July 11, 2017 - Tuesday

55 degrees/haze/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Once again, I'm racing against the clock as I am going to ride back with Sargie to retrieve the Blazer. We had a meeting in Iron Mountain last night and rode home together.

It was a busy one yesterday on Pentoga Road. I thoroughly enjoyed my three mile stroll through the countryside.

The does are bringing their fawns out of the woods and it seems both are suddenly around every curve. 

The heavy rains that have fallen this spring and summer have really brought out the wild flowers.

Seems the roadsides and ditches feature the prettiest blooms.

I would have been in seventh heaven as a child as I used to delight in picking flowers for Mom. Whether they were mere dandelions, clover blossoms, one of Dad's roses, or a neighbor's tulip, it made no difference. 

Of course, Mom would thank me, give me a kiss, then fill a drinking glass with water and set the well-meant bouquet, often with broken stems and missing petals, in the middle of the kitchen table for everyone to see.

I occasionally pick wild flowers for Sargie. Over sixty years later, I still get the same feeling when giving a well-meant bouquet to her.

I picked a few more broccoli heads. They are small this year; I'm assuming from being covered with water a month ago. There are several in the refrigerator that need to be blanched and packed away in the freezer.

Lake Pentoga is almost a distant memory. I hope it stays away for a long time, not meaning that we need or want a drought, but it's been the most productive breeding ground for mosquitoes that I've seen in a long time.

Yesterday seemed to be a bit better in the blood sucking department. I wasn't more than a quart or two low after completing my evening chores last night.

Most of Monday was spent cleaning out an area where the privacy fence is going to be built to hide the wood pile.

It required some chainsaw work, but the worst part was digging a post hole.

I had to pry rocks and cut roots. In the end, a post, bedded in concrete, was planted and left to dry.

The tree makes the pole look crooked. It's not.

I hope to begin work on the privacy fence later today after picking up a few treated 2x4's in Iron Mountain. 

The leaky aquarium was filled on the back patio. 

Hmm, no leaks. The only thing I can figure out is that the filter became clogged and was pumping droplets of water outside the aquarium. I'll try putting the gravel back in and filling it later. Meanwhile, the fish seem to be enjoying swimming in the much larger garden pond.

The last project of the day was to make a simple stand for the test tubes I purchased in Marquette on Sunday.

They are used to hold the various scroll saw blades.

I'm going to begin building the privacy fence later today. I have thoughts of possibly finishing the thing before nightfall, but knowing my luck, it will become a two or three day project. Seems as though it takes two or three times longer to finish even the most simple project anymore. 

I'm anxious to check the water level in the garden pond. I was reading an article yesterday that said many leaks occur in the waterfalls. The pond was filled last night with the pump unplugged. The waterfalls would be the easiest fix. Keep your fingers crossed.

Oops, Sargie's out of the shower which means it's time to fix breakfast and get this show on the road.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...