Three of our babies, Em, Ben, and Wes

November 7, 2019 - Thursday

16 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Jess and Matt had a series of family pictures taken recently and I can't resist sharing them. Though we rarely get to see my side of the family (they're all on the East Coast) our hearts still overflow with each picture. What sweethearts.

Only one word is needed to describe the current global warming that is forecast to continue indefinitely.

COLD!

Taken at 4:00 PM Wednesday afternoon

Even with the temperatures running fifteen to twenty degrees BELOW normal, I was surprised how quickly the ice formed during the day on Wednesday.

It began with a skim on the pond in the morning.

As much as he likes to swim, I doubt Hambone would want to take a quick dip these days.

Then proceeded to form some more serious ice during the day.

I tried talking Sargie into walking to the edge of the open water and taking the polar bear plunge, but my urging fell on deaf ears. 

For being a true native of the UP, my bride can be a bit of a girly girl at times.

I worked out in the shop for a couple of hours hand crafting only a few pieces of the chipmunk piece. It's the most intricate work I've done so far, mostly because of the light cord, bulbs, etc.

In looking at the following picture, it sure doesn't seem as though I accomplished much.
 

We'd heard a scraping on the metal roof earlier in the morning. As much as we'd talked about trimming a few branches on the large spruce tree by the house this past summer, time had gotten away from us. 

Why we picked the coldest, windiest, snowiest, day of the year to trim a tree is beyond me. None the less, we did. 

While I was up high sawing, Sargie dragged the limbs to the burn pile.

At one point, I was on the metal porch roof, reaching over the void between the tree and the house, when my feet began sliding.

After taking a twelve foot plunge last winter while shoveling the snow from the pole barn, I'm a bit gun shy... 'er, roof shy... and admit that I had to check my drawers afterwards.

Thankfully, I caught myself and made it safely to the ground. The tree is trimmed.

We decided to celebrate and warm up by driving to town and getting an ice cold Coke. Actually, we had a few errands to run and stopped by the plant to see Yooper Brother Mark.

Poor Mark is manning the office by himself these days while his assistant, Ann, is on vacation. We made plans for the four of us to go out for a fish fry Friday night.

Sargie's working today. I'm going to head outside pretty soon and start a fire in the outside furnace. I'd like to work on the chipmunk this morning and do some turning this afternoon.

After all that work, I'll probably have to take a break in the recliner and close my eyes. Being the kindergarten cop on Friday at Florence Elementary, I'll need all the rest I can get.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Suspended eleven and a half feet down, the goldfish should be in a hibernation-like state until next spring. The pump is drawing the warmer water upwards and the current should keep ice from completely forming over the surface all winter long. At least that is the plan.