Grady is building his first birdhouse

April 8, 2017 - Saturday

23 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Shhh, what's that? What do I hear?

Oh, it's called silence. Other than the ambient background noise of the electronics, I don't hear a thing. 

The almost-three year old freight train, named Hambone, has left the depot. The only people remaining are Grandma Sargie and me and left to our own devices, we tend to be rather quiet and boring.

Where's Grady?
Oh, there he is!

I was out of the house early on Friday morning, long before the train left the station, working on an Easter egg which I hope to give later as a gift.

A beautiful, almost perfect, piece of aged, wild cherry

This is all the further I got before the freight train awakened. I'll continue working on the egg today.

Grady thought loading this past winter's trash into the trailer was some of the most fun he's had in a long time. 

He also got to ride in the trailer, all the way from the barn to the wood shed, a distance of ten feet, and was disappointed when he learned he'd have to sit in his car seat for the trip to the dump.

After stops at the dump and recycling center, it was time to head to the playground.

Pawpaw even got in on the action. The little hut on top of the slide was too small for me to turn around, so I went down head first.

Grady thought that was one of the funniest things he'd ever seen.  

With the remnants of a Happy Meal in hand, Grady fell sound asleep on the way home. Seems Grandma Sargie and Pawpaw had worn him out.

 After carrying Grady upstairs and putting him down for a nap, I sneaked back outside to wrap the Tundra for the coming summer months. Gas stabilizer was added to the tank and a support was built so the track could be off the ground. The snowmobile is officially retired for the next seven months.

Just as I put the Tundra to bed, it was time to unwrap and awaken the backhoe.

The machine started on the first pull and the next half hour was spent removing those boulders that the frost had heaved to the surface.

Fresh from his nap and rarin' to go, Grady and I spent the rest of the afternoon building a birdhouse from the pieces I'd already sawed the day before.

 Macrea arrived late in the afternoon. Sargie had sliced a huge amount of garden potatoes and I began frying fish. We all enjoyed a true UP feast last night.



It was getting late by the time Hambone and his daddy left for Iron Mountain. I can't speak for either of them, but Grandma Sargie and Pawpaw sure slept well last night.

This is Sargie's last full day of vacation. It's to be one of the nicest so far this spring and I'll let her make the agenda. I rather imagine it will be a relaxing day, most of it spent outdoors. Rain and colder weather, wet snow included, are forecast for this coming week.

Meanwhile, it's time for this old guy to put on his walking shoes and hoof to Pentoga Village and back. Chicken fried steak and fried fish don't melt away from around one's middle as easily as they used to.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road