The name of the game on Wednesday was called
Dehydrate the Apples

October 24, 2019 - Thursday

32 degrees/clear/breezy

Pentoga Road

We're up and at 'em as Sargie works at the eye clinic today. I'm going for a five mile hike then head for the shop until it's time to leave for Florence. This afternoon, I'm the art teacher. Gulp.

Wednesday was a mixed bag of tricks. I spent much of the morning in the shop working on the Hutterite girl and boy, shaping each piece, carving in accents, etc.

The next step is to paint each piece. After, I'll be looking for an old scrap of aged wood on which to mount the couple. 

Sargie and I worked up and dehydrated two batches of apples yesterday.

Though they taste wonderful and are supposed to be "keepers" that store well into the winter, some are beginning to rot from the core out.

I talked with the music teacher at school a couple of weeks ago who said her Wolf River apples were the same. 

Too much rain? You may remember that our spaghetti squash and pumpkins rotted this year. It seems there's water everywhere, including too much inside our fruits and vegetables. 

It did make for a banner blueberry year.

We are processing the apples as quickly as possible to salvage as many as we can. The apples are so large, however, that it's difficult to use the machine that cores and peels at the same time.

Oh well, we'll get them finished, one way or the other.

Sargie and I took our usual drive. It was cold and windy and not a very nice day for too much other than sitting by the wood stove.

Once home, Sargie skimmed the leaves from the pond while I worked on the red four wheeler. It needs new tie rod ends, but I'm hoping to wait until next spring when it goes in for its annual tune up.

We took the four wheeler for a test drive to the neighbor's where I'll be cutting down a couple of dead ash trees.

The trees aren't that huge, but the problem lies in the fact that they are located alongside Pentoga Road. One will fall into the field with no problem. The other, a much larger one, is iffy at best. 

Either way, both are coming down this weekend.

Last night was a quiet one. Sargie works today and I drive to Florence this afternoon. We're both off tomorrow and other than the temperature being cold, it's to be a nice day.

Okay, time to get Sargie's breakfast ready and the day started. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie's trying to keep warm and thinking deep thoughts while I look at the ash trees.