It's beginning to look like fall.

September 22, 2016 - Thursday

55 degrees/clouds/calm winds

Pentoga Road

With it being so dark and another .4 of an inch of rain having fallen, it would have been so easy to remain in bed this morning; nice and warm, snuggled in the blankets, spooning with Sargie and listening to her soft breathing. Well, that didn't happen. Sargie opens the Vision Center this morning which means it will soon be time to wake my favorite optician and get her headed in the right direction.

I just looked at the ten day forecast. There are exactly two out of the ten days when rain is NOT forecast, tomorrow and a week from today. That's it. 

Though the garden is still mostly green, I'm beginning to smell decay, the odor of rotting vegetation. I wonder if I should go ahead and pick the squash and pumpkins? The giants are on boards or pallets with many of the others resting on wood chips. I'll let them be and see what happens. I'd rather they ripen in the garden if possible. 

After my five mile jaunt on Wednesday morning, I returned home to empty the dehydrator of tomato slices. I'm finished preserving tomatoes for the season. There are a few left in the garden, enough to eat fresh for a while, but most of what are remaining have bad places here and there, the result of too much moisture.

I transferred the contents of the small chest freezer into the new larger one. It was completely thawed last night and I'll scrub and move it to the neighbor's in the next couple of days.

A couple of bucketfuls of irises were dug from the front perennial bed a few days ago and needed a new place to call home. Jeanne had also thinned some of theirs and sent a box of bulbs and plants home with Sargie. 

The rest of Wednesday morning and part of the afternoon was spent digging and prying rocks from ground north of the drive in an attempt to make some sort of flower bed. What a chore.

In the end, enough room was made and dirt worked up to get everything planted. At least the timing was good as all the plants received a good soaking with last night's rain.

I did my annual fall fertilizing and spreading of aluminum nitrate on the blueberries. The aluminum nitrate lowers the PH of the soil, something that is vital for blueberries. I began fertilizing in the fall rather than the spring a couple of years ago and noticed a real difference in the next year's growth. Springtime fertilization is recommended, but hey, why question success?

I decided to go with the odds that it will get cold sooner or later and removed and carried both air conditioners to the basement. I can see the day when I'll hire a big, strong, kid, to do that task for me. I don't hoist around seventy-five to a hundred pounds nearly as easy as I used to and Grady's still too pint-sized to be of much help.

The rest of the day was spent trimming and mowing the immediate yard. I didn't bother with the meadows or trails. It's too late in the year to spend the time or money making sure they are golf course pretty. They'll be mowed one last time before snow flies and that should suffice. The yard, on the other hand, might get sheared two or three more times, depending on the weather. This seems to be the summer that never ends. (Remind me I said that next February when it's forty below zero with ten feet of snow on the ground.)

Since I need to purchase some lumber for the garden arbor gate, I showered and drove to Iron Mountain to meet Sargie. We rode home together last night and I'll be riding back with her this morning then going on to Home Depot to purchase what is needed. I hope to get the gate built tomorrow during one of our rare forecasted rain-free days.

Other than the trip to Iron Mountain, I'm not certain what's on today's agenda. I'll definitely walk at some point, probably down to Pentoga Village and the Brule River bridge. There's always the work in the shop I'm currently involved with and the garden gate to lay out. I don't believe I'll be bored.

The last of the Teddy Bear sunflowers. With the end of the growing season, most are turning brown. I gathered seeds to plant for next year from one of the better flowers. The rest will be donated to the birds.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...