July 23, 2016 - Saturday morning
55 degrees/clear/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I'd like to find the deer that trimmed the sunflower growing on one side of the drive out by the road. I had a plant left over last spring and stuck it out there as an afterthought. It's been doing quite well until the night before last. Sargie pointed it out to me last evening... it had been severely pruned.

I reached into my bag of tricks and brought out a bottle of deer repellent, a mixture of rotten eggs and other things too obnoxious to mention and sprayed the sunflower and all the flowers in the planter on the opposite side of the drive. Hopefully, the deer will get the hint.

The past several days have been action-packed. 

Some of the biggest news is that I FINALLY completed and installed the lattice on the garden arbor. 

It took an entire day and it's probably a good thing that only the bulldog could hear me mutter, but in the end, it's done. Next will be making the self closing, swinging gate.

Eventually, I hope to build a set of benches that will attach to each side of the lattice facing inward, towards the eventual garden pond, waterfalls, and bridge, that will be in the middle.

Pawpaw had Grady all by himself for an entire day and we had a ball.

Grady helped me drive the four wheeler on our way to town to see Uncle Yooper Brother Mark at his plant.

We swam, took four wheeler rides, played dinosaur and monster, and even spent no small amount of time chasing each other around the yard in a two-year old's version of tag.



Grandma Sargie got to join the excitement for another day, but we couldn't entice her to get into the pool.

There is absolutely nothing more fun than walking around in Pawpaw's hiking boots.

I met Uncle Terry and Sue Friday morning for breakfast. We had a wonderful conversation and spent more than two hours catching up on life over the past couple of years. They are heading towards their home in West Virginia after spending a few weeks volunteering at the Fine Arts Camp on the old Sheldon Jackson Campus in Sitka. 

It's been hot. I mean REALLY sizzling. Yesterday's high was well over 90, the second or third hot and humid day in a row. 

Taken Friday afternoon while on my walk along the beach at our local lake

Today's to be the same before temperatures begin to fall to more seasonable norms. We've had the occasional thunderstorm come rumbling through which has kept us somewhat moist, but if we don't receive rain in the next day or two, I'll have to begin watering the garden.

Speaking of which... I was reading the log from a year ago and see that one of this year's giant pumpkins is actually larger than the one last year on this date. In my mind, I've thought I was way behind, but evidently things are on track. Problem is, currently, I have two that I'm feeding and both are growing by leaps and bounds. It's two gallons each of water and fertilizer every morning and evening. Some people slop the hogs, I slop the pumpkins. It's the way I roll.

Weighing in at half a pound with 499.5 to go over the next six weeks. 

I drove to Iron Mountain last night to purchase dog food and ride back with Sargie and will be returning this morning to get the Blazer and look for a set of torx five star screwdrivers. I need to remove the battery from my MacBook Pro computer and it takes a special type of driver. I'm guessing I'll end up finding them on Amazon, but I'll stop at the local computer shop first and see what they have.

It's good to be back writing. After fifteen years of pounding out a daily blog, plus twenty before that of writing a newspaper column, it's become a part of my daily life.

I'm expecting a call at anytime from GQ Magazine wanting a full photo layout.

I could write more, but it's time to do chores, you know, slop those giant pumpkins.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...