Sargie and Brutus enjoying a fire late Saturday afternoon

September 20, 2015

45 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It looks to be the start of another near-perfect day on Pentoga Road. Temperatures are forecast to be in the upper sixties to low seventies accompanied by plenty of sun. 

Saturday turned into a lazy affair. Neighbor Mike called early in the morning asking for some assistance in unloading two heavy beams that were tied to the top of his SUV. He'd brought those down from Marquette to use in building a back porch onto his camp. 

We talked for a bit. Nothing new there.

I cleaned a bit in the barn and rearranged some things so that I might begin the last phase of building the shop, installing the large 4x8 sheets of particle board onto the interior walls. 

We wanted to get to the lumber yard before it closed at noon. Sargie and I hooked up the trailer and bought what was needed then came back home.

Whoa! No stop and go lights needed for a horse crossing in our small town of Alpha.

I spent the next couple of hours putting up the first two sheets. Like everything else, it seems to take forever. There are outlets and the window to cut out and it seems I measure, make my marks, measure again, ensure the marks are correct, him and haw, spit and whittle, dance the hootchie coo, turn around twice, measure one more time, and finally, I use Dad's old saber saw to cut the holes. So far so good, but there's a lot of measuring and cutting left and twelve more sheets to hang.

Sargie busied herself on Saturday cleaning and doing laundry. The house looks beautiful.

We took a drive in the afternoon and enjoyed some gorgeous scenery. 

The leaves have barely begun to turn, yet there's a crispness in the air along with the smell of fall. 

An old log cabin hidden in overgrown brush and trees.

It appears Mississippi Brother Garry and Jody will be with us in early October and their timing just might be perfect for prime leaf peeping. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

An old apple tree whose branches stretched over the dirt road we were traveling. I merely had to look overhead to snap this picture. Sargie and I each had an apple. Delicious!

I built a fire and we sat outside until after dark talking and staring into the flames. The stars were bright and the air chilly, a perfect evening for snuggling up to the outside fireplace. A pack of coyotes were howling nearby and Brutus, being the brave pup that he is, sat as close as possible, ready to hop up onto one of our laps should a coyote come too close. Though they weren't far away, we didn't see any.

Neither of us had any problem sleeping last night.

I'm going to build a fire in the smoker in a bit as smoking the two large pork roasts will take several hours. Sargie seasoned one last night then wrapped it in plastic wrap. I'll cover both roasts with strips of bacon before starting.

This is Sargie's last of four days off from work. She won't have a day to call her own again until next Sunday.

I have a doctor's appointment early tomorrow morning in Iron Mountain then will pick up several windows for Yooper Brother Mark and Sheri while in town. 

Time to pour a cup of coffee and try to remember where I put the wood chips for smoking. It's not always easy, but as we all know, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...