The latest construction project on Pentoga Road, a roof over the garbage cans at the rear of the woodshed, was completed Wednesday afternoon.

August 15, 2013 – Thursday

44 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

There’s a reason why those who know say to leave at least half an inch of head space when canning and preserving food in jars. I discovered why on Wednesday.

I decided not to walk Wednesday morning. The knee was still a bit tender from two consecutive five-mile days and I didn’t want to push the recovery. My plan was to put up bread and butter pickles first thing in the morning and with that in mind, I began washing and slicing eleven pounds of beautiful, seedless, cucumbers.

Sargie had been getting ready for work and with a few minutes to spare, she joined me as we washed and sliced.

I mixed the ingredients, washed the jars, and soon was packing cucumber slices into quart jars. All went well until I found I didn’t have enough liquid. Hmm, if I could just pack a few more slices into each jar and eliminate the need for two, I’d have enough.

It was a stroke of genius… or so I thought. In the end, I packed all eight too tightly and after a hot water bath, four expanded rather than contracted to seal. Thankfully, we have an extra refrigerator. The pickles taste great, but those four unsealed jars will have to be kept cold until eaten. The others are downstairs on the shelf waiting to be consumed this winter. Thankfully, pickles don’t last long around here and nothing will go to waste. The only thing harmed was my delicate ego.

The last of the grades were entered for this past summer’s session of ALST 300. This fall’s class is already uploaded online and I’ll be crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s in the next two weeks. The fall semester begins the day after Labor Day.

The rest of Wednesday was spent building the roof over the garbage cans in back of the old woodshed. I’ve been wondering if it’s worthwhile keeping odds and ends of lumber left over from various projects and yesterday affirmed my lumber-hoarding ways. A few two-by-fours, most old ones scavenged from the old park bench of Sargie’s I fixed last spring, a piece of torn particle board, left over from building the new wood shed, and a crooked treated post purchased a year ago. The lean-to cost me only my time. Perfect.

I was four inches short of having enough left-over rolled roofing. In the end, I found a scrap or two to complete the task.

I finished around 5 PM and was ready to call it day. After folding the frost blankets used the previous night, I headed to the house.

Sargie had to work late last night. It was a very short evening for her, especially since she opens this morning.

Brutus and I are going to resume our walking today. After a day’s rest, it’s time to continue our efforts to strengthen the knee. But, the big goal for today is to find a set of doghouse plans I like. It’s time to start construction. The pup is without his own shelter and with winter quickly approaching, he needs his own digs in which to hole up when either Sargie or I aren’t home… which isn’t often.

It’s time to get a cup of coffee, think deep thoughts, and listen to the news, because as you well know, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…