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September 29, 2017 - Friday
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Not much of a blog today as I have the wrong computer to upload pictures and we have a third party in our hotel room. Yep, ol' Hambone.

The three of us arrived in Green Bay yesterday around noon after picking up Grady in Iron Mountain. We had a good time doing a bit of shopping and it was mid afternoon before we met the rest of the family at the hotel and checked in.

Last night was spent at Sasha and Alex's rehearsal dinner. It was a fabulous feed, informal, very family-oriented (both sides) and a great mixer. It was one of the few rehearsal dinners I've ever been to that I actually hated to see end.

Grady slept sideways in a large recliner in the hotel room last night while Sargie and I slumbered in the queen sized bed alongside. We all slept well.

We're to meet Macrea and Mel sometime later this morning for the Hambone exchange. I found that I forgot my shoes and socks for the wedding, so we'll be doing some quick last minute shopping before the wedding.

Tonight brings the reception/dinner/dance. No doubt, I'll magically turn into Patrick Swazy and Sargie into Jennifer Grey and we'll dance the night away. Hey, nobody puts Baby in the corner.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

With clear skies and lower temperatures and humidity, it finally feels like fall.

September 28, 2017 - Thursday

43 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'm up early trying to get my usual morning activities finished before we point the car south and head to Green Bay. Our plan is to stop in Iron Mountain and pick up Hambone then continue on. Mel and Macrea will be going to tonight's Packer's game, so Grady will be with us. Sasha and Alex's wedding is Friday afternoon.

While Sargie was doing her thing in the house on Wednesday, I was in the shop fashioning another pumpkin.

I ran out of scrap 4x4 material, but remembered that Yooper Brother Mark had given me several soft wood fence posts from their plant in Kentucky last year. They weren't hard enough to use for serious turning, yet too good to throw away.

I found their purpose. They are perfect for making pumpkins and snowmen!

Being soft wood (like pine) and without bark, it took very little time to round a piece into a ball.

It was time to pick up the altered dress that Sargie will be wearing to Sasha's wedding. 

The seamstress is located in a large consignment shop in Crystal Falls. While Sargie did her business, I talked with the owner and in the end, said I'd be back next week to discuss leaving some of my pieces. I can rent a space for very little per month with all the proceeds belonging to me or she will sell my work and keep a percentage. I think I'll try a table or display.

Sargie and I later stopped at another store and what was the first thing I saw? Christmas goodies.

Good grief, I'm already getting tired of the holidays and September's not yet over. Most of all, I hate to see the real meaning of Christmas demeaned with all the commercialism.

I remember back when everyone waited until the day after Thanksgiving to begin the Christmas season. Labor Day appears to be the new start time.

In our drive around the area, Sargie and I saw something... ah... interesting.

I'm not certain if the owner is making an artistic statement or he simply ran out of room in his already "busy" yard to put a few bicycles. Hey, if you can't expand outward, you might as well go up.

Back home, I moved to the garden to feed the goldfish and pick cauliflower.

We ended up blanching and freezing three heads late yesterday afternoon plus one batch of broccoli. For as lousy as this past gardening season has been, the cold weather crops have done well.

Sargie was busy, so I took the opportunity to head back to the shop, this time to paint the pumpkin that I'd turned Wednesday morning. I decided to try my hand at painting a girl.

She's still a work in progress, but it's a start. It's obvious that I didn't attend cosmetology school and am no artist. This gal is going to get a bow along with a decorative stem.

We're looking forward to the next couple of days, especially gathering with family and friends to attend Sasha and Alex's wedding. I can't imagine a more beautiful bride than Sasha who deserves a great guy like Alex. Both are wonderful, loving, hard working people.

It's time to wind this up and think about packing a few things. First and foremost will be my swim trunks. Hambone and I have a date with the hotel's hot tub tonight.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

This guy gets a hat with a stem coming out the top.

A large flock of Canada geese lifting off a nearby lake

September 27, 2017 - Wednesday

51 degrees/cloudy skies/windy

Pentoga Road

Just like that... summer's over, the record setting temperatures are gone and I'm sitting here thinking that a fire in the wood stove would feel good this morning.

It looks like fall. Seems many of the leaves failed to turn red in favor of a rusty brown color and are falling by the millions.

Arriving home from my walk Tuesday morning, I got busy in the kitchen. 

Boiling a large batch of frozen cranberries was first on the agenda. Hoping to stretch this year's fresh frozen fruit further into the winter, the first of several bags were opened.

We like cranberries eaten fresh as a sauce or even dribbled over the top of vanilla ice cream.

I especially like when one pops in my mouth releasing a very tart, but oh so delicious flavor. 

Next on the agenda was to reload the dehydrator with apple slices that had been sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

We're beginning to accumulate a few bags of slices and like the frozen garden fruit, will be eaten throughout the winter months.

I'm the first to admit that there's a bit of prepper in me, a person who has a Plan B should the grid (electricity) go out for any length of time. Dehydrated apple slices aren't going to save the world, but they could supply some essential nutrients along with other goods that have been preserved. 

Call me silly, but I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a few precautionary measures. Everyone has an insurance policy of some kind. This is just one of mine.

It was early afternoon before I made it to the shop. I'm trying to make pumpkins for all the good little girls and boys of the world, or at least friend and family members. 

Thank goodness for the internet. When it comes to pumpkin faces, I have no imagination. All one has to do is surf the net to find infinite possibilities.

This guy still needs a stem, or a hat, or something on the top of his noggin. I was going to paint a mouth, but I'm not sure he needs one. The expression in his eyes says it all.

Speaking of hat, I was going to turn another from a birch limb, but couldn't force myself to cover such beautiful wood with acrylic paint.

I opted for Plan B, making a small bowl. It still needs polyurethane and buffing, but I just love the grain and texture of the wood. 

 

I'm eager for the day when I have a larger lathe so I can turn some significantly larger items using spalted birch. I think it's a beautiful wood.

Sargie was home early last night and surprised me, saying she has today through Sunday off! I knew about this weekend, but not today. We spent Tuesday evening power watching four hours (two episodes) of Dancing With the Stars on DVR. 

I'm not certain what's on today's agenda. Since we'll be leaving tomorrow for Sasha and Alex's wedding in Green Bay on Friday, I doubt we'll wander too far away. 

It's time to put the last batch of apple slices in the dehydrator then I think I'll make my way to the shop and see if I can't make some sort of covering for that Jack-O-Lantern's noggin.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

I wonder how far they made it yesterday?

September 26, 2017 - Tuesday
63 degrees/cloudy/calm winds
Pentoga Road

It's warm and muggy this morning. Seems the cold front is stalled just to the west of here and with it, much cooler temperatures accompanied by lower humidity. I know I'm going to regret saying this, but I wish it would hurry up and get here. I'm tired of this sticky weather. If I enjoyed it, we'd move to southern Mississippi and live next door to Mississippi Brother Garry and Miss Jody. 

Talk about hot! Temperatures on Monday reached dog day record summertime highs for the third day in a row. We received an inch and a half of rain last night with more forecast to fall today.



Unlike Sunday, I was smart enough to take my walk before the heat of the day set in.



I hiked just shy of four miles and was back home in time to eat breakfast with Sargie and see her off to work.

I was in the shop by midmorning hoping to make a pumpkin. Problem was, I'd never made one before. I had an idea of what I wanted to turn and how I wanted it to look, but was short on experience.

Hmmm, all I could find in the junk wood box was an old piece of 4x4. 



I cut the length to size, mounted it on the lathe, and began.



Half an hour later, the pumpkin was finished, at least the wood was shaped like a ball. I needed to turn a hat. 



I couldn't find a piece of scrap pine large enough to save my soul. My next choice was a piece of birch salvaged from the floor of the wood shed.

It seemed such a waste to use spalted birch with such a beautiful grain. I didn't mind. The wood was just a piece of limb and too small to turn anything meaningful.



The hat was separated from the stock. It was time to paint.



It took awhile and no small amount of trial and error, but in the end, a happy, one-toothed, pumpkin emerged, all turned from the scrap wood box.



It was getting late in the afternoon, but I was in no hurry to go inside. With Sargie closing, I didn't feel like spending the evening watching television or surfing the net.

Neighbor Mike has a tree by his garden that had some small apples. He told me to go ahead and pick those if I wanted.



Back home, I washed them and made ready to peel and core each.



It didn't seem right to not have my little buddy, Hambone the Apple Piggy, assisting. Still, I managed.



There were enough slices to fill the dehydrator with the rest sitting in a large bowl of lemon water to be dehydrated later today.



Sargie was home late last night and our evening was short. She opens today, but should at least have an evening at home tonight.

I'm going to keep the dehydrator going, alternating my time between the kitchen and the shop. It's to rain, a perfect day to be inside.

Speaking of which, I better get Sargie's lunch packed and breakfast ready.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Internet service has finally been restored after Friday's storm that included swirling clouds, high winds, and blowing leaves 

September 25, 2017 - Monday

62 degrees/sun/haze/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I learned this past weekend how much I use the internet throughout an average day. I had no idea that I check the weather forecast, listen to the news, read my email, or look at scroll saw patterns and turning videos so often.

It's the same feeling as a watch wearer has when he forgets his timepiece and keeps looking at an empty wrist. 

That's why I quit wearing one thirty years ago. I remember thinking that time passes by all too quickly. I didn't need to keep track of its progress.

It was quite the storm that hit on Friday. After a day of hot temperatures and high humidity, severe weather blew in with a vengeance.

At one point, I thought the flag pole was going to break in two as it was almost bent double. 

I later went to town on an errand and discovered how lucky we were to have only lost our internet service.

The storm caused the leaves to drop somewhat prematurely. When mowing the lawn, I often felt I was driving through a sea of maple and popple leaves.

As soon as the majority of the trees are bare, I'll use the lawn sweeper to gather the rest.

I made another batch of dried apple slices, this time coating each with cinnamon and sugar.

Talk about good. They are addictive and most disappeared while Grady and his parents were visiting on Saturday evening.

Speaking of Hambone, we did have a good time.

There's something about a body of water, regardless how small, some goldfish, and a rock or two to throw in the water, that attracts a three year old. 

Toss bare feet and a fuzzy caterpillar into the mix and life doesn't get any better.

Sunday dawned hot and humid. Sargie had to work from noon to five. I spent most the day in the shop working on our grandbabies' Christmas/birthday gifts. I also applied several more coats of poly to my latest bowl.

Under Mississippi Brother Garry's tutelage, I'm finally learning how to achieve a glossy, wet, look, finding that it involves lots of sanding, buffing, and multiple applications of polyurethane. 

I walked to the Brule River yesterday afternoon after turning on the Packers football game, then promptly turning it off when I saw three Green Bay players refusing to rise for the National Anthem. 

I knew it was happening all over the National Football League, but never in the All American city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the rule of life is: God, Mom, Country, and the Packers.

How dumb and naive can I be?

I wonder how long a common person, who actually works for a living, say at Walmart, or teaching school, or in a factory, would keep his job if he decided to protest and "make a statement of support" during his shift? 

The National Hockey League gained its newest fan on Sunday afternoon.

I noticed on my walk that there are a few plums on the trees in Pentoga Village. 

They still have a ways to go before they're ripe, but I'm keeping my eye on them.

Sargie works today from noon until eight. I'm going for my walk fairly soon while it's still cool then plan to spend most the day in the shop. The forecast is calling for storms later this afternoon and continuing into tomorrow as a cold front approaches. Hopefully, all our trees will remain upright.

Isn't it a bit early for Christmas? Our local department store doesn't think so. Get ready to open those wallets.

It's time to strap on the hiking shoes and put some pavement under my feet in the name of good health.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

With hands tucked in, Isabella decided to take an after dinner snooze.

September 24, 2017, Sunday
68°, clear skies, call them winds
 Pentoga Road

I find myself once again perched on neighbor Mike's picnic table dictating into an iPhone, wondering how many verbal typos will be made in the name of literary blathering. I don't trust a mini computer to interpret my voice and what's more, I use proofreading as a way to temper much of what is originally written.

So I have to really watch what I  say. The print is too small for me to read, so what I say is what it is.

 So, it's just me, my iPhone, and neighbor Mike's picnic table, the only place around that has cell service.

Here we go.

Saturday dawned extremely humid. Coupled with the 80+ degree temperatures it felt more like the middle of July then late September.

I  spent most of the morning in the shop and made a new type of container. Turned from Maple, it is narrow  with a rim  on the top and much wider on the bottom and resembles the stack of a nuclear power plant. I really enjoyed making it and it was fun to let my imagination run wild. This could be a Proto type of one I've been asked to make after I get a larger lathe.

It was noon before Sargie and I took off in moms car for our afternoon Drive. We talked about going to Marquette or Escanaba, one of the Great Lakes towns nearby, but decided since we will be in Green Bay next weekend attending Sasha and Alex's wedding, we better keep our driving and spending to a minimum. We had a wonderful drive around the area, chomping  Burgers, eating fries, and sipping cokes.

Macrea called later in the afternoon saying they were coming over and would be bringing homemade chicken pot pie. Wonderful!

Since we knew we had time before they arrived, Sargie and I hopped on a four wheeler and kept cool by taking a drive down to the river. With the shadows beginning to grow longer, the rushing air felt good.

 Macreae, Mel, and hambone, arrived later in the afternoon. Mark and Sherry came in their side-by-side ATV and we had a great time sitting in the living room talking.

At one point, Grady and I played soccer. He enjoys kicking the large, oversized, ball that we used and the munchkin soon wore his Pawpaw out.

 Mel's chicken pot pie was out of this world, I've sworn that I'll get the recipe as it will make a great winter meal. It certainly hit the spot on a warm evening.

It was 10 PM before Grady gathered his parents and they headed back to Iron Mountain. Sargie nor I had any problems sleeping last night. The temperatures dropped along with the humidity and the house was pleasantly cool for sleeping.

 Sargie works from noon until five today. I am going to spend most of the morning in the shop then watch the Packers play at three this afternoon. Hopefully, they will remember to show up for the game today, something they forgot to do last Sunday.

It's to remain warm through Tuesday then the temperatures are to plummet with highs in the low 50s on Wednesday. I guess it will be time to begin carrying in wood and start feeding the wood stove.

I am not surprised. After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

 September 23, 2017 -  Saturday

72°, sunny, breezy

Pentoga Road

A huge storm came through  yesterday and completely wiped out our Internet. In talking to the company later in the day, it's difficult to know how soon service will be resumed. So, I'm sitting up on neighbor Mike's deck where I have cell service and dictating this into my iPhone. Sorry, no pictures, and probably the  content will be quite poor. When I am writing in the conventional manner, I go back and try to edit out mistakes. The print on my iPhone is too small for me to see, so you get the first edition of whatever I dictate. Boy, that could be dangerous!

I started yesterday by rolling the remaining  apple slices that Grady and I had done and cinnamon and  rolling them in  sugar and putting them on the dehydrator. They came out absolutely delicious in the end and as Sargie said last night, it was like eating an apple pie without the crust. I hope to find some more apples in the next few days and dehydrate more. They will make great snacks for this winter and since they are dehydrated and will get larger in one's tummy, make great snacks for Grady.

I decided to go ahead and mow the grass yesterday morning. It took a while to get the old mower ready for one last trip around the yard, but in the end it was done and looks nice.

I had just finished when the storms arrived. It's been quite a while since I've seen the sky so black in the middle of the day and the winds blow so hard. The  storm reminded me of those we experienced last spring when we had the large tree fall down on the garage.

At one point I heard the famous freight train sound and I think a tornado could've gone overhead. I have experienced them when I was younger and at age 16 was even in the middle of one. That's a story for another time.

 It rained most of the day and I spent time in the shop and in the house both. With the Internet out, it's amazing how much more a person can get done when he's not continually stopping to look up some fact or the other or check his email.

The phone rang late in the afternoon and it was the company from which we  bought the couch and chair last May. When I asked the lady how she was doing, she said she would be doing a lot better if I would pay my bill.

I asked her what she meant and she said that I had promised to stop in the day after we made arrangements to buy the couch and chair and pay the bill in full. I told her I had paid it in full at the time and she disagreed.

Since we had no Internet, I made a flying trip to Yooper brother marks and borrowed their Internet and downloaded the bank statement.  Sure enough, there was the purchase and the matter was resolved. She apologized and I told her it wasn't a big deal other than she almost gave me a heart attack.

Sargie was home early last night and we had a wonderful evening eating leftover pizza and watching TV.

She is off  today and with the temperature forecast to reach 90, I would imagine we will take a long ride in the air-conditioned car. Actually, that sounds almost perfect. Al gore would love today!

I guess I better walk back down the hill and get busy doing something or the other.

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

 So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

September 22, 2017 - Friday
65 degrees/clear skies/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Sure seems awfully quiet on Pentoga Road this morning. Sargie's getting ready for work and I'm doing my usual early morning thing, but we're missing someone. 

Oh yes, Grady! He went home last night.

Thursday began by eating breakfast in front of the television and watching the finale of America's Got Talent on DVR. Hambone really enjoyed watching the children perform and we were all happy with who won.

With tummy's full, Grady and I headed to Neighbor Mike's to pick a few apples. Mike had mentioned earlier this week that we should pick whatever was left on the trees in his front yard.



Hambone and I hopped on the little blue four wheeler and with a grocery sack in hand, putted up Mike's drive. We were soon picking.

 Grady loved using Mike's apple picker, although after two or three attempts, handed it to me saying he would be Bag Boy. His job was to place each apple in the grocery sack.

Once home, we set up the apple peeler/corer and began work.

As with the apple picker earlier, Hambone soon self promoted himself to supervisor and left the manual labor to Pawpaw.

He informed me that his job was to put the slices in the lemon water. It was somewhere in that whole transition that we changed his name from Bag Boy to Apple Piggy. Slices were disappearing almost as fast as I could make them.

Five trays of apples were dehydrated yesterday with several to be processed today. They'll make good snacks this winter.

 Sargie had made arrangements with a seamstress in Crystal Falls to alter the dress she'll be wearing to Sasha's wedding a week from today. The three of us hopped in the car and took a drive. Of course, we just happened to find the park in Gaastra. 

Back on Pentoga Road, after a short break, we decided it would be a great time to take a four wheeler ride. 

We had a bit of time before meeting Mommy and Daddy in Florence, Wisconsin, for supper and to exchange the Hambone. What better way to spend it than feeding the goldfish (and splashing) in the garden pond.

It was almost time to leave. I hopped in the shower and almost tripped over Grady who had run in before me. We sang, we washed, and we scrubbed. It wasn't long before we were on our way to meet Mommy and Daddy.

Macrea and Mel

Everyone agreed that we had some of the best hamburgers last night that anyone had eaten in a long time. For $5.50 each, it was difficult to beat the quality and price.

I had the Jalapeno Burger... just a little bitty thing

As with all good things, the evening came to an end with hugs and kisses. Hambone, Mommy, and Daddy, headed to the east, Grandma Sargie and I to the west.

Sargie opens today, but has Saturday off. I'm going to finish putting apple slices in the dehydrator then think about mowing the yard and no doubt, end up in the shop. With the highs forecast to be in the 80's today, my hideout is the coolest place around.

It's time to close and get breakfast going. That toast isn't going to fix itself.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...