Winter is slowly loosening its grip on some of the area streams and rivers

March 26, 2018 - Monday

16 degrees/partly cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Arg, I see we're to receive a third of an inch of rain later today and tonight. At least it's not snow... yet. That's to come later in the week. There's the chance that this afternoon's rain might freeze later and wouldn't you know it, Sargie has to close tonight. I'll make sure she packs her toothbrush should she have to stay in Iron Mountain tonight.

Today's her first day back to work after almost two weeks of vacation. My girl wasn't looking forward to getting back into the routine and I can't say I blame her. She loves her job, but like most in the active workforce, she dreams of the time when she can call the days her own. 

As I tell anyone who's interested, retirement is the best job I ever had.

Sunday dawned cold and windy. I was out early emptying blocks of ice from the sap bags as several had run late Saturday afternoon.

With the temperature still in the teens, I turned the heater on in the shop and scrounged around the scrap lumber pile until I found a large pine fence post.

I wanted to turn an egg, not just any egg, but a large one that I could decorate with flowers and other festive goodies.

In the end, it came out okay. I brought it in the house and set it by the wood stove so if any moisture were still in the wood, it would crack before I do any more work.

Sure enough, it cracked, but isn't that what an egg does? Just ask Humpty Dumpty.

Sargie and I took a wonderful ride around the area. Spring has taken over some places, yet winter is still definitely present in others.

If the forecast rain falls later today, the snow will definitely settle, but what a mess there'll be. The difficulty of gathering sap will increase substantially.

We came across this old farm hall about twenty miles to the north. The date on the sign says 1919. We noticed the electric service has been pulled so it's evidently no longer being used.

Back home, I changed a few taps from dry trees to some growing in areas where the sap has been running. I still don't understand why some trees seem to give very little or no sap. It doesn't have anything to do with size, but I think it's where they are geographically located. 

Not a drop to be had from this tree.

While changing some dry taps, I decided to add a few more to an area that receives plenty of sunshine and is out of the wind. All the trees gushed water as soon as the drill was pulled from the hole.

Bags are hanging from over a hundred trees, a mere pittance compared to the big boys with their tubes and pumps, but a hundred is all this old guy can keep up with when carrying the water by hand in five gallon buckets. 

I'm going to resume my walking schedule this morning then take the lumber that was purchased from Home Depot out of the Blazer.

Oh, speaking of lumber, I wrote to Home Depot expressing my displeasure at the quality of their lumber. I received a wonderful email back assuring me things would change in the Iron Mountain store and offering a partial refund. Evidently, there are still some big box stores who care about the little person.

It's time to get Sargie up for the day, fix breakfast, and pack her lunch.

The new bags added Sunday afternoon

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...