Finished! The stump area was completed late Saturday afternoon. Spreading grass seed was the last task of the day.

April 23, 2017 - Sunday

36 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Good grief, I see there's the possibility of snow showers this morning that will gradually turn to rain as the day goes along. What the heck?

To make matters worse, more than an inch of cold rain is to fall Tuesday and Tuesday night and there are three to five inches of snow forecast for Thursday.  My old home, Kotzebue, Alaska's, forecast for Thursday is forty degrees and sunny with calm winds. Kotzebue, an Inupiaq Eskimo village, is situated thirty-three miles north of the arctic circle. 

Saturday morning began with a roar that did nothing but increase as the day sped along. I was out bright and early using the tiller to remove any roots or clumps from the old stump area.

I found plenty. In fact, before morning's end, I used the backhoe to dig out large roots that had been missed and boulders that would eventually be heaved from the ground by spring frost.

It was when Sargie, after doing several loads of laundry, joined me at midmorning that the work really began. Talk about a task master. The girl not only insisted all work be done correctly, it had to be near perfect.

 Give that blonde-haired beauty a pair of work gloves, boots, and some work clothes, and she melds from a girly girl optician into a she-woman construction worker whose name could be Frank.

I thought we were going to work only in the area where the old tree had fallen over. 

Wrong. 

Sargie informed me that we might as well do the entire south side of the drive, smooth the rough areas, and dig out any rocks and boulders that could be struck with the blade of the mower.

Hmm, I wonder why the closest town is named Iron River and we live in Iron County?

So the day went. We quit just long enough for lunch at 1 PM then resumed work into the evening hours.

I dug a hole for the base of the new flag pole.

With concrete serving as an anchor, I told Sargie that if the winds uproot the pole, it'll be time to move.

My aim wasn't very good when pouring the concrete into the hole. Sargie used a hoe to help direct it around the sleeve.

Armed with not one, but two levels and Sargie peering over my shoulder to ensure accuracy, the sleeve was permanently set into concrete. 

It was early evening before the day's work was pronounced finished. 

Thanks to Frank, 'er Sargie, it looks nice. I guess I'm a big picture kind of guy, but Sargie, now Sargie's a detail person who pays attention to those things that make a yard and a house look like home.

We drove to town late in the afternoon for a Coke then returned to hot showers and a very quiet evening. It was a race up the steps at bedtime to see who could climb between the sheets first. We were a couple of tired overgrown munchkins who'd played outside in the dirt all day.

A bluebird

With much colder temperatures and rain/snow on the horizon, I doubt this will be an overly active day. I told Sargie that she should sleep in and I'm going to head out to the shop fairly soon. A friend of Neighbor Mike's, the owner of a significant art gallery along Lake Superior in Marquette, said he would like to display some of my work after examining a few pieces. Though I feel I haven't turned anything worthy of his gallery, his invitation gives me a reason to keep on practicing.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...