He better not even contemplate tangling with the 9,000 volt electric fence to get into the garden. On the other hand, it would be entertaining to watch.

August 22, 2014 - Friday

64 degrees/cloudy/mist/calm

Pentoga Road

I don't need to mention how really nice it's been to sleep between clean and dry sheets, snuggled with Sargie, and be nice and dry. I love hiking, backpacking, and camping, but there's something about one's own bed that can't be beat. 

I feel like someone, or something, is looking down on me each time I walk in the garden.

A yearling buck is running around the yard this early morning. He's been involved in a mock combat situation in the area where I've been landscaping, jumps up and down, snorts, then takes off on a gallop around the perimeter. It's fun to watch.

Thursday was all about Brutus loosing a couple of his family parts... well, that depends whether we're talking as a whole or singular. At any rate, his fathering days are at an end, not that he was all that experienced. With Baby Grady and the little girls occasionally visiting, I wanted to ensure that Brutus will always be the gentle giant he's known to be. The perfect kid's dog, having him neutered should ensure he always stays that way.

No worse for the wear of having body parts and a porcupine quill removed from his eye, Brutus woke up from his operation and begged for a treat. Nothing wrong with that pup.

I'd mentioned to the vet, a young lady new to Iron River, that Brutus had tangled earlier this summer with a porcupine and there was one quill the emergency vet couldn't remove behind his eye without doing major surgery. Could she have a try while he was under anesthesia? She did and here's what she gave me when I went back to town to pick up our puppy. It was stuck in the lining behind his left eye. That dog either has the patience of Job or he has absolutely no feeling in that block head of his.

I spent much of the day in the garden then later, freezing, blanching, or otherwise preparing to process most of the vegetables to eat this coming winter. 

The hiking equipment was put away, well, most of it, and the smelly stuff either put out on the line to air out or into the washer. My sleeping bag was the worst... an odiferous combination of damp duck feathers and sweaty male body. I hung it out, but it will go into the washer later today and thoroughly cleaned before being hung out to dry and later compressed and put away.

Sargie was home last night and we enjoyed a supper of tuna salad, fresh tomatoes, and the last head of cauliflower from the garden. It was the perfect summertime meal.

Its getting hard to walk between the raised beds.

Sargie works early today and should be home early tonight. I'm going to finish my school preparations today, make pickles, and hopefully, will start to put on the siding onto the storage shed. I hope to get it boxed in in the next week or so. In fact, Yooper Brother Mark just called asking if I was up for a day of working on the shed. You bet!

Neighbor Mike and his son, Dr. Paul, working on their camp across the road and up the hill.

But first, it's time for another cup of coffee. After all, a man's work is never done.

Brussel sprouts

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...