Tuesday's project, assembling the infrared gas grill.

May 17, 2017 - Wednesday

62 degrees/cloudy - humid/calm winds

Pentoga Road

The rains and thunderstorms continue to rumble through the area. Lightening flashed and thunder rumbled all night long and it appears that rain will be with us through Saturday before we begin another stretch of dry weather. 

Storm clouds on Tuesday afternoon

We received 1.1 inches of precipitation over the past thirty-six hours. Okay, it can dry up now for a few days so I can get my garden planted. There are only so many frost-free days during the summer months and I'd like to take advantage of each and every one of them.

I copied off a couple of pictures of my larger vegetables and took those, along with a few seeds, to the gentleman from whom I get my compost. He gets so excited when we talk about gardening and loves to talk about dirt. To tell the truth, I enjoy the subject myself. We talk about quality, quantity, top soil, types of compost, moisture, and anything else that is related to a growing medium. Don's one of the good guys and I like talking with him.

The rest of the day was spent assembling the new gas grill we purchased last fall on clearance.



Our old grill was one that I'd gotten for free and had been rebuilt a few dozen times over the past six years. Sargie, Queen of the Clearance Tables, found this new one last fall at less than half the original price. It's been sitting the garage all winter waiting to be put together.

Assembly was long and tedious. There were at least a hundred million pieces and the instructions were, no doubt, written by someone in a country far far away who speaks a language in which full sentences are non existent and everyone is left handed. 

I wasn't the only one befuddled. Brutus, with his infinite bulldog knowledge, also had a difficult time understanding the instructions.

Even wearing my magnifiers, almost five hours had passed before we called the job finished. Each and every piece had been assembled, taken apart, turned inside out, right side up, and sideways. Still, in the end, the grill stood completely assembled, ready for many seasons of use.

I had just enough time to pick the first of this season's asparagus before running through the shower, changing into my city clothes, and driving to Iron Mountain. I dropped a few things off at Boyd and Jeanne's, enjoyed some great conversation, then met Sargie after work so we could ride home together.

The first asparagus of the season

The maiden voyage of our new grill happened last night when I cooked two, absolutely, unbelievably great pork steaks. 

I love the new infrared technology that allows much greater control over the heat. Along with the fresh asparagus, we had a meal fit for royalty.

I'm riding back with Sargie this morning so I can go to Home Depot and purchase the trim to go around the upstairs bathtub. I really had planned on reading Harlequin Romance novels, putting my hair up in rollers, and eating bon bons later today, but Sargie seems to think I should also install the trim. I guess my dance card is pretty much filled. 

Oh, a disclaimer <-fancy lingo for saying I made a mistake.

The bottom picture on yesterday's entry should have titled my sister's flowers as those of a rhododendron, not a rose. Thanks to Aunt Sue for that clarification. (Hey, through these eyes, they looked pretty "rosy" to me!)

Time to refill the coffee cup, think a couple of deep thoughts, take a walk to the greenhouse and see if any sunflowers have sprouted, and maybe, just possibly, solve the physics of perpetual motion. Failing that, I think I'll just sip coffee and listen to the news.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie received roses for Mothers Day, so yesterday, in keeping with the spirit, she received a bouquet of asparagus.
Now that's true love and the truth of the matter is, you can't eat roses.