Let 'er rain
After a dry spring, we'll take every drop

May 27, 2020 - Wednesday morning

67 degrees/partly cloudy/breezy

Pentoga Road

Carl says this is going to be our last eighty degree day for a while. I see tomorrow's high reaches 70, then we're back in the 50's for a few days. No matter, this spell of hot, humid, and wet, weather has really kick started the garden. Some seeds are germinating so fast that it sounds like God is making a batch of popcorn in the garden.

OK, that's a lie, but it was there for free.

Way off the subject here, but before I forget:

I was asked how I select the Alaska random picture of the day. Easy. I copy and paste a fistful of them from one of my external hard drives. None are labeled. They are only known by digital names, i.e. 1234.jpg. I simply let the computer pick one each day and whatever is selected is what makes the blog. 

Hambone and I took off for the garden Tuesday morning while Sargie attended a funeral. Hot? Lord, it was hot.

A "bug bobber." Grady found that inside a swollen stem of a weed lives a small white worm. When I was a boy, Dad and I used to gather those and use the worm for ice fishing bait.

 While Hambone was doing his thing around the pond (and let's face it, at six years of age, when there's a pond involved, there are always things to do) I began moving small piles of dirt and rocks left over from digging the pond.

Two large groups of peonies were moved from in front of the garden to alongside the garden house.

Larry the Heavy Equipment Guy will be here in June to remove the boulders and rocks between the garden and road. We didn't want the peonies to be destroyed.

Hot? Man oh man, it was hot and humid. Hambone and I had to take frequent breaks and jump in the water to cool off. 

While digging the pond last year, I often questioned my sanity, if all the labor, time, and money spent digging a large hole was worthwhile.

Seeing Hambone splash and play and so busy both in and around the water, the answer became clear. It was all worth it, each and every minute.

The storms moved in and with them, the much needed rain. Sargie and Hambone were occupied in the kitchen, making cherry pie/bars. Grady had another lesson in measuring and even learned how to operate a handheld mixer.

I took the opportunity to enjoy some solitary big boy time and sneaked out to the shop with the new air purifier that had been delivered.

It took awhile, but the heavy unit was finally suspended from the ceiling. I hung it several feet in back of the lathe where most the sanding in the shop occurs.

I ran in the house for something or the other and found Hambone vacuuming the floors. Grandma Sargie was smiling from ear to ear. She said that she'd been running the sweeper when Grady walked up from behind and took over. 

Seeing how clean the rug was, I'd say he did an excellent job!

Back out in the shop, I searched for a suitable piece of wood from which to make a handle for the froe that Mississippi Brother Garry gave me.

Used to make fine splits in wood, the froe is a very old tool not commonly seen anymore.

I thought I'd turn a piece of hickory to use as a handle, but with rain pouring down and the hickory stored down by the storage container, I opted for a much closer limb from the dead apple tree that was removed a week ago.

There's still a bit of turning left for the handle to fit before the froe is ready to use.

I also carried a large burl into the shop between rain showers. Ron had given it to me last weekend while we were attending the Memorial Day family gathering.

Today is to be a carbon copy of Tuesday in the weather department, hot and humid in the morning, rain and storms this afternoon. I'm heading out the door pretty quickly for my morning walk then will begin laying down edging between the gravel and wood chips in the garden. I can picture myself standing in front of the lathe this afternoon if the promised storms arrive.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Today's random Alaska picture: the entire student population of the Thorne Bay (K-12) School. I was leading an all school singalong and we were waiting for the remainder of the classes to arrive.

Thorne Bay is located on the very remote Prince of Wales Island in SE Alaska and attainable by only boat or float plane.

One of the best students during my entire forty two year teaching career is currently the principal. Joanna's made her old professor very proud indeed.