus felt the same.

The rest of the day was spent doing odds and ends. I worked on my carving, put a few more things away in the barn, and finally made it out to the garden. I’m feeding the giant pumpkins daily and they are growing appreciably.

I’m not sure how well they’ll do in the end as our days are beginning to get so short and the temperatures are already heading towards the freezing mark. Last night’s low missed it by only twelve degrees. That tells me we could have an early fall.

Another sign that fall isn't far away

Thursday evening was beautiful and Sargie and I decided to take a two-mile walk. I wanted to test the knee and by the time five miles had been recorded at day’s end, it was telling me it had enough. Still, I was happy that finally, I’d managed to cover a small amount of distance.

I was at the mechanic’s early on Friday morning and back home by 9 AM. All the windows work once again as we get the SUV ready for winter’s use.

The wind was blowing, the sun out, and the temperatures in the sixties. It was time to get to work.

The asparagus patch was finally weeded. I’d kept it clean until a month ago, but has been totally ignored since. It took almost two hours and the patch is ready for next spring’s crop.

I’d planted blackberries and black raspberries in May alongside the main trail heading to the back of the property. It took awhile to find all the blackberry bushes as they were only a few inches tall and all were marked with ribbon. The black raspberries were easier to find as they’d been transplanted as fully grown bushes. I trimmed off all the old canes and mowed around both.

Friday was Josh’s birthday. My oldest son turned 38; rapidly approaching that big four-oh. I called and we talked for quite a while yesterday afternoon. Josh is preparing for his first semester of teaching responsibilities at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, and excited about his responsibilities as a professor. Needless to say, Dad is a little more than proud of him.

It was too late in the afternoon to start a new project, too early to quit for the day. I sat in the swing on the back deck thinking deep thoughts when my eyes landed on the dead apple tree, the one we hang our bird feeders from.

I was wrong. It wasn’t too late to begin a big project.

I don’t care for the crosspiece, but until Sargie or I come up with something more decorative, it will hold the hummingbird feeder and upside down flower hanger.

Sargie works early today and has Sunday off. That means we’ll have some type of weekend together. We need to find a helmet that fits her better so we can take an ATV ride tomorrow on the new four-wheeler. 

I’m not sure what today will bring. We talked about having Mark, Sheri, and Sarah, over for pizza tonight, but found out that Sarah’s class reunion is tonight. She flies back to Wyoming on Monday. Mark is at the state firefighter’s competition and unsure when he’ll arrive home. Oh well, the best laid plans…

I’ll head into town first thing this morning and take advantage of the blueberries on sale at one of our local groceries, 2 lbs for $6. We’ll have some berries off of our bushes in the next week or so, but I may purchase enough this morning to put in the freezer for eating this winter.

It’s time to begin cutting the maple tree that blew over earlier this spring. It’s that time of year. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Who needs a cat when one owns a bulldog? He'd be more than happy to sit on my lap and purr if I'd let him.