Sarah, Sheri, and Yooper Brother Mark enjoying pizza Saturday evening.

August 4, 2013 – Sunday

39 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

The nighttime temperatures keep falling and I’m beginning to give up hope that many of the vegetables in the garden might mature before the first frost or freeze. In fact, I’m going to pick a few green tomatoes and bring them in the house to ripen on the window sill. It’s that time of year to begin eating our (somewhat) famous vegetable omelets… if only we had fresh garden vegetables to put in them!

Sarah's holding a cherry tomato, the first vine ripened one of the season. Last year at this time, I couldn't give any of the tomatoes away fast enough. What a difference a year makes.

Brutus and I clicked off three miles yesterday with no apparent harm to the knee. It’s still weak, but seems to be getting decidedly stronger each day. I’m pushing the joint just a bit in an attempt to get it stronger. There’s hope.

I changed from shorts to jeans, strapped a cooler onto the back rack, and rode the new four-wheeler into town to purchase blueberries at the local grocery.

After riding Old Blue, my smaller and older ATV, the much newer Polaris is like driving a Cadillac. It has struts and shocks and with a bigger frame, absorbs most of the bumps. It ran and performed flawlessly. I’m happy.

I was frozen by the time I got home. I stopped to see Sarah on my way out of town and should have borrowed one of Yooper Brother Mark’s older long sleeved shirts. We manly-man Alaskans hate to admit to being cold… ever… but there were times yesterday I wished I’d have worn more than a t-shirt. 

An osprey's nest high upon a platform alongside the trail

I flopped in my recliner when I arrived home, sipped a cup of coffee, tried to read a good book with regular sized print (a sure recipe that my eyes will soon be closing) and within a few minutes, dozed off. With a cool breeze blowing in the window, lying in my recliner covered by a blanket… I took a wonderful grandpa nap.

The rest of the afternoon was spent messing around the house and yard. There was a new lid for the bathroom stool to be installed upstairs and several small chores to complete outside. Since we were having company for supper, I promised Sargie that I would clean the downstairs, something that wasn’t difficult.

Brutus found something dead in the woods and rolled in it, not once, but twice yesterday. He got two baths and still had a bit of an odor last night. If he rolls in it today, the pup will find himself on the end of a long chain. I don’t mind scrubbing him once a week, but twice in a day? I feel as though I took three showers yesterday, two with him under the garden hose.

Sargie arrived home last night bearing enough pizza to feed the starving third-world countries.  We thoroughly enjoyed Yooper Brother Mark, Sheri, and Sarah, and spent the evening stuffing our faces, talking, and laughing. Sarah heads back to Wyoming Monday morning.

Sheri brought a great angel food cake desert filled with raspberries. 

This is Sargie’s day off so who knows what’s on the agenda. I see a few green beans are about ready to pick, our first this year, so I’m hopeful there might be enough to go with supper this evening. Other than that, anything’s up for grabs. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Parked alongside the big boys in town.