One of Friday's chores was to take the roof off of Brutus's house and install a brooder lamp for warmth. A job that would take a few minutes in the summer months required almost an hour yesterday. 

February 21, 2015 - Saturday morning
7 degrees/partly cloudy/calm
Pentoga Road

It seems eerily warm this morning. For those who think 7 ABOVE zero is still cold, consider that it's a full 31 degrees warmer than yesterday. Unfortunately, the warming trend is forecast to be short lived. Tomorrow's high is predicted to remain a few degrees below zero.

I finally got in gear on Friday and had three loads of laundry washed, dried, folded, and put away well before noon. I must have made fifty or a million trips up and down both sets of steps as Sargie is a tough taskmaster when it comes to laundry. She likes her outer clothes separated, washed, tumbled for a few minutes in the dryer, then placed on hangers to dry naturally (and wrinkle-free) to finish the process. I don't mind and really, it takes no longer, but it sure provides a good workout hoofing from the basement to the second floor with a few articles each time while the others remain tumbling.

My next project was to place the brooder lamp in Brutus's doghouse. Thankfully, the snow is deep enough that the heavy roof (lid) could be slid off and didn't need to be lifted. I used a mere 60 watt bulb and fixed the lamp so that it is suspended up at the ceiling, well out of the bulldog's way. The pup now has central heat in his well-insulated digs.

There are several inches of cedar shavings on the floor along with two rugs and now, the brooder lamp. The house is also double insulated throughout and with the attached garage, there is no way the wind can blow directly inside.

Time was taken to attempt to clear the snow away from the third strand of wire on the deer fence that surrounds the orchard and garden area.I'd disconnected the bottom strand last December and seeing how futile it would be to shovel completely around the perimeter, I simply disconnected the third strand. Only the top two remain charged.

Honestly, if a deer wanted to break in and feast on the blueberry and apple shoots, he probably could without getting a shock. On the other hand, the beast would probably find the snow as much a hindrance as I did yesterday. 



I returned to the house cold and hungry and enjoyed watching the movie Wild. It's a true story about a young lady who solo-hiked the Pacific Coast Trail along with the tribulations she encountered. Needless to say, by movie's end, I was ready to strap on my hiking shoes and kick off on the thousand mile trek.

That didn't happen, but I did hike the three miles to the lake and back. It felt good to have the blood once again become liquefied and upon finishing, muttered a silent oath that I will continue to walk daily, even if it's just to the end of the road. Becoming fat and out of shape is easy. It's remaining active, especially in the coldest of times, that's the challenge.

I'm not overly confident our land line phone service will remain intact all winter.

Sargie was scheduled to get off early and there was still plenty of light. I hopped in the Blazer and chugged over to Iron Mountain so I might meet and ride home with her. After eating fish sandwiches, (thanks for supper, Sargie!) our trip home seemed to be over in minutes. We talked and laughed and enjoyed each other's company. Sargie's worked some very long hours this week and the time we've spent together has been minimal.

She opens this morning and I'll ride over and drive back home. After? Who knows. I've thought about going ice fishing, am fairly certain I'll plow the couple of inches of snow that fell last night from the drive, or I might take advantage of the warm weather and give the garage and barn a light cleaning. That means putting away the tools that have hurriedly been thrown on the bench these past several weeks. Maybe I'll get wild and do all three.

Meanwhile, the coffee's done and I ought to think a deep thought or two while listening to the news.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...