Look who came to see us?
It's Joanne!!

July 22, 2017 - Saturday

62 degrees/high overcast/calm winds

Pentoga Road

As I mentioned earlier, stretching back to the Maine days, Joanne has been a family friend for many many years. We've shared good times and bad and though we don't see each other often, our daily emails keep us current with each other's lives.

I dutifully write three people first thing every morning, Mom, Mississippi Brother Garry, and Joanne. I've written Mom daily since Dad's passing fifteen years ago. Joanne and I haven't missed many days for close to twenty, and Garry and I have written every morning for well over thirty years, each and every day.

Joanne arrived tonight and promptly gave Sargie the biggest hug. I got one too. Perfect.

I was busy all day Friday. I'd told Sargie I'd scrub the laminate floors and run the vacuum sweeper over the rest, including the steps. 

With sweat dripping off the end of my nose, I finally folded and installed the window air conditioner. We seldom need it, but when we do, it's greatly appreciated. Yesterday was one of those days.

Lacking an attic fan to suck the hot air from the second floor, I place a regular box fan facing out in our upstairs bedroom window. Since it has the tendency to fall out, I support it with a broom stick. Sargie doesn't necessarily agree with my HVAC engineering tactics, but it works!

Much of the day was spent unloading the wood from the trailer.

With the small splitter alongside the trailer, I worked up the larger pieces before throwing them onto the pile. 

Another four or five loads should see us through this coming winter and into the next. There's already another pile of dry wood plus both sheds are filled to the roof.

It's difficult to back the trailer alongside the wood piles. A spindly wild apple tree is in the way. Worse, half the tree droops so far down that a limb catches the trailer.

I fixed that problem today by using a roof (snow) rake to prop the limb up out of harm's way.

I took a break from working up wood to pull the lawn sweeper over the entire yard and part of the meadow where the grass clippings were so heavy. It looks much better.

Mowing in what was the flooded area, this is the sum total of my year's harvest. One berry.

There was a casualty. A tree jumped out in front of the mower and snapped a wheel off the deck.

It's been welded once, so I'll have to weld on top of the weld. I'll worry about reattaching the wheel next week.

One of the hazards of having poor eyesight is running or walking into objects. The worst are those things that aren't eye level.

I snagged one ankle on the back corner of the trailer today and later, walked into the flower planter by the patio.

I wish those things would stop jumping out in front of me. There isn't a lot of meat on my skinny legs and ankles and if they could talk, I'm certain both would be begging for mercy.

Sargie arrived home with chicken wraps for supper. We wanted something easy for Joanne when she arrived later in the evening.

It was well after 10 PM before we met Joanne at a junction eight miles away and she followed us home. Along with her pup, Schmaz, both seemed to be extremely happy that their long drive was over. 

I'm not certain what's on the agenda for today. Rain is in the forecast, but that makes no difference. I imagine there'll be no shortage of talking and catching up and that can be done inside just as well as out.

Guess I ought to end and do something. It won't be long until the action begins.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Brother-in-law, Ross, sent this picture of Holly's impatiens, saying the combined blooms are over four feet across. That girl can sure grow some flowers.