Run and save yourself while there's still time! The giant pumpkin plants are taking over the world... or at least their side of the garden.

July 24, 2016 - Sunday

69 degrees/clouds - rain/calm winds

Pentoga Road

What an absolute delight is was to awaken this morning to thunder and the sound of rain pounding down on the metal roof overhead. 

Given enough rain, it appears we should have a bumper crop of wild raspberries this year. It won't be the first time that I'll be competing with the bears to get my share.

Even with the .4 of an inch that dropped earlier last week, the several days of 90 degree temperatures, coupled with a hot wind, meant the garden was quickly drying out. 

The first raspberry of the year. Though not necessarily the sweetest, always the best.

Saturday began with a trip to Iron Mountain to retrieve the Blazer and purchase a few things for the garden. I stopped in the Vision Center to kiss my favorite optician goodbye before returning home.

I was tying up cucumber vines on the trellis in the garden when Jeanne and Boyd, Sargie's sister and brother-in-law, dropped by for a visit. What a wonderful surprise. They are such nice people and both, superior gardeners, in their own right. Most of the time was spent walking up and down the rows, sharing ideas, talking, asking and answering questions. 

One of several varieties of this year's winter squash

Their home in Iron Mountain is surrounded by gardens and flower beds and Boyd has a separate garden at his camp. Their yard, gardens, and home, all look like pictures out of Better Homes and Gardens. 

I was able to send them home with a head of cauliflower, a zucchini, and a handful of beets. It's that time of year when the bounty begins.

The talking tape measure that Mom ordered for my birthday arrived yesterday. I couldn't be happier. The size and weight of a conventional tape measure, one works it in much the same way then waits for about two seconds before a voice announces the distance. 

I told Mom last night that I might take the arbor and lattice apart and redo it just so I can use the new tape measure. Okay, I lied, that ain't gonna happen.

Since I know there are several who read or listen to this blog who also have less than perfect vision, but still enjoy being active, here's the contact information. Maxi-Aids are easily found on the internet.

I ventured back out to the garden later in the afternoon and worked for sometime on one giant pumpkin plant. Last year's pumpkin grew so large, so fast, that it almost separated the stem from the vine by pushing it away. In the end, only a small part of the stem remained attached, severely restricting the flow of nutrients to the pumpkin.

Yesterday, the vine was moved at right angles to the stem, rerouted, and buried at several of the node nodules. Those nodes will develop roots and send more nutrients to the actual pumpkin causing it to grow bigger in a shorter amount of time. I'll do the same to the other pumpkin this coming week. 

The primary vine juts out to the left. That on the right is merely the stem of a leaf. The pumpkin almost doubled in size overnight.

The battery on my computer, an older Macbook Pro, has been going bad, getting hot, and swelling to where it interferes with the track pad. My buddy, Vince, warned me yesterday about the hazards of not getting a new battery, mostly that the machine can get so hot it will catch on fire. That's simply not an option. I ordered a new battery yesterday that should arrive this coming week.

Sargie was home early last night and she's off today. Other than slopping the pumpkins, I have no idea what's on the agenda and really, don't care. I have another set of lumber shelves to hang in the barn, but with a hundred percent chance of rain, I'll be more than happy to take a ride with Sargie and/or enjoy a grandpa nap later this afternoon. It's what we do on Pentoga Road.

Oh, one last thing. I received this video yesterday afternoon from one of my deep undercover sources in southern Mississippi. Seems as though there's at least one other old fool whose not afraid to join in the fun with his grandchildren.

Even while enjoying a good birthday party, Mississippi Brother Garry knows that a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The random picture of the day is of a bowl of oatmeal I enjoyed yesterday with two big dollops of ice cream sitting on top.
 Sargie has quite the recipe when making America's favorite hot cereal that includes, but not limited to: raisins, peanut butter, peanuts, (or almonds) coconut, cranberries, honey, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and eighty or a hundred other highly guarded Milligan family ingredients.
Grandpa Pennington used to enjoy his oatmeal with ice cream on top. Running short of milk Saturday, I remembered how he loved his early morning oats and ice cream and decided to try it. No wonder Grandpa smiled so much!