Homemade vegetable soup, Acadian ployes, a cozy fire, a puppy dog and good company. Can life get any better?

October 27, 2018 - Saturday night

41 degrees/rain/breezy

Pentoga Road

I figured I'd better write tonight while waiting for Sargie to get ready for bed. She closed the Vision Center earlier this evening and didn't arrive home until a short while ago.

It seemed odd this morning to look out at first light and see a blue bus sitting in our front pasture.

Initially, I was fearful the kids might be cold, but seeing the wood smoke rising from the flue on the bus, I knew Ben had started a fire in the wood stove.

The inclement weather kept us inside most the day. We took advantage of a break in the rain to hike to Pentoga Village and onto the Brule River bridge.



Meag kept busy snapping pictures while Ben, Moose, and I, took in the sights.



Later in the afternoon, with Ben's help and using the old Ford tractor, we moved the wood furnace to its permanent home alongside the barn under the new lean to.



So far so good. All that needs to be done is installing the duct work. Since we'll be gone the next two days and I teach three days next week, it probably won't happen until the week after next.

Ben split a bit of wood to fill the rack for their wood stove.



It's a tiny stove, but more than adequate for heating their bus. He was thrilled that the log ends were exactly the right length for his needs.

Both Meag and Ben appeared at the back door later in the afternoon carrying homemade vegetable soup and ploye mix. Meag informed me she was making supper tonight and the girl certainly didn't hear any objections from me.

 

Ben stepped in to help and served as the Butter Tech, the person who applied liberal coats of butter to each ploye as they came from the cast iron skillet. 

For those who don't know what a ploye is, here's a link to further your culinary knowledge. Don't say I never taught you anything.

https://www.eater.com/2016/10/31/13439280/ployes-maine-french-acadian-tradition

My sons grew up eating ployes and we considered them a common side to many meals. 

Note the halo around Meag's head.

And the soup! What does one say when he tastes perfection? Meag put several kinds of vegetables, potatoes and sweet potatoes through a processor and made a wonderful tasting soup, one of the best I've ever tasted, especially on a cold and rainy night.



The festivities come to a halt Sunday morning. Ben and Meag are planning on pulling out fairly early and making their way to the Minneapolis area. From there, they are heading straight south and will spend the next several months enjoying the warmth that the deep south has to offer.



Sargie and I will leave around noon on Sunday for Milwaukee with one stop scheduled in Green Bay. It's going to be a hectic and very tiring next two days, of that we're certain.

So with all that being said, it's time to say goodnight and make my way up the stairs.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...