One of my most favorite pictures ever.
Miss Jody and Mississippi Brother Garry's grandson, Evan, and his best friend, Presley.
Taken a few years ago, Evan (Monkey Boy) and Presley have remained best friends to this day.

August 25, 2019 - Sunday morning

44 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I absolutely love the picture. It captures the innocence of childhood, robbing Mama's sugar jar with which to make lemonade, grabbing a few lemons from the refrigerator crisper drawer, and two best friends, unencumbered by the politics and worries of the world. 

Pure innocence. 

Onto Pentoga Road...

Something not nearly as innocent was the hornet's nest that I just finished spraying.

For whatever reason, the stinging, flying, beasts, choose that corner of the back eave to build their nest almost every summer. I tend to ignore them, but Sargie seems to think that since we'll be having the annual Mighty Milligan Labor Day Gathering here next week, the hornets should go.

The new hornet and wasp foam spray that is commercially available is the greatest invention since sliced bread. I stood twenty feet away and sprayed until the nest was covered.

After doing battle at sunrise earlier this morning, this year's crop of hornets that called this hive home are a thing of the past.

In a different vein, but on an equally exciting note, Andy sent the first picture from Malabo, Equatorial Africa, yesterday. Taken from his hotel room, there's a volcano in the background.

Andy's on standby and ready to head out to his boat for a month of supervising the moving of a large oil rig. He's also been dodging the occasional lizard that goes scurrying past.

I asked what kind of television programming there was in Equatorial Africa. He replied there was only one channel in English, CNN, certainly not his favorite, and replied that he mostly watched Youtube. 

Andy also said, in passing, that human trafficking and prostitution seemed to be the biggest industries in Malabo, so he's not wandering very far away from his hotel. 

Simply put, he ain't in Kansas (or northern Maine) anymore.

A bit closer to home, Saturday was a busy one. Yooper Brother Mark pulled in the drive early Saturday morning and we immediately began attaching the plywood to the back roof of the garden house. Sheri came out a bit later in the morning.

Mark did most of the ground duties while I took a page out of Monkey Boy, Evan's, book and crawled around the roof.

Because of the steep roof, I reinforced Jambo's scaffolding a bit, screwed new plywood onto the top, then two by fours against which to place the base of the extension ladder. It, in turn, was leaned along the steep and slippery roof so I might gain footing without falling and breaking my neck.

The plywood was fastened, then felt paper, and finally, the metal pieces cut and permanently attached. I couldn't have done it without Mark's help.

With the back finished and covered with the metal roofing, I made the executive decision to call a halt to our labors. Several hours had passed and honestly, these old legs were shaking, the arms worn out, and after climbing up and down in the hot sun, I was fearful of making a stupid move, falling, and breaking my neck.

Sargie had made a great lunch of fresh vegetables and cold cuts and we enjoyed an hour of conversation before the folks left for another commitment. 

We'll finish the front roof next week.



Sargie and I took our usual afternoon ride around the countryside. Fall is definitely in the air. The sky is crisp and blue, hay season is winding down, and there's even an occasional red maple leaf showing in the trees.

This year's apple crop seems to be phenomenal. 

The UP is known for its vast wildlife, woods, and water, but it also has an uncanny amount of apple trees, many descended from old abandoned farmsteads.

Most are heirloom apples, those that have a real, old fashioned, apple flavor, not some hybridized, look-pretty, bland tasting variety.

Sargie and I checked on Jambo's camp last night and found a deer enjoying his bumper apple crop. 

Seems apples and deer are everywhere this time of the year.

Sargie's sleeping in. I'm going to install the last of the conventional windows in the garden house this morning and hope to begin putting on the OSB (particle board) wall covering. If the wind stays down and temperatures warm up a bit, possibly we'll go fishing this afternoon.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

As long as we are traveling the world, from the UP to Mississippi, to Malobo, Africa, we might has well make a stop in Paris. My friends, Norriene and Jim, sent this picture. They were sipping wine with the glass framing the Eiffel Tower at sunset.