Any vestiges of Indian Summer that we might have over the past few days left with yesterday's mix of wintery weather

November 22, 2019 - Friday morning

22 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's sure nice sitting here this morning by the wood stove, coffee beside me, computer on my lap. This is the most enjoyable time of the day for me. It's quiet, dark, and for a few minutes, the day belongs to me and me alone.

I resent when anything or anyone imposes on my time, such as work or an early morning call from a junk telemarketer. 

There are few moments in a day when one can be completely at peace. The dark, early morning hours are mine. They belong to just God and me.

I like that. I like that a lot.

I received a call from my sister, Barb, yesterday saying Mom had been admitted to the ICU unit . Seems she was non responsive and they had a difficult time waking her Thursday morning. Mom eventually woke up in the ICU unit and wondered how she'd gotten there.

In talking with Barb last night, it seems Mom is doing okay. Her blood pressure is bouncing all over the place, but she's awake, alert, and the last I knew, Mama was entertaining the male nurse who was working the night shift and assigned to her bedside. 

That's my mom!

The majority of Thursday was spent in the shop. I needed to make a present and decided on a small welcome sign.

What to use as a background? I am running low on the really good laminated wood that is used for segmented work and besides, I just needed something on which to mount the pieces.

I found a piece of 3/4 inch plywood that seemed to be in fairly good shape. It was left over from the floor in the garden house. 

One thing that Mississippi Brother Garry has taught me over the years is to never waste a piece of wood that might be used in a future project. 

I cut and sanded the plywood and became satisfied with the way it looked. Even the grain seemed to cooperate!

Next came finding lumber from which to cut the figures and letters. I went to the red wood shed and found some scrap 1x6 pine material.

To quote Garry, "GOOD 'NUFF!"

I used spray adhesive to fix the patterns to the wood.

 
The sawing began shortly after the adhesive dried.




Earlier, I'd turned on the television, more for background noise than anything else, and started listening/watching The Sands of Iwo Jima starring John Wayne. 

Just one problem. The mirror on my desk where the scroll saw sits was caked with saw dust. Since the tv is directly behind me on the wall, I  occasionally glance into the mirrow and watch the program by looking at the reflection. It was time to clean the surface. 

John Wayne waits for no man.

I couldn't help but think how our country has gone downhill in the years since the movie was made in the late 40's; the patriotism, the pride of America. It makes me so sad. 

I never thought I'd see the day when believing in God and being patriotic would be frowned upon and disrespecting what past and present generations of soldiers have fought for would be considered a bad thing.

The America that our grandchildren will grow up in is certainly different than the one I knew as a child and still believe in. As Mom and others often say, I'm glad I'm the age I am now. The way our country is headed, I'd hate to see what the future holds for America.

I happened to glance out the window and noticed the rain had changed to snow. Huge flakes were floating down making Pentoga Road look like a snow globe. It was beautiful.

Mid afternoon had arrived before I finished sawing and sanding the pieces to go on the sign. Initially, I thought maybe I'd begin painting, but decided to quit for the day. 

I know me. When I become tired, bored, or my eyes begin to grow weary, my work becomes sloppy. Besides, I'd done enough.



We'd received just under an inch of rain over the previous twenty four hours, enough that I hoped the ground would be somewhat soft, soft enough to pull the rutabagas grown for this year's Mighty Milligan Thanksgiving Feast. I headed to the garden pushing the wheelbarrow.

This year wasn't the bumper crop that is normally harvested, but there are enough "baggies" for Thanksgiving. We'll eat hearty.

  

Sargie was home late in the afternoon saying she'd had a good day at work.

My favorite optician in the world sure loves her new job, the people she works with, the doctors, the schedule, and the lack of miles she has to drive to get there and back home.

Last evening was a lazy one. Dressed in our nighttime jammies, we sat by the wood stove soaking up the wonderful heat and listened to the wind howl while watching tv.

The rain that fell would have been ten inches of snow had it been a few degrees colder.

I'm going to begin painting the pieces for the sign first thing this morning and hope to get it finished today. Otherwise, I'll let Sargie call the shots. No doubt, we'll go for our drive and after that, the world's the limit.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

I noticed someone had left me a love note when I walked in from the barn last night.
JM? Who's JM?
Now you know. My bride's real first name, the person everyone knows as Sargie, is really....
JANET!