A herd of deer greeted us at the edge of town Sunday afternoon.

March 31, 2019 - Sunday evening

28 degrees/partly cloudy/breezy

Pentoga Road

I'll be leaving early Monday morning for Florence Elementary so I'm writing tonight.

Sunday was a fairly busy one on Pentoga Road. I meant to begin the morning in the shop. First, I walked around the barn by the outdoor wood furnace. Look what sprouted from underneath the snow!

The splitting maul fell over by the wood furnace just before a large snowfall earlier this winter and was completely buried. I could never find it until this morning. 

Somewhere under the snow is a missing tine from the bucket on the Ford tractor. I used the metal detector this morning in an attempt to find the thing.

I was moving a heavy piece of machinery through the popple woods late last summer. Shortly after dropping the load, I discovered one tine was missing off the bucket and I never did find it. No amount of sweeping the coil back and forth over the snow helped. Guess I'll have to wait until the snow melts and try it again.

Back in the shop, I began work on the St. Bernard intarsia.

This big guy only has around fifty pieces in total, twenty less than the last two projects.

Sargie and I took a long afternoon drive, but we really didn't see much.

Snow squalls began just west of Iron River and increased in intensity throughout the afternoon.

We'd drive in near zero visibility then a few miles later, the sun would be shining. It was a pattern that was repeated throughout the afternoon.

Luke sent a few more pictures of Coleman during and after his New England Championship. They tell the story of a young man who's worked hard and his joy after.

 It's back to work tomorrow for both Sargie and me. I'll be filling in for the elementary librarian the next two days then will be off until Friday when I head back to the elementary school again.

It's time to think about packing tomorrow's lunches and getting ready for bed. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Not only did Coleman win the New England's on Saturday, his team won the Maine State Doubles Sunday.
It was a big weekend for my oldest grandson.

The best in New England!
Coleman wrestled his way to the top this past weekend.

March 31, 2019 - Sunday morning

14 degrees/clear skies/breezy

Pentoga Road

Again, a big congratulations goes out to my grandson, Coleman, for winning New England's Best, in his wrestling weight class. Coleman gets a lot of credit for all his hard work and practice, but that doesn't happen without a very dedicated set of parents. Luke and Melinda have put tens of thousands of miles on their vehicles and spent about that many hours carting both Abigail and Coleman to softball and/or track or wrestling or football practice. 

I'm not only proud of both the grandbabies, but equally as proud of their parents. 

Congratulations to all.

Coleman's big win was the highpoint of Saturday. Hundreds of miles to the west, on Pentoga Road, the sun finally peaked out, but the winds continued to howl with the thermometer dropping steadily throughout the morning hours.

I gave up any hope of playing outside and opted for a more common sense approach to life. After writing, I went back upstairs and crawled into bed beside Sargie.

My eyes popped open and I was completely confused. Seems I'd slept hard for over two hours. Sargie had been up for some time, taken her shower, and was ready for the day. 

Talk about a deep sleep. I wasn't even sure what day it was. As Mom says, "Guess I needed it." 

Whatever, it sure felt good.

We drove over to Iron Mountain in the afternoon, grabbed a pizza, filled the car with gas, and mosey'd our way back home. Sargie immediately pulled on her gloves and applied the first coat of poly to the new trim.

Not quite as ambitious, I carried in the night's supply of firewood then supervised Sargie from afar.

We later combined our kitchen skills and made a lemon poke cake. It's a lemon cake mix in which holes are poked with the handle of a wooden spoon. Over the entire thing is poured a can of sweetened condensed milk, then vanilla pudding is spread and poured into the previously poked holes. On top of that, a can of cherry pie filling is mixed with Cool Whip and spread over everything.

Good? Words can't describe it.

I've been successful in shedding a couple of my winter pounds this past week, but after last night's gluttony of pizza and cake, I'm sure I'm back to the Tommy Tubby stage.

Sargie and I are both working tomorrow. I'll be the elementary librarian for three days this coming week. Sargie reports back to the Vision Center bright and early in the morning.

I've turned on the heat in the shop and will head in that direction pretty soon. Other than applying a second coat of poly on the trim, I have no idea what Sargie has planned for the day. No doubt, we'll take our drive later and after, well, all I can say is, the world's the limit.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

S**t House Daisies growing last summer in Pentoga Village

For cryin' out loud, it's almost April!

March 30, 2019 - Saturday morning

27 degrees/snow showers/howling wind

Pentoga Road

Mother Nature sure decided to play a lousy trick on us today. The wind is howling, the snow falling sideways, and the temperature has dropped three degrees in the past hour. March came in like a lion and it appears it's going to depart in much the same manner. Thankfully, no accumulation is forecast and temperatures for this coming week are to be in the 40's. 

Typical Upper Peninsula springtime weather.

After a beautiful walk on Saturday, I returned and began sorting through the old living room windows, noting what might be salvaged and which will end up in the dump at some point.

Sargie wanted to go to town and find stain for the new interior trim to match the old. I cut a piece to use for comparisons and off we went.

Our friend, Peggy, is the head of the paint department at our local hardware store. I snagged her upon walking in and asked if she had any stain that might match the original. Peggy immediately set to work.

We counted fourteen cans that Peggy tested for the closest match. In the end, we chose Early American.

Back home, Sargie began staining the trim. I stripped the plastic covering that had been hurriedly stapled to the front of the solar heater last fall and began ripping two by fours to make new trim.

It took some (as Sargie says) ciphering and a bit of assistance from my bride, but slowly, the windows began fitting into place.

If it wasn't so muddy, I'd have used the pneumatic nail gun to fasten the panes. Since dragging the air hose through the muck wasn't an option, I decided screws would work just as well. 

Besides, I'm still a bit gun shy and like all my fingers just the way they are.

The windows required only a minimum amount of caulking.

In the end, the panes were installed and sealed. All that needs to be done is to paint the trim.

Sargie and I enjoyed a quiet Friday evening. In keeping with our complete opposite personalities, I went to bed fairly early while she opted to stay up awhile longer. 

It's the tortoise and the hare syndrome. I hop out of bed early in the mornings and am quick off the starting line, but tend to burn out fairly early in the evening. Sargie's a bit slower to rise, but can keep a steady pace going throughout the day and well into the night.    

She's the night owl, I'm the early bird. It all works and neither of us are complaining.

I'm not at all sure what's on the agenda for today. I really wanted to begin building the front wall panel of the garden house, but even working in the barn sounds cold and miserable. 

I could go for my walk, but again, I'm feeling delicate.

The shop?

I guess I could wake Sargie and ask her to go out ahead and turn on the heat so when I eventually make my way out there, it will be nice and cozy warm.

On the other hand, since I value my life, maybe I'll just throw another log on the fire, pour myself a third cup of coffee, and read the weekend paper online. 

That seems like the more sensible and safer thing to do.



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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Today's physic's quiz
Which side of the snowmobile faces south?

Look at that living room.
New windows, new trim, and a new rug

March 29, 2019 - Friday morning

15 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

What a difference twenty-four hours makes, but before I get into yesterday, let me get my priorities straight and play proud Grandpa P.

I wonder if Ivy's posing for Little Miss Snowmobile 2019?
Check out the princess skirt she's wearing under her winter coat.

Not quite as delicate and possibly posing for a remake of the movie Tommy Boy, is Westley. Looks like that trampoline could double as a giant playpen.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, I can talk about the new windows.

Wednesday went like clockwork. The contractors arrived mid morning and it's been a long time since I've witnessed as efficient and professional a crew.

Sargie and I had emptied the living room of all but the heaviest furniture Wednesday evening. 

The guys were really appreciative of our preparation and said they often have to do that before beginning work.

So the day began.

All the living room windows were finished before quitting late in the afternoon and they'll be back on Monday to replace the octagonal window at the top of the staircase.

The north and east windows received new inside trim and will be stained in the next few days.

All the windows received new aluminum outside trim making a huge difference in the appearance.

Not wanting to get in the way, Sargie and I took a leisurely drive to town. I was playing in the shop after when Sargie came in, picked up a broom, and helped me clean. 

Our real work began after the guys left. I thought we'd simply unfurl and lay the new rug before moving the furniture back in. Sargie had other ideas.

All the walls and floors were washed and scrubbed.

I'll have to say, I may be the long distance hiker in the family, but when it comes to real physical work, Sargie runs rings around me. 

I was about as tired last night as I've ever been.

With everything spic 'n span, the living room was finally put back into shape. 

It feels good. 

No, it feels darn good.

I'm going to hike to Pentoga Village and back in a few minutes. Sargie's still sleeping and I'll let her decide what's on the agenda for the rest of the day.

I think some of the old windows will fit on the front of the solar heater outside the shop. I may try to install those at some point. Think I'll purchase a couple of twelve-foot 2x4's while we're in town and get started on the front wall of the garden house. I sub three times next week and would like to take advantage of the time I'm home.

Whatever I do, it's time to get this day started.

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

So are the tales of Pentoga Road...

Thursday's sunset

Chef Jambo is fixing Wednesday morning's breakfast, pancakes and cups of hot coffee.

March 27, 2019 - Wednesday evening

49 degrees/cloudy/windy

Pentoga Road

This is Window Eve, the night before the new living room windows are to be installed. It's been a long slog since we decided to make a major home improvement late last summer. We've looked, shopped, researched, gotten estimates, talked, discussed, cussed, and I've been substitute teaching. Tomorrow, all that planning and hard work pays off.

Wednesday was a busy one. The walk this morning was particularly enjoyable as there was a welcoming committee to greet me as soon as I stepped out of the car.

Signs of spring are everywhere. I saw my first geese this morning. No doubt, there'll be hundreds of thousands following them north in the days to come.

Closer to home, I saw buckets hanging on several sugar maple trees. With the cold nights and warm days, the sap should really be running.

Once home, Neighbor Mike stopped by to invite me up for a breakfast of pancakes. 

I consider myself somewhat of a connoisuer when it comes to pancake flipping and was lucky enough to learn from the best, Dad. Brought up in the school of one-handed spatula flipping, the pan remains on the stove with all the action in the wrist. A delicate movement is required for a full-sized flapjack to land fully intact and bruise free.

As can be seen in the following photo, Jambo is a two handed flipper. It requires an extreme coordination between the pan and spatula. I'll give him a near perfect 9.8 for this morning's effort.

I returned home and noticed a small trickle of water running across the shop floor.

What the heck?  

Naturally, the only snow remaining on the upper strawberry bed was melting and running under the wall. It took a while, but I chipped and shoveled everything away.

I laid out the lumber and began assembling one end wall of the new garden house. I could hardly wait to use my new palm nailer, a pneumatic gismo that loads manually and shoots one nail at a time. 

I guess I shouldn't have been so eager because the very first nail went into the meat of my left index finger hitting bone, but thankfully, not breaking it.

Other than being red, bruised, and swollen, the finger doesn't appear any worse for the wear. 

Mama didn't have no dummy. I'll be sure to keep my digits or any other body parts clear of the nailer after this.

Next to be built will be the twelve foot front wall.  It will be much more difficult as the two front windows are curved at the top and a Dutch door in between. With the curved headers and frame around the windows, there'll be a goodly amount of shop work before any installation occurs.

The sun came out briefly. Since I was finished with the wall, I took advantage of the nice weather to grease the tractor.

There must be half a million grease fittings on the Ford 8N causing me to crawl over, under, and around, the old machine looking for each.

Sargie was home early this afternoon and we spent the rest of the day emptying the living room, blinds included.

The window contractors are to arrive around 8:30 Thursday morning. No doubt, Sargie and I will supervise from a distance.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

At one point Wednesday afternoon, it rained, hailed, and thundered, all at once.