Taken from high atop the living room roof on Pentoga Road

February 17, 2019 - Sunday evening

14 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Once again, it's been an action-packed day in more ways than one.

I was out the door early, building a fire in the wood furnace. After half an hour of reading and answering emails, I went to the shop for the morning.

I needed to match a color for Chief the Dog, the orange/brown hue that most Rottweilers sport on their muzzle and around their face.

I knew I didn't have anything that would come close to matching in my collection of acrylic paints. It was time to mix. 

Over half an hour was spent combining various combinations of brown, orange, and yellow. 

Finally, I came out with a Rottweiler orange/brown.

Other than his tongue, Chief the Dog was painted. 



I tried repeatedly to match a light pinkish hue for the pup's tongue. Nothing seemed to work. 

It was time for a break.

I walked around the side of the barn to feed the wood furnace when I saw the flames. The stove and duct work were on fire.

Using snow, it didn't take long to put out the flames. The only thing really hurt were three fingers that received a burn or two.

That's duct tape melded to my fingers.

After everything cooled down, I found the cause of the fire. Even though I put a piece of metal between the flue and insulation that surrounds the duct work, the paper on the insulation ignited. Thankfully, since insulation doesn't burn, the paper was the only thing flammable. 

I need to find a noncombustible spacer to go between the flue and duct.

I'm grateful the hardwood removed from the pallets didn't catch fire.

When I installed the duct work last fall, I placed an extra metal barrier between the stove and barn wall should anything happen like what did today. 

I'm glad I did.

It was time to start shoveling the living room roof. Not only was snow piled high, but there was a good sized drift stretching from one side to the other. 

Looking up, I peered in the upstairs bedroom window and saw Sargie cleaning the inside window sills.

The girl must not have realized she was missing out on all the fun, outside and shoveling the roof where the real action was!



Sargie and I took our usual afternoon drive. The sky was overcast and it wasn't nearly as ideal for taking pictures as Saturday.



While driving by a farm, we noticed a flock of wild turkeys taking advantage of the farmer's hay shed.


Back home, Sargie, who has a much better eye for art and color than I, offered to help mix and match colors for Chief the Dog's tongue. 




It took her about five minutes to find the right combination of colors. Chief's tongue is officially painted.



Monday looks to be a repeat of the last two days. I'm going to walk to Pentoga Village first thing in the morning. After, I want to start assembling the dog's head. With any luck, it'll be finished in the morning. 

Then there's the front porch roof that's piled high with snow. I hope to scrape it clean before day's end.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The snow's deep enough that the extension ladder stood on its own.