Look who had a birthday!

December 20, 2018 - Thursday

31 degrees/clouds/wind

Pentoga Road

Evidently my fingers must be rested as they've been getting itchy lately. Three weeks is the longest I've ever been away from writing and honestly, I've missed writing and posting pictures. Old habits die hard. Guess this one still has some life left.

There were several big events that occurred during my absence. 

One of the biggest was Cale's graduation, receiving his Masters degree from the University of Northern Michigan. 

We cheered as Cale walked by. I watched Sargie as she looked on filled with a mother's love and pride.

Big people weren't the only relatives watching Cale receive his diploma. His biggest fan, Hambone, cheered and waved at his uncle.

From one super hero to the other, Grady was most proud to wear Uncle Cale's graduation cap. 

As mentioned above, Sargie celebrated her birthday. She was most surprised when Macrea, Mel, Grady, and Cale, met us for supper in Marquette last Friday.

We stayed overnight and Grandma Sargie and Grady had a fun evening before bedtime.

One evening last week, I found myself transformed into the jolly old elf, Santa.

Yooper Brother Mark had asked earlier if I might be Santa at the yearly scout (and their families) Christmas gathering. It was a no brainer. Of course!

I could never have gotten dressed without the help of my Mrs. Santa who helped piece together all the parts of his outfit.

All the boys and girls were heard, but Santa's favorite were the little ones. 

They were so sincere, so honest, so innocent, and so believing.

I substitute taught several days during my hiatus from blogging. The munchkins were good and I enjoyed my time with them.

When not at the elementary or high school in Florence, I was in the shop making Christmas goodies.

The cross was enjoyable, but had some challenges along the way.

I also experimented turning my first long necked vase/bowl/bottle. Since I'd never done it before, plenty of mistakes were made, but it was a lot of fun.

The most time consuming project of the past three weeks was making a wooden soldier riding high atop his galloping steed.

The first several days were spent cutting, gluing, laminating, and clamping boards that would later make up the horse and part of the soldier.

 The wood needed to be cut, shaped, then sanded.

Since I was flying by the seat of my pants, I spent no small amount of time drawing patterns on freezer paper. The most challenging was the horse's head.

The head, hat, and arms were turned on the lathe with the hat and head made from an old fence post. The bill was added later.

Painting was an entirely different story. I experimented with various faces on the horse as well as the soldier. 

Seems I spent as much or more time sanding before and after painting. 

About the time I thought it was "good 'nuff," I'd find a place that needed more work.

It was late this afternoon before I finally brought the finished project in the house.

It passed Sargie and Mom's inspection, so I'm going to call this project finished.

Sargie hasn't exactly been idle these past few weeks. 

When not working, she's been busy writing Christmas cards and/or wrapping gifts.

I took advantage of our above average temperatures and nice weather to refill the wood sheds from the large pile in back stored under a tarp.

The two sheds' full should be more than enough to supply us with all the wood we need to heat the house for the rest of the winter.

I left last Monday morning at midnight for Terre Haute, Indiana, to pick up Mom and bring her back home for Christmas. We left early Tuesday morning for Pentoga Road and arrived in plenty of time to attend Grady's Christmas program in Iron Mountain.

What can I say? Mom seems ageless and Grady's a born performer.

He and his class enacted the poem, The Night Before Christmas.

I'm told that at that age, his daddy, Macrea, played the part of a sugar plum. Grady was one of the children "asleep in their beds."

Grady's on the far left

The program was short and a complete success. We enjoyed socializing after and were home fairly early.

I've spent most of today in the shop and with two more Christmas projects to complete, it appears I'll be out there right up to Christmas Eve. 

Sargie, Mom, and I, took a quick drive to town late this afternoon for groceries and Sargie's Coke.

It appears Ivy has talked to Santa. No doubt, she told him that she's been a good girl.

We visited earlier today via Facetime and to say that Ivy is excited for Christmas would be an understatement.

My young friend, Dr. Katie, sent a picture of her two sons, Cody and Graham. 

Katie has taken a leave from the medical field to stay home and be a full time mommy. I really respect her decision for putting her family first.

Sargie opens the Vision Center Friday and Saturday, then will be off three days for Christmas.

Mom and I will hang out here and I'll be in and out of the shop. First, however, I'll ride with Sargie down the road and walk back home. It seems my belly has the tendency to lead the rest of my body this time of the year. It couldn't have anything to do with all the Christmas goodies sitting around, could it?

Shhh, don't wake him. Hambone has visions of sugar plums dancing in his head.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...