Sargie's practicing to be a model on The Price Is Right displaying the wood furnace in a grocery store parking lot.

 July 31, 2018 - Tuesday evening
74 degrees/clear skies/calm winds
Pentoga Road

There are a couple of tired kids on Pentoga Road tonight. Today was all about the wood furnace.

We arrived in Escanaba, Michigan, around 3 this afternoon and did a bit of shopping before going to look at the furnace.



Sargie found a cushion for the back porch swing and along with a bit of hardware, I purchased another LED shop light to hang over the lathe. 

We arrived at the seller's house on time and I found the wood furnace to be as described. There was a bit of negotiating before a price was agreed on and within minutes, we had it loaded and were on our way back home.

The furnace weighs a million, billion, pounds... or at last several hundred. Sargie and I could walk it to the back of the trailer using the two-wheeled dolly, but how to get it down the ramp to ground level was another matter. We were fearful that momentum would push the furnace down and tip over on me.

Only one solution. We used the same principal as mountain climbers by utilizing ropes and friction. Though it weighs hundreds of pounds, Sargie was able to control the descent of the furnace as I walked it back and forth down the ramp. 

We had our showers tonight and are settled in for the evening watching America's Got Talent. Sargie works a long day tomorrow, but is off Thursday.

The weather forecast for Wednesday is calling for rain, heavy at times. I've got several projects to work on, some in the shop, other's around the house. In other words, I won't be bored.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie and I drove by this fearless doe Monday evening. There's little doubt if I'd have had something in my hand to feed her, she'd have walked right up to the car window.

July 31, 2018 - Tuesday

61 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'm having a difficult time with my get-up-and-go this morning. The alarm rang at 6 this morning for no apparent reason as Sargie doesn't have to work today. Normally, I'd have gotten up. Instead, I snuggled in a bit closer with my bride and entered that doze/awake/doze state for the next hour and a half. It was almost 8 AM before my feet hit the floor for good.

I didn't have a lot of get-up-and-go on Monday either. Rather than take my usual hike, I opted to go fishing at one of my favorite ponds. I should have stayed with Plan A and gone for my walk. Fishing was poor, but then I didn't have the Crappie Queen to help guide me as I flogged the water. I did catch a few, but mostly what I enjoyed was the beautiful scenery and fresh air.

I was home before noon and headed to the garden where I found a nice head of cauliflower and a large kohlrabi to harvest. For those who may not know, the bulb of the kohlrabi tastes like a turnip, but grows above the ground. We enjoy our's peeled, sliced, and eaten raw. It's crunchy and has the texture of a radish. Good stuff!

While digging away in one of our freezers the other day, I found a large turkey breast that we'd purchased a year ago and had forgotten about. Thankfully, I'd double wrapped the thing before putting it in the freezer.

For whatever reason, turkey sounded good; sort of a very early precursor to the Thanksgiving season. It was removed the day before yesterday and set out to thaw. 

First thing was to get the charcoal smoker lit. I absolutely love the device that does away with starting fluid. All that is required is one wadded piece of newspaper in the chamber under the charcoal.

It was going in no time.

It was time to prepare the breast. First thing: injecting melted BUTTER. No one likes a dry piece of white meat.

Next came the most important ingredient to smoking a lean, heart-healthy, tasty, nutritious, turkey breast: BACON. A full pound of oinker was wrapped around the meat.

With two of the most important food groups in the universe used, it was time to smoke some turkey.

Four hours later, the breast was done. Juicy and tender, we enjoyed a few slices for supper last night. The rest will be used to make sandwiches over the next few days.

I worked on the mouse and cheese yesterday, but I think it's going to end up being kindling for the wood stove. It looks like a junior high student's shop project who has two left hands. I discovered last Easter I couldn't make a bunny. It appears as though a mouse will be added to that list.

Sargie was home early and with storms threatening, we towed the boat to the lake only to turn around and come back home. Yooper Brother Mark had sent a text saying it was pouring rain at his house. It never did reach us.

Sargie's off today. Other than an afternoon trip to Escanaba to look at a wood furnace, I'm unsure what's on our agenda. I imagine we'll leave early so we can do a bit of shopping along the way. 

It's time to feed the goldfish in the garden pond. They get grumpy when I'm late with their breakfast. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

A cauliflower and kohlrabi

We were in the best possible place Sunday evening to watch the sun set, in a boat fishing.

July 30, 2018 - Monday morning

52 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It'll be a quick one this morning so the fingers need to fly over the keys. That's okay, Sunday was fairly quiet anyway.

I began the day picking blueberries.

With the near perfect conditions we've had this summer, the berries are large and tasty. I picked a gallon yesterday to put in the freezer so we can enjoy them this winter.

Most of the day was spent in the shop where I'm making a mouse and cheese. Uh huh. Sometimes it's fun to make nonsensical fun little things. Hopefully, I'll finish today and have a picture or two tomorrow.

I heard someone pull into the drive. It was Sarah and Curtis dropping in for a visit.

We had a good gab session and caught up on life before they left to go back to Caspian. 

Sargie was home early last night and after a quick change, it was off to the lake. The Crappie Queen began by immediately catching two bass within the first five minutes.

She decided to give me a turn last night and I caught several nice bluegills. Together, we put enough in the basket to make a future fish fry. Something large hit my lure, but I never had a chance to see what it was. The monster snapped my line.

Sargie tried out the "nunnels," noodles I'd earlier fitted on the gunnels of the boat so her delicate feet wouldn't get bruised while braced and pulling in a big fish.

When the temperature permits, she prefers to fish barefooted, no doubt so she can better "feel" the water to catch more and bigger lunkers. I think that's her secret to success.

Though the conditions were good, a lone cloud came overhead and dropped just enough rain to makes us miserable. 

Darkness came and it was time to head home. I cleaned fish while Sargie got ready for a new week of work.

She opens today. The weather's to be nice and maybe, just maybe, I'll sneak back out onto the lake and practice in an effort to keep up with the Crappie Queen. I'm feeling a lot of pressure to keep up with my fishing partner and it's said that practice makes perfect.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

It's not yet August and the leaves are beginning to turn.

July 29, 2018 - Sunday morning
53 degrees/clear skies/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I wonder if these early red leaves mean we're in for a long, hard, winter? The National Weather Service seems to be leaning towards a prediction of fairly normal temperatures and precipitation and as we all know, they're never wrong.

I arrived home from my walk Saturday morning and visited with Neighbor Mike and Germaine for a few minutes. While sitting on their back porch, we watched their pup, Quincy, a pointer, stare relentlessly at a squirrel for well over fifteen minutes. She never twitched a muscle.

The rest of the morning and much of the early afternoon was spent working on the lights of the large trailer. What a mess.

I bent and pounded, coaxed and swore, and in the end, the pieces in which the lights are embedded were made workable again.

That task was finished by sanding off any and all rust and applying black Rustoleum. Assuming the seller still has it, we'll use the trailer when we travel to Escanaba on Tuesday to pick up the wood furnace. 

A quick dash was made through the shower before I made my way to Caspian to help Yooper Brother Mark and Sheri register the parade entries for the centennial. 

The Upper Peninsula fireman's muster and competition was also in full swing and I enjoyed the competitions between the various departments.

People from all over the UP and northern Wisconsin were there and for one afternoon, there must have been more people in Caspian than in New York City! Well, not quite, but there were several hundred.

I found the check in area and after receiving instructions from Yooper Brother Mark, began my duties as the parade registrar. (A fancy word meaning I signed them in and assigned each a number.)



It was a duty that I didn't take lightly. I even got to register Shirley Temple... I mean Isabella and draw a happy face on her registration card.

Grandma, aka Sheri's mother, was all decked out in her parade wear.

King and Queen of the Centennial, Art and Francis

Attendance was good along the three block parade route. 

Once upon a time, what is now Grandma's house was the hospital for the local mine.

The picture perfect weather ensured many the residents of Caspian were on hand to watch the procession.



With Mark walking in the parade, I rode with Sheri in the side-by-side behind the firetrucks. Our job was to gather any  participants who might have become tired of walking.



Towards the finish, we picked up a marching band consisting of two members. One played the bass drum, the other was a drum major using a bread stick for a baton.

Most of the watchers followed the procession to the park.

It wasn't long before Mark began passing out the medallions and awards.

Shirley Temple received first place in her category.

All the first place winners

With my duties finished, I left the good people of Caspian to enjoy their centennial and made my way back to Pentoga Road. All were having a great time at the picnic catching up on old times and making new friends.



Back on Pentoga Road, I quickly changed clothes, hooked the boat trailer to the Blazer, and waited for Sargie to arrive home from work.

Fishing was fairly good until we heard a large rumble from a cloud overhead. Since it appeared to be moving away from us, I wasn't overly concerned.



A second rumble saw us moving back to the boat landing. Our evening of fishing was over.

Sargie works today from noon until five. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'd like to walk, but my feet are so messed up from the heel spurs that it feels like I'm walking on needles and hobble around like an old man. I have another podiatrist's appointment the first week of September. After trying one thing or another, it might be time to have both removed so I can once again become active. Sargie and I are planning on going fishing when she arrives home from work.

Meanwhile, I'm going to head out to the garden and get the day started. There are blueberries waiting to be picked.

A spaghetti squash

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The ladies of the Vision Center
L - R Michelle, Sargie, Alice, Laura
It was Michelle's birthday and had the day off.

July 27, 2018 - Friday evening

62 degrees/cloudy skies/breezy

Pentoga Road

My friends, Norriene and Jim, who live in Pennsylvania, sent pictures of their flooded yard after receiving four inches of rain in four hours.

Talking to Norriene, I'm well reminded of last year's deluge on Pentoga Road when we received seven inches of rain in one day. Norriene sent an email earlier today saying the water is beginning to recede.

Speaking of rain, it looked as though it could pour this morning. With that in mind, I skipped my usual walk in favor of making pickles.

I decided to raise a hybrid variety of cucumber this year, one that has all female flowers. As I've said previously, each blossom bears a fruit without a man blossom's assistance. 



There aren't as many cucumbers on the plants as usual, but each is large and seedless. The flavor is outstanding.

It didn't take long to slice the cucumbers using the food processor.

This morning's batch made eight jars bringing this year's total to fifteen quarts. Those should be enough to get us through to next summer.

I'm not certain I'll be canning anything else this year. The basement shelves are about full.



The rest of the day was spent in the shop. First on the agenda was to install a dust collection system on the scroll saw.

It eliminates the dust from above and below the saw table and allows me to work without wearing a dust mask. I couldn't be happier. 

Neighbor Mike, aka Jambo, stopped by and mentioned that they were going to Iron Mountain later this afternoon. I bummed a ride over so that I keep Sargie company on her commute home after work.

Though she was off for her birthday, Michelle was shopping with her mother and stopped by for a visit.

Michelle's mom, Rosealee, is an absolute sweetheart

Tonight's been a quiet one. Sargie opens the Vision Center on Saturday and has to work again on Sunday.

I told Yooper Brother Mark that I would help check in entries for Saturday afternoon's Caspian Centennial Parade.  Other than that, I need to repair a light on the large trailer. One was broken earlier this summer when it was being filled with firewood.

There's a wood furnace in Escanaba that, if still available next Tuesday when Sargie's off, we'd pull the trailer over and possibly purchase it. My thinking is to build a small shed along the north side of the barn and blow the hot air from the furnace into the shop. Due to the saw dust, I'd like to keep the wood stove outside the shop and barn if possible.

Sargie's getting ready for bed and I'm tired. It's time to drag myself up those long, steep, stairs to the bedroom. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie's busy at work in the laboratory of the Vision Center