My newest BFF - Bob Kaw peddling through the area on his way home to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

August 17, 2015 - Monday
62 degrees/cloudy/rain
Pentoga Road

And just like that, I'm thinking of putting on jeans for the day and who knows, maybe a shirt with sleeves. It's been so long since I've worn anything other than shorts and a t-shirt that I'm not sure how to react.

The hot and humid weather departed sometime in the middle of the night. Much cooler temperatures are forecast for this coming week with rain to fall four out of the next seven days. We'll take it all.

I worked in the barn most of Sunday morning. My first chore was to loosen and move the electrical wiring and connections from along the barn wall. The biggest pain was wiping the sweat from my eyes, but over all, the actual work wasn't too bad.



I couldn't believe it when I finally laid down a few 2x4's and made the measurements to build the first wall.



Since the shop is going to be indoors with no snow weight, I'm placing the studs at twenty-four inch on center. That makes construction go much faster.

Naturally, the first board was cut wrong. I was excited and got in a hurry so I didn't bother to put on my magnifiers and made the desired mark with a pencil rather than my usual sharpie. I cut on a small knot in the wood rather than my intended mark two inches away. 

Such things teach patience; lots and lots of patience, something I've never been known for. I was telling someone earlier, as long as I take my time and enjoy what I'm doing, I don't mind.  Let me get frustrated and/or tired and I attempt to rush the job causing me to make one mistake after another, usually by cutting in the wrong place or reading the tape measure incorrectly. 

Oh well, these things teach humility, something I don't seem to have much of. I'm not very bright, but just like Brutus, I'm trainable. I'm sure it will all come with time.

FINALLY! The first wall is set in place.

Both cars were driven to town so we could leave the Kia at Dave's, the young man who put new brakes on the Blazer last week. Sargie's car has several things that need attention, so she'll be driving our SUV for the next few days. I'll take one of the four-wheelers if I need to go to town.

While taking our drive, we saw a man riding a recumbent trike alongside the road and an hour later, noticed he was stopped at a roadside park several miles away. I couldn't resist. We pulled in to talk with him.

It was then I met my hero, Bob. Bob's a retired Canadian, in his 70's, from Toronto, Canada. He left July 9th to attend a recumbent trike rally in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and was on his way home via Lake Superior. 

We talked bikes and long distance trips for ten minutes or so and I told Bob that he's peddling my dream. Bob's advice... don't wait too long. I may not. The seed has been planted.

We spent the majority of the evening inside, away from the heat. Other than feed the pumpkin and help Sargie pick some dead heads from her geraniums, we remained fairly sedentary.

The "normal" pumpkins are finally beginning to grow and looks as though we should have plenty for Halloween.

I plucked the first apple of the year from a tree growing in back of the barn. It was sweet and very good. We also picked an apple from Neighbor Mike's tree last night while taking a short four-wheeler ride before dark. It, too, was delicious; tart, crisp, and had that "old-time" apple flavor, the kind Mom and both my grandmas used to make pies.

From one of our trees

Sargie works from ten this morning until seven this evening. Since the doctor has appointments, it will be a late one for her.

Me? I'm going to change out of these shorts and put on real honest-to-goodness jeans, maybe even a flannel shirt. I'm going to grab my tape measure, hammer, saw, patience, and humility, put on some music, and let the testosterone flow out in the barn.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The Waltham Butternut Squash presenting a bouquet of blossoms