Friday, July 1, 2016


Granddaughter, Emerson, with a whale of a fish she caught... at least that's what her uncles would make me believe. Actually, the humpback whale washed up on shore near their home in New Hampshire.

July 1, 2016 - Friday
44 degrees/clear/light breeze
Pentoga Road

After receiving .36 inches of rain yesterday, today and the next several look picture perfect. Sunday's Mighty Milligan gathering should be enjoyed under clear skies with the temperature reaching 80 degrees. Perfect.

This is also Sargie's last day of work before beginning nine straight days of vacation. Needless to say, she's as happy as a little school girl on her last day of classes. Sargie's will only last a bit more than a week, but we'll take it.

Thursday was spent working on the side lattice for the garden arbor. It took all day to finish notching and securing the vertical strips and that's just for one side! It's the most difficult project I've ever built and if one looks closely, he can see many mistakes. Hopefully, wood putty and paint will make many of those disappear. 

Once again, it's reading the marks that make this particular piece so difficult.

I found using a highlighter helped me gain perspective so I would cut on the right marks.
I can only see the marks when I shove my nose an inch or two away, causing me to lose perspective and cut in the wrong place. 


For most large projects, a sharpie or magic marker work just fine, but this one needs to be fairly precise.

A particular challenge has been to route the occasional odd angle so a horizontal piece might fit into the frame.
Put it this way, I'll never be a cabinet maker, at least in this lifetime.

By late Thursday afternoon, I'd installed the first of five horizontal pieces. I'm hoping, really hoping, to get the rest notched, cut, routed, and installed today.


The skies cleared and I headed to the garden to fertilize the vine crops. The tomatoes and others don't need to be fed nearly as much, but squash and pumpkins require rich and frequent nourishment. They are initially planted in compost, but once they begin to blossom, I try to add to that on a weekly basis.

I also picked the last large bowl of strawberries for the season. They are about all played out and from now on, we'll pick the occasional straggler to eat fresh.

I was making cream of wild rice - chicken soup last night when Mom yelled from the living room that the weather was on. I wasn't even out of the kitchen when the entire thing boiled over. Worry not, the mess was cleaned up before Sargie came home. In fact, she doesn't even know about it, but she will after reading this.
Sargie was home later in the evening, having a beautician's appointment after work. 

I'm going to head to the shop first thing this morning after Sargie leaves for work. Mom enjoys watching the morning news and has a daytime program or two she likes. 

I need to begin working up next winter's firewood and hauling it around to the sheds. Just like this year's pumpkin crop, I seem to be running behind schedule, a day late and a dollar short.

I'm already thinking of next summer's big project, moving the greenhouse further into the side yard, expanding the fence, digging a large garden pond in the middle (complete with a large waterfall) and building a bridge from the garden to the orchard. Each time I enter the garden, I picture it differently. Why do I think of such things? Am I a glutton for punishment? Maybe I'm sick... really sick.

Ah heck, it's just the way we do things around here. Some say why, I say, "Why not?"

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Isabella directing traffic


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