Westley, Emerson, Bennett
Glad to see Wes takes after his daddy

April 20, 2019 - Saturday morning

33 degrees/sunny/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Greetings from the shores of Lake Pentoga!

The water continues to rise and we can now do some serious river kayaking as well as paddling to the back of our property.

I'm seriously considering opening a duck B&B, a place where our feathered aquatic friends can pause overnight on their way north. 

I don't mind them swimming across the lake, but I'm resentful when they feel obligated to leave their residue on the drive or in the yard.

I took the following picture a few minutes ago and have a notion to go outside and tell the boy to clean up after himself. I don't appreciate stepping in duck droppings on my way to and from the mailbox.

Friday was filled with nonstop action on and off Pentoga Road. In fact, when I finally did come inside later in the afternoon, I plopped in my recliner and fell sound asleep.

The day began with a beautiful five mile walk. I know the theme keeps being repeated, but there's water everywhere that make the woods eerily beautiful.

I continue to be amazed at the amount of water running alongside and through the garden. It's now surrounded on two sides. The floor of the greenhouse is flooded and there's a stream flowing between the rows of the raised beds in the garden.

Back on dry land, I spent some time finishing the Easter gift. The base was cut, sanded, stained, and the figures attached, after which, several coats of poly were applied.

It was too nice of a day to spend in the shop. I lay out the 2x4's for the side wall of the garden shed on the barn floor.

Identical to the other wall that was constructed last week, this one went together much faster. I didn't have to convert centimeters to inches and feet or attempt to translate the plans. I simply took the measurements from the other wall and began building.

Three of the four walls are framed. Sargie and I will be going to Rhinelander tomorrow where I'll purchase several inexpensive windows for the back wall and depending on the price, I may include a small one on each side.

It was time to free the goldfish from the fifty gallon tote in the basement to the outside pond.

I lost four this winter, four more than died last year. It's one of the reasons I'm digging the garden pond larger and much deeper. Hopefully, with the aid of a bubbler, they'll be able to overwinter outside in the future.

It took a couple of trips, but the fish were soon relocated to the existing pond for the time being. They'll be moved again once the ground dries out and the excavation begins for their new home.



Fixing the windmill came next. The tail had broken off during one of this winter's storms.

Not wanting to carry the entire windmill to the barn, I performed some garden surgery and removed what was needed where it was.

It was a delicate procedure to weld the tail to the shaft. I don't have a welding table and the metal is light, cheap, and soft. 

I've always said that when it comes to welding, I could burn a hole in a Sherman tank. I experimented and finally got the right settings. The final result wasn't pretty, but effective.

A bit of grinding, some primer, and a dab of spray paint, and the fix was good as new.

Oh oh, when I took the shaft from the housing, the bearings fell out in a million pieces. Seems the winter was rougher on the windmill than originally thought.

I wanted to put it back together and get the thing out of the way.

What to do... what to do. In the end, I pulled a Little House on the Prairie. 

Lacking ball bearings, the pioneers packed the hubs on their covered wagons with rags and axle grease. Why wouldn't it work on a windmill?

I found an old rag and tore it into strips.

I then completely covered each strip with grease and began packing the housing.

Pa would have slapped me on the back and little Laura would have hugged me and told me it works just swell.

I'll replace the packed hubs with regular bearings later this summer, but for now, the windmill is fixed and happily whirling back in the garden.

We enjoyed the best of times last night with Yooper Brother Mark and Sheri while stuffing our bellies with fried fish. 

A full tummy after a hard day of projects meant I slept like a baby last night.

Sargie and I will be off to Iron Mountain for the annual Mighty Milligan Easter Celebration at nephew Garth and Courtney's, but first, I'm going to strap on the hikers and put in a quick three miles. As I keep saying during these beautiful days of spring, it's too nice to stay inside.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The frost heaves are hard on the drive.
It's an ongoing project to keep the pavement patched.