The ice is out on the small lake where I usually fish. It will be another two weeks, probably three or more, before my season really begins in earnest. 

April 20, 2015 - Monday morning

40 degrees/rain/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Talk about a good day to sleep in; this would have been the perfect one. It's Monday, it's cold, it's dark, and it's rainy; all are perfect excuses why one should linger between the sheets and be in no hurry to get up. Unfortunately, the people who employ Sargie seem to think she should earn her paycheck and she opens today. No sleeping in on Pentoga Road this morning.

The dam on the Paint River in Crystal Falls. The brown in the water is caused by tannin, a natural dye colored by the decay of leaves and roots. Taken while on Sunday's drive.

Sunday was spent doing a variety of activities. I helped Sargie clean the house first thing in the morning. The biggest chore was to take the large wood box out from the corner of the living room and clean all the bark and chips from in back and under. It stays full all winter long and is entirely too heavy to move, but I noticed it was almost empty yesterday, a great time to sweep out from behind the thing. Of course, with cold and damp weather in this week's forecast, it was filled again last night and no doubt, I'll get to spring-clean around it when the weather turns warm and remains that way.

A local alpaca farm. I've tried talking Sargie into letting me have one or two. Yeah... that's not going to happen.

I raked and leveled the piles of dirt in the new terrace alongside the barn. This week's goal will be to decide what type of surface will go on top. I'll call sister-in-law Jeanne, our resident interior and exterior designer, and ask her advice. The strawberry pyramids will sit on top of that surface. 

One of these months, the barn and storage shed behind will be red with white trim.

Sargie and I took our usual Sunday afternoon drive. We headed east and spent our time looking at houses located along a lake about fifteen miles away and found a home we liked. It's on a private lot, 1.5 acres, and has an apartment over a very expansive garage, perfect for when Mom or any company comes and stays with us... and the best part is, it lists for only $532,000. I'm sure with a bit of negotiating, the sellers would be willing to drop the price to a mere half-a-million dollars. 

Honestly, I didn't know there was any house in the U.P. worth that much. In fact, I've been under the impression a person could buy the entire Upper Peninsula for half a million bucks. Personally, I'll take Pentoga Road... it's more my style.

We drove by hundreds of acres that have been logged this winter. Prices must be good.

We were lazy the rest of the day. I popped huge bowls of buttered popcorn and we watched tv. Other than watch the Bible AD, I graded final papers for most the evening, something I'll be doing for the majority of today.

The ice is almost all gone on our local large lake. The pieces of ice in the foreground made a tinkling sound when the wind blew. 

So with that being said, it's time to grab a cup of coffee, listen to the news, and think a few deep thoughts.

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

This is kind of weird. I cut down this yellow birch last fall as half of it was dead. You can see that sap has been running this spring on the right half of the stump, yet the left hasn't been alive for some time and is pithy.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sam gets a new look and change of clothes with the seasons. As I remember, last fall, he was wearing heavy clothes in preparation for the upcoming winter. He stands alongside a remote gravel lake road welcoming any and all.