Sargie's bouquet of dying geranium heads. From a distance, they look beautiful.

July 30, 2015 - Thursday

65 degrees/clear/windy

Pentoga Road

I just read that that due to the breezy conditions and low humidity, coupled with the lack of rainfall, a forest fire warning has been posted. Conditions are ripe for a big one, something we haven't seen in the past several years. Hopefully, we'll receive the needed rainfall before a fire can begin. 

Wednesday began with a trip to town to get the trailer from Mark's plant. 

While in the inner city, I checked with a couple of mechanic's about getting a brake job on the Blazer. Both were booked for sometime ahead.

I asked Mark's advice and he mentioned something about one of his employees, the head mechanic at the plant, who does automotive work in the evenings at home. Dave was one of the two who assembled my backhoe a year and a half ago and he said he'd be happy to install new brakes. All I had to do was drop the Blazer off at his house.

Hmmm, this was going to take some logistical deep thinking. A plan slowly formed between my ears.

I brought the trailer filled with wood home and unloaded the entire thing over the next two to three hours.

 I swept it clean, loaded one of the four-wheelers on the trailer, pulled it back to town, unloaded the four-wheeler at the plant, unhitched the trailer and left it at the plant, followed Mark to Dave's house and left the Blazer, then returned to drive the four-wheeler back home.

Ready to return to town

Basically, that was my day. After being sick on Tuesday, I was ready to flop into my recliner for the remainder of the afternoon. Unloading all that wood without a break constituted a full day of labor. 

Sargie was home early last night. We watered the flowers and I started the irrigation in the garden. 

The giant pumpkin continues to grow, often inches overnight. I'm watering it twice a day, pruning many of the vines, and other than the backup pumpkin, forcing all the nutrients of the plant into what I hope will be the big one.

I'm going to bury some vines today, causing them to root and supply even more nutrients to the pumpkin. 

It was two weeks ago, July 16th, that I hand pollinated the pumpkin that was the size of my thumbnail. It's now equal to a large basketball and growing daily. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next six weeks.

I just received an email from Uncle Terry and Aunt Sue. They have been visiting in Helsinki, Finland, and are about to embark on a cruise to Dover, England, then begin a twelve-day hike around the countryside. There's something wrong here. They hike around Europe and I hike home from Alpha, Michigan, along Country Road 424 and Pentoga Road. Where's the justice? 

It's time for that all important first cup of coffee while conjuring up a deep thought or two.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...