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.