My oldest grandson, Coleman, with a red-ear sunfish he caught from the river that flows in back of their home in Maine. I bet he could show his grandpa some tricks of the trade.

July 17, 2015 - Friday
62 degrees/showers/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I just checked the rain gauge... 2/10's of an inch fell overnight. I wish we would have received more, but we'll take whatever happens our way. Mark just sent a text saying they received 4/10's at the plant, just ten miles away. Sometimes it's hard to believe we live so close, yet can have such wide-ranging temperatures and precipitation.

I worked the first two and a half hours on Thursday cleaning up boulders and rocks in the side yard. I had it looking pretty good until I discovered a few more, those that could possibly be hit by the lawn mower blades in future cuttings. There was nothing to do but hop on the backhoe and dig those out.

Someone asked yesterday if I was trying to create a national park or golf course in the side yard. Nope. With the eyesight not nearly as good as it used to be and a certainty that it will continue to diminish in the coming years, I want to make the yard as mower-friendly as possible and not have to worry about steering around smaller obstacles such as rocks. I can imagine Sargie and I, both, to be in our nineties,  and if we choose, still able to zoom up and down the yard on the mower, happy as two kids can be. 




Work was stopped towards late morning when I went into town, first stopping at the vet's to pick up medicine for the bulldog, then onto the grocery store to take advantage of their once-a-month, one-day sale. 

I was back to the car in the parking lot when I smelled it... the odor of steaks cooking on a grill. The store was selling ribeye sandwiches, a bag of chips, and a can of soda for $6. Since it was getting on towards noon and I was heading to the plant to get the trailer filled with wood, I bought sandwiches for Mark and myself. We'd have a picnic.

And picnic we did, sitting at a picnic table in front of the plant, we caught up on the world's happenings while enjoying a good lunch.

The super-sized trailer load pulled without difficulty and it was soon parked at home to be unloaded this weekend.



The rest of the day was spent back in the side yard. Other than eight or ten boulders that need moved, it's scraped down to the bare ground. The next step will be to bring in fill and level the low places. 

It was a very tired and very dirty boy who quit playing in the dirt yesterday afternoon. I could have gone to bed immediately after taking a shower.

Sargie was home by 6 last night and we had a supper of leftovers followed by a quiet evening.

Yooper Brother Mark and I are going to kayak the Mighty Brule River today, a total of sixteen miles. It's been a while since I've been down the river. Needless to say, I'm ready to go.

Though I won't collect, I owe the boy a good dunking. The only time in my life, during all my Maine, Alaska, and UP years, that I've flipped over in a boat, canoe, or kayak, was while I was attempting to help Yooper Brother Mark off a log in the rapids. I was following and figured I could cruise along, bump him off of log, and have enough speed to go over it myself.

I did bump him off, but managed to get hung up. The water turned my kayak sideways and the rest is history. 

But first, it's time to wake Sargie for the day and enjoy that first cup of coffee. I need to spray off the kayaks, get out the life jackets, and select a couple of good paddles. The list goes on and on.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...