It must be spring. Flock after flock of geese flew overhead on Wednesday

 April 16, 2015 - Thursday
28 degrees/clear/calm
Pentoga Road

These are fine days we're having lately. Yesterday's high was around 70 and the same is forecast for the next three days, but what's this? Snow next week? Uh huh.

I began bright and early on the deck yesterday, but was delayed when I discovered ice in the garden hose. I'd disconnected it from the house and laid to facing downhill so it would drain, but obviously, that didn't happen. 



Once the hose was ice free, I started washing the deck and finished in good shape. 



After it dried, I tried applying the Thompson's Water Seal using the sprayer, but it was too thick. I'd purchased a better quality than I have in years' past and the new liquid wouldn't go through the sprayer.

I tried brushing it on with a wisk broom and that worked, but I didn't like it. In the end, I used a roller. It went on even, but took a while. It was almost 1 PM before I finished.



I came inside and ate lunch and took a short nap. Revitalized, I started raking the sticks and spruce needles from under the large trees in the front yard. I must have made twenty trips to the burn pile with the wheelbarrow filled to the brim. It was 5 o'clock before I finished.



The lake finally broke open and with that, a promise that we might once again have a clean dog. Brutus and I hopped in the Blazer and chugged down the road. The first time I pitched the tennis ball into the water, he gently waded in, turned around and looked at me and returned to shore.

I coaxed and urged, even talked baby talk, and finally, the delicate pup took the plunge and swam the twenty feet out from shore and retrieved the ball. After that, I couldn't keep him out of the water. Even when we quit half an hour later, he was still begging for more.



The opportunity wasn't wasted to give him real bath. Dressed in old shorts, I waded out from shore with scrub brush and doggie shampoo in hand and scrubbed that dog until he once again was white. I noticed while rinsing him that a cloud of dirt floated from his body, ala Pig Pen in the old Charlie Brown comic strip.

Naturally, when we returned home, Brutus made a bee line to a bare spot in the yard and rolled in the dirt in an attempt to get all that "clean" removed. As Sargie says, he's a pig.

We both were tired last night so we decided to have cereal for supper. I fell asleep in my recliner soon after and barely remember Sargie waking me, saying it was time to head upstairs to bed.

Sargie works early today. I'm going to walk my five miles then get busy moving the patio furniture, grill, and smoker on the deck. I've got blueberry bushes to transplant, raking to do around the wood sheds, and maintenance to perform on the backhoe. No doubt, I'll take the bulldog back to the lake so he can do his favorite activity, swim. 

I'll head over to Iron Mountain later this afternoon and ride home with Sargie. I want to take advantage of the sale at Home Depot and purchase more Quickrete, dog ear fence for a couple of garden planters and price some treated 1x6's to replace those that are rotten supporting the raise garden beds.

Mouse damage that occurred under the snow this winter to this apple tree I grafted several years ago. Usually the black pipe will discourage them, but not this year. I think the tree will live. It wasn't completely girded.

It's going to be a busy one, but are we surprised? Not one iota... because everyone knows, a man's works is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

I dug the remainder of the parsnips from last summer's garden on Wednesday.