March 17, 2015 - Tuesday
24 degrees/clear/windy
Pentoga Road

And Happy St. Patrick's Day to you! Sharing my life and my love with a girl whose last name is Milligan means that we're wearing green today. May the blessings of St. Patrick be on us all.

It's a slow one in the What's Happening On Pentoga Road Department. Our summer-like temperatures have been replaced with more seasonal ones. It was in the upper 40's, cloudy, and calm last night when we went to bed. This morning dawned the exact opposite. 

After my usual five mile walk Monday morning, I collected another eight gallons of sap from the sixteen taps, a fairly good average. It's all going into a large collection barrel (better known as a sterilized garbage can) where it will be boiled down all at once.

Monday's project? Begin assembly of the Harbor Freight workbench.

The rest of Monday was spent in the barn working on the tool bench I'd purchased last month from Harbor Freight. I was going to get more lumber and begin construction of another strawberry planter, but I didn't really want to drive in the rain, and besides, what good is a workbench still in a million pieces inside a box? 



The engineer who dreamed up the construction of the workbench must have been a redheaded stepchild and decided to take his childhood abuse out on others. Dawning the magnifiers, I began assembly.



The first four hours crawled by and still, the bench was only half assembled. I felt sick to my stomach (wearing the magnifiers for any length of time usually results in nausea. Everything is either too close or too far or too blurry.) and my eyes hurt. More than a bit disgusted and muttering words that, in my youth, caused Mama to wash my mouth out with soap, I quit.



There was a pot of gold... well, corned beef, at the end of the rainbow. I came in the house and fixed a huge sandwich on Italian bread filled with left over corned beef and pickled baby yellow squash from last summer's garden, all topped with mayonnaise. A short afternoon nap followed.



It was time to get back to the barn and continue on the workbench.

I worked another two hours before the eyes gave out once again. At least I'm within sight of the finish line and should complete the task this morning. Amen.



Sargie was supposed to be home early last night, but a late onslaught of patients caused her to work much later than planned. We enjoyed tuna salad for supper in front of the television watching the first episode of Dancing With the Stars. 

Sargie closes tonight and I'm planning on driving over to Iron Mountain late this afternoon, leaving the Blazer, and riding back with her. I'll ride over with her in the morning and purchase what lumber I need from Home Depot to make another two pyramids. 

I'm going to walk my five miles this morning and enjoy the fresh air. No doubt, I'll attempt to finish the workbench after, then there's that pesky after-lunch grandpa nap. I'm fairly certain that it's written in the Grandpa Handbook that an afternoon nap is required several times a week. 

Meanwhile, it's time to grab another cup of coffee, listen to the news, and think some deep thoughts. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Brutus found some mud in which to dig while I was working in the barn.