Getting ready to go for Thursday morning's walk.
Look at that pair of new prescription sunglasses! No more of those old-people types.

February 17, 2017 - Friday

14 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's true, I finally have a pair of prescription progressive sunglasses. I won't miss those I've been wearing for the past five years, the type that fit over one's regular glasses and scream, "I'm an old person. Get out of my way or I'll run you over with my walker and flog you senselessly with my cane!"

When I walked into the store yesterday wearing my new sunglasses, I'm pretty sure those who saw me thought, "I bet that guy rides a Harley with high rise handle bars and extended foot pegs in the summer months. Those sunglasses make him look soooo cool."

The new glasses are going to take some getting used to. I wore them for the first time today with mixed results. My favorite optician, the one I sleep with, said it could take two or three weeks for my eyes to adjust to the heavy prescription.

Can you believe this? The clock just tolled 6 bells and the sky is already growing light in the east. I love it. I absolutely love it. 

It's not unusual to be strolling through the garden at 5 AM during the summer months when the air is still cool and damp. In the winter, it's almost 8 before full daylight occurs and the garden is but a mere dream of what lies ahead in the future. 

Thursday was another busy day. After arriving home from my walk, I once again went to town to take advantage of a one day sale at the super market. After a stop at the bank, where I saw both Sheri and Macrea, I came on home.

Thursday's shop project was to make a simple puzzle, a snail.

I've found that making a young child's puzzle isn't difficult, especially with the new scroll saw. The secret is in selecting the correct blade. Too small and the pieces jam when attempting to take them apart or put them together. Too big of a blade results in a sloppy fit. I finally found the right one.

With the six pieces sanded, I painted three sides and set them aside to dry.

This puzzle should be in the mail in the next day or two. It was a fun one to make.

I was in the kitchen making lunch when I heard the tell tale buzzing of a house fly. A house fly? In February?

Sure enough, he was buzzing around the back kitchen window, but was soon disposed of with the flick of a hastily retrieved fly swatter.

I finally trapped the second squirrel that's been stealing sunflower seeds from the bird feeder. Like the fly, he too went away. This guy was a bit more crafty than the first squirrel I trapped a week ago. It took an old closely guarded family recipe, a deadly combination of peanut butter and field corn, to lure the bushy-tailed rat to his demise. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent digging the trailer out of a large pile of snow. I want to begin ice fishing again and with the drop-down tailgate, loading and unloading the Tundra is easy.

Most of the fishing gear is packed and I'm ready to head out this morning. I've heard rumors that our local lake, the one at the end of the road, is beginning to produce some nice fish. It's time to check it out.

I needed to change the hitch on the snowmobile and that called for a ratchet and socket. Finally, I had an excuse to use the new DeWalt socket set Sargie gave me on Valentine's Day. 

The ratchet felt good in my hands and was so efficient that I began to wonder if I should have put on a helmet and fastened a seat belt before loosening a nut and bolt.

Sargie closes tonight. I'm going to leave for the lake as soon as she departs and take it from there. It's to be close to fifty degrees and sunny with little wind. At the very least, I hope to work on the defined tan lines that have blurred over the winter months on my finely sculpted body, or, in a pinch, feel some honest-to-goodness sun on my face. 

Life doesn't get much better. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

These two sets of wolf tracks came right along the edge of the back yard. I understand why Brutus no longer ventures far out into the woods.