April 30, 2019 - Tuesday
35 degrees/cloudy/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Unless you'd want to see pictures of dull, wet, soggy, everything, there aren't any photos today.

Boy, talk about good timing, I sure lucked out for subbing these past two days. Yesterday never saw forty degrees and it rained and snowed from sunup to sundown. Had I not been in school, I'd have probably spent the day holed up in the recliner by the wood stove staring at the tv, drool dripping off my chin.

The twelve first graders I'm in charge of are a good bunch of munchkins. They're active, love to learn, are active, love to sing, are active, have brains like little sponges that soak up everything, are active, want to help, are active....

Naw, it's not that bad. I laugh at their individual personalities and I often try to imagine what each will be like in ten years when they are juniors and seniors in high school, then twenty years from now as adults. 

I do think that if I were young and thinking about becoming an educator, I'd give the younger elementary grades a real shot. My entire public school experience was spent with mostly junior high and high school students. I don't regret those years in the least, but I can see the rewards that are reaped while working with mini munchkins. 

I was asked the other day how I could work with such little ones after being a professor and working with not only undergrad, but mostly graduate students. My answer:

The only real difference between the two is that twenty and thirty year old's don't ask to go potty nearly as much and are usually more adept at tying their shoes. Otherwise, they're about the same.

I was home yesterday by mid afternoon and decided to forgo my usual walk. The wind and rain didn't look favorable for a leisurely stroll, so I opted to remain inside and feed wood into the stove. Sargie was home soon after and we had a nice, quiet, evening.

My bride is off until Friday, but I'll be out the door pretty soon for another adventure-packed day in the land of bobkitties. I know we have math workshop this morning which means that if we're forced to count past ten, I may have to take off my shoes and socks and include the piggies in today's lesson. 

Reading and writing, spelling and language, are my strong suits, but when it comes to arithmetic, I'm grateful to have all ten fingers and ten toes.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Grandson Cody won this year's first mountain bike race in his category, ages 7 to 11. 

April 28, 2019 - Sunday evening

49 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Since I'll be out of the house first thing in the morning, I thought I'd better write tonight. 

Today's been a mellow, laid back, Sunday, complete with an afternoon nap. We left mid morning to meet Macrea and make the Hambone exchange.

Sargie and I took our time coming home and made stops at several different area lakes.

The lake above is one of our favorite bluegill haunts. Though the ice is gone, it will be several weeks before the fishing becomes active.

The day was a lazy one. Following a good nap, I fiddled around with the rear wall in the garden house and am ready to make the openings for the windows later this week.

Sargie and I took a wonderful three mile late afternoon walk to our local lake. The sun was bright and the temperature was close to sixty degrees.



There's one last little chunk of snow and ice around the lake. Hopefully, we won't see any more until late next fall.



Monday, Tuesday, and Friday of this coming week will see me in the first grade classroom. I enjoy the twelve munchkins and certainly won't be bored.

Sargie opens the Vision Center tomorrow and we'll both be out of the house bright and early.

Meanwhile, it's time to get tomorrow's lunches packed and things ready for a busy week.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

It must be spring. The pussy willows are out cattin' around!

April 28, 2019 - Sunday morning

20 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'm not a huge lover of kitty cats, but after a long, cold, hard, winter, those pussy willows are a sight for sore eyes.

I was hiking yesterday morning when the phone rang. It was Macrea, asking if Hambone could stay here for the weekend. 

Heck yeah. Grady's to the age now where he's not only my shadow, but wants to know, learn, and imitate, everything I'm doing. Almost five years old, his brain is like a sponge and soaks up everything he sees.

I had been working on the garden house wall before leaving to meet Macrea and make the exchange. 

I went ahead and built the wall in the conventional manner with the studs sixteen inch on center. Since I'm improvising with the windows, it was easier for me to simply lay the windows out to get a perspective of where they'll be mounted, than to try to plan it all ahead of time.

Old living room windows plus the new single hung purchased last week. Now to make them symmetrical.

I'm a visual rather than calculating kind of guy. Of course, Grady wanted to help. Thankfully, he was content to get his hammer off the work bench, retrieve exactly five nails from the bucket, and sort through the scrap lumber box in search of materials worthy of his construction skills. (We KNOW there're exactly five nails and keep track of each so one doesn't end up in a tire.)

The junior carpenter wanted to make an airplane and decided to nail a propellor to the bottom of an old cracked bowl that I messed up on the lathe.

Don't bite that tongue off Hambone

Hambone learned one of the first lessons of hammering. NEVER hit your thumb. He not only did it once, he clobbered the thing twice. I'm proud of the boy. He could have cried, whined, and carried on, but his injuries only doubled his resolve to continue work.

We decided to take a break and clean the drive and garage floor using the leaf blower. Again, with little hands wanting to help, I made Hambone Captain of the Head, the person in charge of cleaning the drive.

 He did a pretty good job for a little guy. The last time he used the leaf blower, two years ago, it blew him backwards and right over onto his bummers.

(For you non nautical people, the bathroom on a boat is referred to as "the head".)

The end of the porch still needed lattice attached. I discovered The Bone doesn't read a tape measure now any better than he did when we built the front steps. He's good a reading numbers, but wanting to show off his prowess at counting, didn't stop until he reached a hundred.

None-the-less, the lattice was measured, cut, and properly attached. It's another job we can check off this springtime list.

Sargie arrived home early with a big pizza. We spent the evening watching a couple of Disney movies and pigging out. Having lost six pounds in the past month, I'll reboot the diet today.

Grady loves playing math games on my computer. Initially, he required my assistance, but has quickly learned he no longer needs Pawpaw's assistance.

Like most munchkins, he'd be at the computer continually rather than playing outside or doing something that requires physical energy and exercise. Knowing that, we limit his computer time to half an hour in the evenings. 

Speaking of energy, no visit would be complete without a session of The Flash vs. Pawpaw the Claw.

As usual, The Flash won and good triumphed over evil.

The weather is to change with rain and snow in the forecast for most the week. I don't regret signing up to sub for Monday and Tuesday, filling in for the first grade teacher, It's one of my favorite age groups of munchkins. 

Hmm, Grandma Sargie and The Flash are still sound asleep. I think I'll strap on my hikers and make a quick dash to Pentoga Village and back. I never did hear from my buddy about the putting poly film on his greenhouse. 

No doubt, Grandma Sargie will have ideas about what we ought to do today and since Sargie, Hambone, and Pawpaw all have to work and go to school tomorrow, there'll be an exchange somewhere along the way.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Lake Pentoga's brimming at its banks

April 26, 2019 - Friday evening

43 degrees/clear skies/windy

Pentoga Road

The ground may be drying, but much of the property remains underwater. Since the water table is so high here in the valley, I don't look for the water level to go down anytime soon.

This has been a day where Sargie and I have done a bit of everything. With the thermometer registering a good twenty degrees colder than twenty-four hours earlier, I headed out the door bright and early to rake the leaves off the strawberry patch.

The bed has three tiers. The closer the tiers are to the barn, the more advanced the growth of the strawberries.



The top tier nearest the south facing wall is at least two weeks ahead of the bottom where the plants are furthest away. Regardless, it appears most the plants made it through the long, cold, winter and should produce a decent crop this year.

Sargie needed a prescription so she used Doctor on Demand, via the internet, for a quick video appointment.

Amazing how modern technology can now bring the doctor's office into our living room. The cost is a fraction of what an appointment in a conventional office would be.

Sargie and I took our usual drive around the area and saw that most of the lakes are breaking up. If the wind continues, they could be completely ice free in the next twenty four hours.

Sargie and I should be fishing within a few weeks. It can't come soon enough. 

We observed the first of the springtime wildflowers are beginning to bloom.

Back home, with Sargie's help, I got the little blue four wheeler started for the year.

She towed me onto the road where the old ATV fired to life. It's run great since.

We also put the snowblower away for the season and got out the riding mower. 

I'll be taking the mower to the dealer's this next week for it's annual tune up and oil change.

Sargie outdid herself tonight by preparing jumbo shrimp, sautéed in butter. 

Those, along with baked potatoes made for a great meal.

Sargie opens the Vision Center Saturday morning.

Every year at this time, Sargie heaves a few big rocks at the ice just to see how rotten it really is. 

I'll go for my usual walk then play the rest of the day by ear. I've got a friend with whom I've been teaching, who is beginning a retail garden bedding plant business near here. I told him I'd help stretch poly film on his greenhouse tomorrow if the wind subsides. Otherwise, I'm planning on building the last garden house wall. No matter what, Saturday looks to be a busy day.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The ice is rotten and close to going out

April 25, 2019 - Thursday evening

54 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Darn that Carl the Weatherman anyway. After two nice days with highs in the 60's and drying conditions, Carl's saying our weather's going to turn cold and blustery with winds out of the northwest. 

Carl's been known to tell the occasional fib when it comes to forecasting the weather. We'll hope he's telling one now.

I rode with Sargie this morning partway down the road and walked back home. It was with particular pleasure that I met our new new neighbors, Sam, her baby girl, and Moose the dog. 

Sam and her husband bought the old Clark place which lies behind us about a mile. Mama and baby were out for a morning stroll.

More signs of spring are sprouting. It's nice to see some greenery mixed in with the brown undergrowth.

Once home, I tackled the sagging back deck problem. Thankfully, it appears that the supports upon which the middle of the deck sits have sunk, a fairly easy fix.

I was going to use a jack to make the supports  level, but Yooper Brother Mark reminded me that there's still frost in the ground and the deck very well could right itself.

He's right. I'll wait a few more days and see what happens.

I noticed the boat trailer had fallen off its stand and the bow was just a foot or two off the ground. With all the rain and melting snow of the past few weeks, the boat was filled with water.

In my much younger days, I became somewhat of an expert when it came to siphoning gasoline. Water/gasoline. Tomatoes/tamawtoes. It all requires the same skill. It wasn't long before the boat was emptied and the trailer set back upright.

I spent the afternoon in the garden just fiddling around. The rocks were removed from the waterfalls. 

They're in a pile elsewhere in the garden, well out of the way, and will be used again once the new garden pond is dug and operational.

I began emptying one of the raised beds of dirt. There are four, possibly five, that will have to be moved to make room for the new pond and garden house. 

This whole garden project is going to take most of the summer. My plan now is to have everything finished by Labor Day.

Sargie was home early tonight and we've had a typical quiet evening.

My bride is off tomorrow. I think I'll take my early morning walk then rake the foot of leaves that have covered the strawberry plants all winter. Showing green, it's time they see daylight. Other than that, I'll either shovel dirt from the raised beds in the garden or work on the garden house wall in the barn. No doubt, we'll go for our usual drive and get Sargie's Coke.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Thursday's sunset

Wednesday was insulate the foundation/install new lattice day. Sargie's hard at work removing the old lattice.

April 25, 2019 - Thursday morning

50 degrees/partly cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I think Sargie and I, both, could have used more sleep this morning. She opens the Vision Center, so we're both up, bright and early.

After Wednesday morning's walk to Pentoga Village and back, Sargie and I began working on the front of the house.  I'll say this, it was a major undertaking and one we're glad to have finished.

After attempting to slide under the porch, I found there simply wasn't enough room to work on the far end of the foundation. 

 

Once I found a method, removing a couple of boards every few feet wasn't difficult, it just took time. Sargie and I had our own hammers and crow bars and we set to work.

I was shocked at what was found directly beneath the kitchen. There was an area of open space where the only thing between the outside and kitchen was the interior wall. The ninety-nine year old house had shifted creating a haven for mice and cold air.

It's no wonder we had a gale blowing through the front of the house every time the wind blew out of the northwest. 

We began removing boards every few feet.

Next came filling any and every gap with either liquid foam, insulation batting, or styrofoam. In some cases, all three were used.

I was able to install some of the foam board from above. It's a special insulation made especially for foundations and I was quite impressed with it's density. It even looked decent.

 I'd measure what was needed, go to the barn, mark it out, and finally cut the piece on the bandsaw. 

 

I'd done all I could from above. It was time to go underneath and work from that angle.



Sargie worked just as hard or harder than I did all day. While I was under the porch, she was reinstalling the boards that had been earlier removed. If she wasn't doing that, my bride was removing the old lattice or handing me tools from above.

It was late afternoon before the last of the insulation was installed. Time to begin on the lattice.

We measured then measured some more. The posts were off center just enough that it made installation more difficult than it should have been.

We improvised and between Sargie and me, made it all work. The first pieces were finally attached.

Then more.

And before we knew it, the porch was finished. Insulated and latticed, that's one big job we can cross off our list.

We were almost gleeful last night as we watched the old lattice burn. I imagine we'd have done a dance of joy had we not been so tired.

Needless to say, neither one of us had any difficulty sleeping last night.

Too bad spray foam doesn't stick to wood and concrete as well as it adheres to human skin. I had it on my hands, clothes, and in my hair.

As I mentioned earlier, Sargie opens this morning. I'm going for my usual walk then begin cleaning up the mess we made yesterday. I notice the back deck has developed a definite sag towards the front so that should be investigated. Otherwise, there's the last wall of the garden house that needs to be built and a shop that could use my attention.

The unmelted snow/ice was almost our undoing. Sargie slipped once and fell heavily onto her hip. I later slipped and took a nosedive. For a brief moment, I thought I might have broken my wrist in an attempt to stop my fall. Thankfully, the only injury was to my delicate ego.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...