The Crappie Queen (holding a nice large mouth bass) is back!
Now that the tourists have gone home following the 4th, we can call the lake our own again.

July 9, 2019 - Tuesday morning

61 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I was out of bed at 4 this morning to get all my early morning writing out of the way before heading to the pond. Once the sun hits that big hole in the ground, any labor, at best, can only be described as miserable.

I worked for almost four hours early Monday morning, mostly swinging a pick ax and/or shoveling loose dirt and rocks.

This mixture of hard gravel, rocks, and clay is why I use a pick ax.

 Other than one small section on the south side, the terraces are finished. The next step will be to use a rake to get rid of as many rocks as possible.

As Sargie says, I need to "spiff it up" a bit.

The liner and all that goes with it will be ordered at some point this week, then it will be a waiting game until the heavy rubber sheet arrives by freight. 

Jambo and his son in law, Pierre, stopped in for a quick visit and to drop off a jar of honeyberry jam.

Pierre

Jambo checked out the honeyberry crop and said there were enough to make another batch of jam. He and Pierre also visited the strawberry patch while they were here. 

I made a flying trip to town to pick up the fan belt for the tractor and drop off the trailer at Yooper Brother Mark's plant. Mechanic Dave and I were talking out in the staging area when triplet fawns casually walked by.

The DNR was afraid last winter's harsh weather might have put a dent in the deer population, but it appears that didn't happen. I think there about as many deer as mosquitoes in our area.

I made a quick attempt at putting the belt on the tractor and found that it's going to be more of a job than I originally anticipated. I parked the tractor under a big tree and it will truly be shade tree mechanics this afternoon. 

With Sargie's help, we measured the pond for the liner and underlayment.

Good grief, it was hot out there. The pond is roughly 28 feet across and with the terraces, we'll need one continuous sheet that measures 43' by 40'. 

I'm hoping to get six or eight people to help with the installation after it arrives, via general freight. Weighing hundreds of pounds, I'll have it delivered to Mark's plant and bring it home on the trailer.

All work and no play makes for a mighty long and tiring day. It was time to go fishing.

It was hot and sticky on the lake last night and fishing wasn't all that good. Still, Sargie caught a nice bass and several "eater" bluegills. In the end, we let them go, mostly because we still have several packages of fish fillets in the freezer and I was too tired and hot to clean them. 

There was a perpetual haze in the air yesterday caused by forest fires in Canada. Carl says a southerly wind will blow the smoke back north today.

It's getting light and I still have Sargie's lunch to pack before any outside work can begin. 

Time to get a move on.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...