So here's the problem... now that winter is almost upon us, what do I do with these two large spikes?

October 25, 2017 - Wednesday

33 degrees/partly cloudy skies/breezy

Pentoga Road

Yes indeed, summer is definitely over. For that matter, fall may be gone too.

A special bulletin was issued last evening for black ice and slippery conditions. Thankfully, Sargie was finished early at the Vision Center and arrived home well before any freezing occurred.

I'm running late this morning. Sargie's off today and since she's been battling the bug for almost a full week and working some long hours nonstop, I absolutely forbid her to do anything more strenuous than eat today. That girl needs her rest, some real, honest, to goodness, rest.

Tuesday began in a rush around here. Poor Sargie was sick, really sick. A trooper, she refuses to miss work though she really needed to visit a doctor and get some sort of medication into her system. After days and days of severe coughing and feeling bad, it became obvious whatever bug had invaded her body wasn't going to vacate willingly.

Just minutes before she was due to leave, Sargie had a video conference with Dr on Demand. It's the second time we've used the online physician's service and we been extremely impressed on each occasion. Dr. Amy, an MD from Madison, Wisconsin, talked with Sargie at length, listened to her breathe, then prescribed the needed medication and called it into the pharmacy in Iron Mountain. Sargie left right after her video conference, stopped to pick up the prescription on the way, and made it to work in good shape.

She's beginning to feel better, but it's going to take awhile for her to be 100%. Her poor body's been through a lot these past few days.

I've managed to get the potted plants into the garage.

I ordered two more grow lights from Amazon that are supposed to arrive later today. As soon as Sargie regains her strength, we'll begin taking the pots down the basement using the two wheeled dolly.

It rained, snowed, and blew, all day Tuesday. Most of the schools were closed in the communities north of here and I heard that water flooded the areas along Lake Superior in Marquette. 

I made my way to the shop early and spent almost all day working on an air conditioning cover for Ross and Holly.

Simple 2x2's were used for the frame and laths for the side rails.

The reason a hard covering is needed over their central air unit is because it lies below a valley of their roof, an easy target for falling ice and snow.

I was grateful for the air compressor and air nailer Sargie gave me last year for my birthday. It made assembling the pieces much easier than screwing or nailing each individual one.

Painting the rails took a lot of time and patience. Thankfully, everything was sitting on a tarp. When it comes to painting, I'm not very neat.

As luck would have it, I misfigured and came up three boards short of being able to assemble the top so I'll get those the next time I'm in Iron Mountain. 

Once the boards are cut, nailed, and painted, I'll be able to chalk this project off my before-winter list.

Sargie was home early last night. I wanted to surprise her by having fried chicken strips cut from breasts and cauliflower.

The meal was a disaster. I'd salted and peppered the chicken before laying it on a plate. For whatever reason, I did it again a second time as I was placing the pieces into the frying pan.

Last night's supper was like gnawing on a big ol' salt block. Sargie was so polite and said it wasn't that bad. Believe me, it was terrible.

I'm going to make a big pot of chicken stew with potatoes in the next day or two and hope the salt will soak from the breasts. If that doesn't work, we'll have some happy, but thirsty, foxes.

Sargie's going to rest today. That's a given, doctor's orders from the old professor (and I don't even play one on TV.)

I'm going to stick close to the house and make sure she doesn't get too wild. I need to try to dig out those last two spikes, roll up a couple of hoses, and dig a big hole in which to bury the ashes from the burning barrel before I put the backhoe away for the winter... or, we might find a good movie and snuggle on the couch under a blanket. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

This seasons first snow came down sideways in huge flakes.