August 31, 2016 - Wednesday
44 degrees/clear/calm winds
Pentoga Road

It's the quiet before the storm. Sargie will be getting up soon and attempt to take a shower before Hambone rises from the sack. Together, we'll get him ready for the day and the two will leave for Iron Mountain later this morning. Thankfully, Sargie closes tonight, so she doesn't have to be at work until closer to noon.

Who needs America's Got Talent when you have a rocking horse and an empty sippy cup?

Grady was up early Tuesday morning, meaning not much was accomplished before noon. We did take our usual day-off ride early and the munchkin was happy to take a snooze after arriving back home.

Sargie and I took advantage of Grady's nap time. Sargie busied herself by cleaning the living room rug. Together we carried it out onto the patio where she used the carpet scrubber. We left it outside last night to dry and air out and I'll bring it in later today after I steam the laminate floor in the living room.

I headed to the barn, climbed high on a ladder, and rewired a ceiling fixture for a high-powered LED light bulb. The old fixture, an industrial light that Mark had installed several years ago, quit working. The new light isn't as bright, but it's not necessary as it hangs in the area where we simply park the Blazer, tractor, and other equipment during the winter months.

I didn't know what to do with several shorter pieces of PVC pipe. Like many other items in the barn, they were too good to throw away, but not long enough to use for any meaningful plumbing purpose. The solution? Make them into implement hangers.

The tools snap into both the vertical and horizontal pieces.

Yooper Brother Mark had asked if we wanted to help celebrate his birthday of two days earlier by meeting them at a restaurant in town. He didn't have to ask twice.

We ate at Alice's Italian Restaurant, the only fancy local eatery.



Sargie had lasagna, I, the deep fried shrimp. Both were excellent. 

Grady was good as gold and especially liked when the waitress gave him a Popsicle for dessert. 



The poor boy was a bit disheartened when it was gone.



Not one to be wasteful, he drained the last drops of any melted Popsicle from his plate into his mouth. 

Note Grady's technique of wrapping his bottom lip around the plate so as not to waste any.
Why is it that when a two-year-old does that, we think it's cute, but if I'd try such a thing, Sargie would hit me over the head with a ball bat. Sometime's life's not fair.

Hambone and Grandma Sargie will be gone after while. I'm going to finish cleaning the barn and hopefully, do the same in the garage. There are two new thresholds that need to be installed in the house, a bit more touch-up painting to do, and a few other jobs on the growing honey-do list that will take me right up to Sunday's Mighty Milligan Labor Day Gathering.

I'm not surprised. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Toys, shoes, a bulldog, and one tired Pawpaw. Things were pretty normal on Pentoga Road last night.

Grandson, Coleman, with his first porcupine. I'm tempted to send him a plane ticket so he can shoot a few out of our trees. We have way too many, just ask Brutus.

August 30, 2016 - Tuesday

67 degrees/partly cloudy/breezy

Pentoga Road

Whew, look who blew in here last night! Ol' Hambone Anderson, future linebacker of the Green Bay Packers, decided to come over and spend a couple of nights with Grandma Sargie and PawPaw.

I guess someone threw a wrench in Grady's babysitting situation so Grandma Sargie brought a surprise home with her yesterday evening. 

Brother-in-law, Ross, sent a picture of Sargie's son, Cale, with our great niece, Piper. We'll see both this coming Sunday at the annual Labor Day Mighty Milligan Family Gathering.

The past two days have been spent cleaning. I'm not talking about rearranging or merely shuffling stuff around, I'm talking about cleaning from the ceiling, shelves included, right down to the floor.

The hose to the shop vac was stretched into the barn so all the nooks and crannies along the wall could be cleaned.

I took a break and decided to do something cooler like clean out the small chest freezer in the garage. What a chore.

It was back to the barn. There are so many pieces and parts of stuff that I really didn't want to throw away, but the area was beginning to look like a remake of Sanford and Son.

With temperatures in the low 80's and the humidity approaching 100%, I finally took a break to walk out to the road and get the mail. I caught Mama deer and her two twins trotting up to the driveway.

 

It didn't take long for all three to turn tail and run in the opposite direction. I'm not sure who was more surprised, the deer or me.

Neighbor Mike's daughter, Amelia, stopped by for a visit. Amelia's a nutritionist at the hospital in Houghton, two hours north of here. She's been on loan to our local hospital and staying at her parent's camp across the road. 

Amelia Bedelia (as everyone calls her) loves to garden and we often spend time wandering through mine. She also plays an old banjo that I lent her. 

Amelia's so good about stopping to visit her Auntie Sargie and Uncle Tom when she's in the neighborhood. We love her dearly.

One side of the barn was finally finished around five last night. 

I don't mind telling you, Tommy P was about too pooped to pop. I was hot, sweaty, and tired. All I really wanted was a cool shower and something to drink.

We got a shower all right. A huge storm blew in and dropped .6 of an inch of rain in about ten minutes.

What we didn't need was the hail and strong winds that accompanied the downpour. 

Thankfully, damage from the hail was minimal and it appears the garden and flowers will live to see another day.

I fed the pumpkins and made a walk through the garden last night while waiting for Sargie to arrive home. One of my biggest summer pleasures is to pluck a ripe tomato from the vine and eat it like one would an apple.

Only one problem; after eating so many, I get canker sores from ingesting all the acid. I've cut my daily consumption down from half a dozen tomatoes to two or three.

Grady, Sargie, and I, enjoyed pizza last night, played, and later, Grady and his grandma sat together while watching television. 

I'm not sure, but I think there was some tickling going on across the room.

Sargie's off today, her last before this weekend's gathering. We have a jillion things to do and hope to get them all them done... or not. It all depends on a two year old named Grady. Hmm, I wonder what he thinks about helping his old Pawpaw clean the other side of the barn?

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Today's worthless FYI (For Your Information)
If a loaf of homemade bread is too frozen to slice, simply take it out to the shop and cut off what is needed on the bandsaw, something Sargie has yet to appreciate. Remember, you heard it here first.

August 28, 2016 - Sunday
61 degrees/clear/calm winds
Pentoga Road

So here's the deal... this is a two part question, or thought. 

Question One:

Should I dig a big garden pond between the orchard and garden? We're not talking a mere puddle, we're talking about a pond. I estimate that a nine by fifteen by five foot deep kidney shaped pond would take about five days to dig using my small backhoe, depending on how many rocks and boulders are encountered. On the south side, fill from the hole, covered by rocks, would be piled to create a large water falls that would flow back into the pond. A hidden pump would circulate the water.

A big expense, excavating, is a moot point since I already have the backhoe. Moving the excess dirt away from the area is time consuming, but that's something I have plenty of. I think I'll try to talk Mississippi Brother Garry into driving his Kabota tractor with the large bucket up from southern Mississippi to move the dirt. If he leaves now, he could be here by early next spring.

The largest cost comes from purchasing a large rubber pond liner, pump, filter, and all the other goodies a functioning garden pond requires. Unlike time, money is something that is in limited supply. 

A functioning bridge will be needed to connect the orchard and garden. I envision a planked, quant, wooden structure with handrails. The cost for the bridge alone could equal that of the entire pond.

Before all the above can take place, the deer fence needs to be moved and the entire area enlarged with the greenhouse relocated further to the south by twenty feet. Whew, just reading all the above makes me tired. Do I really want to undertake such a large project?

Question Two:

Assuming the pond and bridge will become reality, should I get a jump on next spring and begin digging late this fall after the gardening season is finished?

I'm leaning towards doing so, but then I wonder if I'd be wise to think about it this winter and take some time to talk myself in and out of this major project. I've been having this internal conversation for the past two years and I'm not sure another six or eight months will help.

I always emerge from winter gung-ho, filled with energy and ready to tackle any project that may come my way. There's little doubt in my mind that when next spring arrives, I'd hit the ground running, ready to make the pond a reality.

This project would see next year's garden greatly downsized. There wouldn't be time to create the pond, waterfalls, and build a bridge, and still grow a large garden. 

Why the hesitation? Except for wanting a pond and waterfalls, I kind of like the way things are now. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It's just that I'd like it better with a pond. I envision cobblestone walks, shrubbery, and wooden benches accompanied by the sounds of a waterfall, fountain in the middle, and soft classical music playing from the greenhouse.

Oh gawd, I've been watching too much HGTV. Maybe I ought to have Joanna and Chip, maybe Christina and Tarik, over for coffee and to give some suggestions.  

I don't know what I'll do. No doubt, this conversation will be played out over and over between my ears until I wake up some morning and decide it's time to dig a big hole. Thanks for listening.



Saturday was a busy one. Sargie did housework and cleaned. She seemed to be everywhere and nowhere, up and down the stairs and either hanging laundry on the line or dashing past with a dust rag in hand.

I know a good deal when I see it. I stayed out of her way and hid.

Sargie took this picture of a hot air balloon over Florence, Wisconsin, the other night on her way home from work.

A large amount of time was spent cleaning the barn. Actually, all I really did was throw a lot of things away, empty paint cans, a broken hammer handle, a lamp base... and the list goes on and on. Actual cleaning will happen this week when I move everything out and power wash the floor. 

Part of the afternoon was spent riding the mower. The lawn is so green and lush, but with all the rain, it won't quit growing. 



Sargie and I took a shortened version of our usual day-off drive. Yooper Brother Mark called earlier in the morning and asked if we wanted to go to Marquette with them. 

Mark sent this picture of a sailing vessel in the harbor in Marquette

As much as we wanted to go, yesterday was a pick 'em up and lay 'em down day. Time is running short before the Mighty Milligan Labor Day gathering and there are things to do, places to go, people to see.

Mark and Sheri dropped by last evening with hamburger we'd asked them to pick up in Marquette. I think we're pretty well set in the meat department for Labor Day. 

Sargie and I fell into bed last night. She has to work from noon until five today. I'm going to continue working in the barn. I'm pretty sure someone else must sneak out there when I'm not around and make a mess. 

Meanwhile, it's time to get to the garden and feed the pumpkins, get Sargie up, and think about the meaning of life.

This giant pumpkin plant, in the garden, has climbed to the top of a sunflower. Note the small pumpkin underneath. I'll pluck it off today so all the energy will be directed to growing the one large pumpkin that I'm pushing to weigh over 500 pounds.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

As Brutus has gotten older, he's become clingy, and is often so close that I almost trip over him. If I sit on the floor, a hundred-pound bulldog immediately plops in my lap. That's okay. He's my buddy.

The deck area and garage with new paint

August 27, 2016 - Saturday
55 degrees/clouds/mist/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Other than snapping several areas to see what I missed while painting yesterday, I can't remember if I took any pictures.

I paint a section, then take several close-up pictures, unload them on my computer, and examine each to see what has been missed. It's time consuming, but effective. 

Obviously, I enjoy my pictures. With a big, dark, fuzzy, hole smack in the middle of my line of sight, pictures uploaded onto my computer bring everything closer and clearer.

How many cameras have I've used over the years? There are too many to count. Until I started using the shock proof, water proof, fool proof, kind, I was burning through the average pocket camera at the rate of two or more a year. They simply aren't designed for tough everyday use.

I've used a Fuji XP this past year, one Sargie gave me, and it's been flawless. I've dropped it multiple times, occasionally in water or snow, ran over it with a four-wheeler, buried it once, plowed the thing into a snowbank, and used it when the temperature was far below zero, and yet, it continues to perform flawlessly. Of all the digital pocket cameras I've owned over the past twenty years, this has been, by far, my favorite.

Three ways to describe Friday's activities: paint-paint-paint.

I arrived home early from Iron Mountain after purchasing the metal trim corners for the siding on the house. The people at Home Depot looked at me like I was crazy when inquiring where they might be located in the store. I became disgusted and drove to a local mom and pop lumberyard where I found them.

Several of these corner pieces will be replaced and painted

I was supposed to deliver a bag of tomatoes to Sargie's sister, Holly, but forgot to put those in the car. Sargie will make the delivery on Sunday when she goes to work.

It took well over an hour Friday morning to get the drop cloths laid and do the other work in preparation of painting the back of the house and garage. Thankfully, the day was cool and partly cloudy.

I started painting around 10 AM and it was almost 5 PM before I finished. Boy, what a job, but it's one I can check off my things-to-do list. 

As usual, I attempted to follow Uncle Terry's teachings, gently dip the brush into the container, whack it back and forth from side to side inside the container, ridding it of any excess, then gently brush the paint going from wet to dry.

Yeah, that worked for about two minutes or less... probably less. I found myself jabbing the brush into the paint right up to the metal band on the handle, banging it once off the top of the container, then slathering it onto the siding, quickly brushing to utilize that that was running onto the board below. 

The new paint was a perfect match for the old, so it didn't really matter if I missed a place or two. Mostly, it looks much cleaner and the places where the paint had chipped away and those areas around the new kitchen window all blend in.

I even used my lucky Uncle Terry drop cloth that was left behind when he helped paint the house several years ago.

Last evening was spent gabbing with Sargie and later, I watched the first half of the Packers/49er's game. The second half was recorded, so I will watch that at some point this weekend. 

Sargie's off today. I'm going to continue working in the barn and garage. I need to power wash the floors in both. If it's rainy for the Mighty Milligan Labor Day gathering, both places can serve as under-the-roof gathering places. We'll keep our fingers crossed for warm, sunny, weather. 

I see I need to fill the hummingbird feeder... again. The pint-sized birds are emptying it daily and chirp for more. They're getting as bad as the voracious giant pumpkins.

Deep within the wilds of the Pentoga Road pumpkin patch lies a pumpkin weighing well over three hundred pounds and still growing.

Time to get busy. There's the second half of last night's Packers game to watch.

After all, a man's work is never done

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The backhoe was brought up to the front of the property last night. To dig a deep garden pond along with a large waterfall or not? That's a discussion for another day.

The flowers in the large planter at the corner of the barn are at their peak.

August 26, 2016 - Friday

51 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'm up and at 'em early as I'll be riding over to Iron Mountain with Sargie. I need to purchase a few metal trim pieces that join the lap siding at the corners on the house. I've hit and mangled a few over the past several years, either with the snow plow or the tractor, and since I'll be painting the rear of the house, I figured I might as well replace those damaged ones along the drive so I can paint them to blend in.

The seal/coat man arrived before eight yesterday morning and immediately got to work. He first went along the pavement with a weed trimmer, then blew it clean using a leaf blower. After, it was a matter of dumping five-gallon buckets full of sealer onto the pavement and spreading it out using a squeegee. 

I was extremely pleased by the time he was finished. Other than needing a few of the larger cracks filled in with blacktop, the drive is now ready to meet the tough demands of winter's snow and ice.

While the drive was being sealed, I busied myself in the shop and finished painting the ceiling. I'm certain I missed plenty of places, but it's much brighter now. The white paint does a wonderful job of reflecting the light down into the room.

With the future addition of the new, much larger, window, it should be much easier to see and work in the shop during the dark days of the upcoming winter.

It was mid afternoon before I took a shower and made my way to Iron Mountain to meet Sargie. I'll stop by Home Depot for the corner trim pieces this morning then skedaddle back home.  I'd like to get most of the painting completed on the back of the house this afternoon.

The four year-old Macintosh apple tree in the back yard. There's going to be some good crunching and munching in the near future.

The Packers play this evening in San Francisco, the third preseason game of the year. I need to be finished with all my work, showered, and dressed in my Packer paraphernalia well before so I can coach my team onto victory.

It's time to feed those angry giant pumpkins before they try to escape the garden. I don't need to repair a fence in addition to all my other chores today.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road... 

Eggs, venison sausage, Colby-Jack cheese, and fresh tomatoes from the garden. Does summertime eating get any better than this?

A giant sunflower head, bending under it's own weight

August 25, 2016 - Thursday

57 degrees/overcast/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It appears as though it's going to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood and that's a good thing. The crew is to arrive sometime this morning between 8 and 10 to fill the cracks and seal coat the drive. 

Another .4 of a inch of rain fell Wednesday morning. I'm going to forget about working in the shop and move my attentions to building an ark. Thankfully, all this precipitation is in the form of rain. If the equivalent falls as snow this coming winter, it'll be the Fourth of July of next year before we see bare ground.

I spent time in the garden Wednesday morning, mostly feeding the giant pumpkins, plucking a cucumber here and there, and studying the sunflowers that have those desirable traits I hope to breed into one super flower; you know, the variety that is going to make me world famous and filthy rich.

Some of my sunflowers have the desirable height of over twelve feet, other's the size of heads, either huge or the smaller ones that stay upright. My end goal is to have one plant that will support multiple giant heads without bending over under its own weight. It's a work in progress.

The bench for the lathe was finished by mid morning. 

No doubt I'll be adding drawers, an overhead light, and other features to make it more accommodating for turning, but for now, this will suffice. I've got a million other projects to complete before snow falls and I can begin to play inside.

I wanted to paint the ceiling of the shop white last fall (to better reflect the light) but didn't get around to it. That process began yesterday and half was finished before my neck and back gave out. I hope to be done in the next day or two.

A quick jaunt was made into town to purchase the gallon of paint needed for the back of the house. While in the hood, I stopped and visited with Yooper Brother Mark and dropped off some ripe tomatoes to both him and Ann. 

The rest of the day was spent power washing the drive.

The seal coat crew is to arrive this morning sometime between 8 and 10 and I wanted to make certain all the cracks, nooks, and crannies, were clean so the filler can fully flow down inside.

Sargie wasn't home until late last night. We had a short evening together and as luck would have it, she opens this morning. I'm fearful the girl is going to run into herself coming and going one of these days.

Other than watching the guys seal coat the drive, I'm not sure what today has in store. I'd like to finish the ceiling in the shop so I can move my attentions elsewhere. The lawn needs to be mowed, but that can wait for another day or two. I'm tired of mowing grass, currently, an every week chore. During an average summer, the mowing season would be about over, but not here in the rain forest this year.

It's time to get this uploaded and feed the pumpkins before fixing Sargie's breakfast and packing her lunch.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Brutus enjoys cooling off by standing in the mist created by the power washer.