June 4, 2016 - Saturday
55 degrees/rain/calm winds
Pentoga Road

With another .7 inch of rain falling overnight and still coming down, it appears as though today will be spent under one roof or the other. The shop needs to be put back in order, the barn is a mess, and there are new blades to be put on the mower.

Speaking of rain, I took advantage of the sunshine on Friday and with Sargie's help, erected the garden arbor.

Having had a dry run a couple of weeks ago, I knew the pieces would fit together, but would they fit exactly on the new footings? I don't mind saying that I was a bit apprehensive as I placed one piece, then another, into the brackets below. Sargie held the sides as I snapped the last top brace into place.

Up close, it looked just fine and we cheered, but once we walked away from the arch, it appeared to be bigger on top than on the bottom. A quick measurement confirmed that one bottom leg was off by an inch and a half.

Since the brace was sunk in dried concrete, I didn't know what to do. It was Sargie who came up with the solution; simply take the top horizontal brace apart and since it was screwed (not nailed) together, remake it to fit the bottom rather than the the opposite as I'd wanted to do.



For the second time in a week, (the first was installing the new kitchen window) Sargie's advice saved the day. I emerged from the shop an hour later, climbed the ladder, and snapped the cross piece into place where it fit perfectly. I don't know what I'd do without my Sargie to get me out of these construction problems I seem to get myself into.



We took a break from the arbor to enjoy our weekly ride into town. The biggest find of the day was a pit ham, already sliced, on sale. Sargie later applied a glaze and we had the most delicious ham last night for supper. I divided the rest to be frozen and packed later in Sargie's lunches. 



I also purchased a new hummingbird feeder to replace the new one I'd bought earlier, only to find that it leaked. A small pulley was installed under the eaves so the feeder can be raised and lowered from the ground. It's presently hanging outside one living room window to provide a close up view so we can enjoy the munchkin-birds' frantic activities. So far, only one male has taken advantage of the free lunch. 



After supper, we headed back to the arbor where I notched each top piece, seven of them, and with Sargie's help, put those in place. The first drop of rain fell as the last board was snapped into place.

The interior half-circle arches still need to be sanded and installed. Lattice will be built to extend horizontally from both sides and meet the existing deer fence and there's the interior, self-closing, swinging gates to build, but other than a final coat of paint, the basic structure of the garden arbor is complete. Amen.



Sargie's back to work today, but has tomorrow off. We'll be attending a delayed birthday party for Grady in Iron Mountain on Sunday along with his other grandparents and friends and relatives of the family. 

As mentioned above, today will be an inside day, spent under cover. I can already say with some certainty that an afternoon nap will be included on the agenda. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...