A bear popped up alongside the road Wednesday afternoon as we were driving to Iron Mountain

June 30, 2016 - Thursday

52 degrees/ partly cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's going to be a short one today as Mom and I will be riding back to Iron Mountain with Sargie this morning. We drove over last night, met her at the Vision Center, then rode home with her. Since I need some more lumber for the arbor at Home Depot, we will shop there this morning before coming home. 

My favorite optician at closing time.

There's not a lot to write about this AM. Jerry, the Direct TV man, arrived bright and early on Wednesday morning and after an hour and a half, had all the new equipment installed, up, and working. We are enjoying all the HD channels and the benefits that having a DVR includes, mostly taping our favorite shows to watch at our convenience. 

I went out to the garden and shop and messed around for a while, but came back inside by late morning and made the mistake of plopping down in the recliner. Mom was sitting in the sun across the room and before we knew what was happening, both of us fell sound asleep! My nap lasted an hour or longer.

I worked out in the shop yesterday afternoon, just long enough to make mistakes on two boards. I should have simply left well enough alone and written the day off to laziness. Oh well, twenty years from now, who's going to know?

Returning home last night, a wolf trotted out in front of us not far from here. One thing is certain, there are no lack of wolves in the UP. An outsider judge closed the hunting/trapping season a year ago due to the pressure of liberal city people, most living out of the area, who like to think they know what is best for those of us in the North Woods. Possibly if one of their dogs was brutally killed and carted away for supper they'd have a change of heart. That's not rare in the North Woods and happened recently just a few miles away. I'm sure the pup's owner understands that wolves need love too. 

Brutus seldom goes far into the woods anymore because of the wolves that travel the back part of our land. Since Brutus won't go and serves as my eyes, neither do I.

I'm not certain what lies ahead for today. I hope to finish the lattice by week's end. It's to rain this afternoon, so this might be the perfect afternoon to make a sprint to the finish line.

Failing that, maybe I'll invent a new product, call it Wolf Be Gone and make all those who know what is best for us ignorant, uninformed, woods people, happy. 

Oh, it's already been invented. It's called responsible hunting and trapping managed by educated, well-informed, state biologists, who are familiar with the UP and northern Wisconsin. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road... 

There's nothing better on a warm summer afternoon than fresh strawberries mixed with a bit of dirt right out of the patch.

June 29, 2016 - Wednesday

39 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Whew, there's a hint of late spring, or would that be early fall, in the air this morning. I'm glad the temperature didn't drop more than it did or we might have experienced a frost, something that would have caused an abrupt end to the gardening season... or would that be a late beginning? Time moves so quickly anymore that it's impossible to keep up with the hours and days, let alone how far into any one season we are. 

Late ruffled peonies surrounded by asparagus ferns and strawberry plants.

It's sure quiet around here this morning. Hambone took his daddy and left last night around 8, both with full bellies. Macrea arrived at supper time and we enjoyed grilled hamburgers along with Sargie's macaroni salad. No one went hungry.

I've never seen a man love a dog like Macrea does Brutus. Dog hair, slobber, and licks, it makes no difference. It's been a love fest since the day Brutus walked through the door several years ago.

Pat, Sargie's older brother, stopped by to see us Tuesday morning. He rides a 1994 Honda Gold Wing that is in mint condition and occasionally drives over from Foster City.

Grady was impressed with his great uncle's motorcycle and wanted to take a ride... as long as Grandma Sargie went with. Mom and I watched as the three zoomed up the road.

It was a nice day, far too nice to stay inside. What better time to introduce Grady to the sport of kayaking? I loaded one into the Blazer and with Mom, Sargie, and Grady (in his car seat) following in the Kia, we drove to our local lake.

I wanted Grady to get used to sitting low in the water and to alleviate any fears he might have. 

I needn't have worried. Sargie lifted him down from the dock onto my lap and we were off, talking and paddling like two old pros.

I see a fishing pole in the munchkin's near future. 

We planned for Grady to take his afternoon nap during our ride to town and around the area. He was asleep before the car was out of the drive and the boy snoozed for the entire hour-and-a-half. 

Once home, we headed to the strawberry patch. He had no problem spotting ripe berries and at first, was content to pick several with an occasional one going in his mouth.

The boy's not dumb. It didn't take long for him to discover that it was far easier to paw through the bowl of berries that were already picked, select out the largest, and chow down. Grady's contribution? A negative twenty (or so) strawberries.

Once his belly was full, Hambone turned his attention to the tomato bed where he practiced his engineering skills making roads between the plants. After that, it was onto the fountain and the goldfish.

It was then he discovered the hose. I had my back to him when I was suddenly blasted from head to toe. The fight was on.

I'm a kind and understanding grandfather and would never spray my delicate little grandson. Rather, I kinked the hose just long enough that he turned the nozzle towards himself to see why the flow had stopped. The rest is history.

Grady found all kinds of things to spray. The potatoes in the pots were his personal favorites.

An ant hill also caught his attention.

In the end, there weren't many places left dry in and around the garden on Tuesday afternoon.

Supper eaten and the boys having departed, Mom, Sargie, and I, spent a quiet evening watching America's Got Talent. 

Sargie closes tonight and doesn't work until 11 this morning. The Direct TV man is coming sometime today to install our new DVR receivers and upgrade our system. 

I'm not certain what Mom has on her agenda. I hope to finish the side trellis that was started a couple of days ago. I also need to begin hauling wood from a large pile in back of the sheds and getting it under cover, ready for next winter. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Not to worry. It was just a tornado by the name of Grady that blew through the living room.

That's my little buddy, Gus, Mandy Jo's son, coming into the harbor after a day of crabbing aboard the Summer Girl, in Sitka, Alaska. I well remember when Gus was in grade school, a little butter ball of a boy. He's grown into a strapping young man. 

June 28, 2016 - Tuesday

44 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Whew, it was tough looking at the above picture and I'll admit that I initially became a bit misty-eyed. There's no place more beautiful than Southeast Alaska on a sunny summer day. I used to be up early and motor out of the harbor for a day (or days) of world-class fishing and exploring. I truly love Pentoga Road, but there are days that the heart strings pull heavily to the far north, back home to Alaska. I still miss the ocean, the mountains, and my good friends, Mandy Jo and her family, Uncle Bobby, and having coffee with the grandpas each and every morning. Oh well, nothing stays the same. Some of the grandpas have relocated to the lower 48 to be closer to family, Mandy Jo and Marty have purchased an acreage in Montana and plan to move there someday, and Gus is growing to be a man.

Page One:

Monday was a cool and windy day on Pentoga Road. Mom settled in with two large bowls of strawberries, the puppy at her feet, and watched daytime television while working up hundreds of beautiful berries.

Now before someone accuses me of elder abuse, I told Mom over and over she doesn't have to work while visiting, but she insists she's having fun and would much rather help than simply sit.



As you may have figured out by now, Mom's not the type to sit for more than two minutes at any one time. 

In the end, another eight quart bags of berries went into the freezer Monday afternoon.



Page Two:

I worked most of the day on one side lattice of the garden arbor.

The first thing was to make a few test dado cuts on a scrap piece of 1x2. All the lattice will be interconnected and snapped together.



I had to mark parallel lines across the frame. The only problem was that my dry wall t-square was only four feet long, the frame ran five. The problem was solved when I attached a thin straight edge with clamps.



Boards were measured and cut, dados made. What has taken the most time has been the router work, making the slots in the frame for the various boards to sit. 



I would work for a while, then take a break and let my eyes rest, then do two or three more.



The horizontal boards were completed late yesterday afternoon. My next step will be to cut dados (notches) and install those that run at right angles, completing the lattice.



Since the top rail is curved, I've encountered all kinds of angles I don't normally work with, but so far, so good... I think. Ask me in a few days and I'll let you know.

Page Three:

Macrea pulled into the drive with Grady in tow. Since he has to work in Iron Wood, eighty miles to the west, today, he decided to make the drive and stay overnight, dropping Grady off along the way.

Hambone had been sound asleep in the car and when waking, threw an absolute hissy fit. He cried and milked it for all he could until PawPaw summoned his best administrator/teacher's voice and told him that was enough. Mere seconds later, we were once again BFF's (Best Friends Forever.)

They don't call it The Terrible Two's for nothing.

Sargie was home shortly after and we played and played, laughed, sang, and did all those things that Grady loves doing.

Brutus considers Grady his best friend and greeted the pint sized munchkin with big slurpy licks on his face.

Grady and Mom had a lot of fun and Grady calls her, Great Grandma. 

It's amazing at the amount of vocabulary a two-year-old can amass. There was a phrase that came out of his mouth that I thought was hilarious after the boy tooted, obviously having passed gas. Unfortunately, Mom and Sargie didn't think it was funny, so we had a PawPaw to Hambone talk about our vocabulary. I guess I won't be teaching him to say, "Hey, pull my finger," at least not yet.

A moth was fluttering around the overhead chandelier last night and Grady was fascinated. I didn't know a moth could be so entertaining.

I'm unsure what today will bring. Grady will be with us until his daddy comes through this afternoon to have supper with us then both will head back to Iron Mountain. Sargie's off, so I'll let her, Mom, and Grady decide the agenda.

Until then, I think I'll head out to the garden and work on the cucumber trellis. The vines are beginning to climb and there are a few last-minute fixes that need to be completed.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Happy Birthday, Mom!

June 27, 2016 - Monday

61 degrees/cloudy/light rain/breezy

Pentoga Road

We had a good celebration for Mom on Sunday.

 We talked, ate, took a ride, ate some more, sang, laughed, and had a good time. 

It was a wonderful day.

Sargie and I made Mom's cake first thing. It went well until we had to find a bottle on which to balance the angel food pan upside down until it cooled. Since neither of us drink, we had no beer bottle. Most soda only comes in plastic bottles anymore. 

I remembered an empty wine bottle that was in the rafters in the garage, something the previous owners left. The lip was too big.

Sargie began searching the basement shelves for the right-sized bottle and came up with one containing red cooking wine, another left over from the previous owners. I emptied the contents and used the bottle. It was later washed and will be saved for future angel food cakes.

No 89th birthday would be complete without a ride to town, first for fried chicken, then to purchase a Coke for the road. We later enjoyed an afternoon cruise around the countryside.

Someone has a lot of fun naming and dressing this dummy each season. This one's name is, appropriately, Midsummer Sam. He's alongside one of the rural roads heading to a lake just north of here.

The highpoint of our ride was spotting a mama bear and her two cubs just feet from the car. 

Mama and one one cub took off into the woods, but this little guy climbed a tree next to the car. Sargie took some wonderful photos.

It wasn't long before he shimmied back down the tree, dropped to the ground, and was off to join the rest of his family.

Once home, we ate chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, and of course, sang Happy Birthday and presented Mom with her cake. 

She wanted a plain angel food cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries. 

She got her wish.

After supper, at Mom's request, I brought the slide projector up from the basement along with many of our old family slides from long ago. We were just ready to begin when the light bulb exploded in the projector. There was nothing to do but put everything away. I immediately ordered three new ones from eBay and we're hoping they arrive before Mom heads home a week from Tuesday.

The evening was pleasant and cool and I decided to get a head start on this morning's chore of picking strawberries. In the end, I picked the patch clean of ripe ones. 

Mom has, once again, volunteered to wash and stem them. I didn't hesitate to take her up on her offer!

Sunday was picture day from the sons and we received many, all of which were shared with Mom. Most will be printed off and hung on her refrigerator.

Matt and Emerson

Emerson and baby brother, Bennet

Cody

Ellie

Ivy, in her pink Packer's jersey

Little Lukie with a nice bluegill caught from a kayak

Cowgirl Emerson

My oldest granddaughter, Abigail, giving my youngest, Ivy, a bath. Once again, Ivy has succeeded in making her Grandpa laugh.

Sargie's back to work today, but has Tuesday off and will be arriving home tonight with Grady. He'll be spending tonight and tomorrow with us.

I was hoping Mom would haul wood today, but I guess I'll have to be content with letting her merely stem and wash bowls and bowls of strawberries. Ah, it's hard to find good help anymore. I guess I'm going to have to go ahead and prepare for next winter all by myself.

Are we surprised? Heck no, because we all know that a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...