Why not? A little dessert on date night.

June 13, 2020 - Saturday morning

33 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It appears there's frost on the pumpkin this morning. Darn it anyway, June 13 and we're fighting cold weather. Tonight's to be even colder before temperatures return to a more seasonal norm. Until then, we'll cover and uncover, cover and uncover, then cover and uncover our plants time and time again.

Speaking of plants and gardens, my sister, Barb, sent a couple of pictures. Living in central Indiana, the mecca of good weather for gardening, they have about five thousand raised beds, maybe a million, and freeze or can about everything they grow.

There's more black dirt in those raised beds than we have covering our entire forty two acres

We, who live in the arctic, have to play by a different set of rules when it comes to gardening. I love where we live, but when it comes to horticulture, the central Midwest is a prime growing area. 

Nice garden, B'ann!

After taking my walk on Friday morning, I returned home to test drive our new vacuum, one used to remove some of the residue from the sides and bottom of the pond.

Refurbished and at less than half the price of a new one, I thought it might be worth a try. The battery alone costs as much as I paid for the entire vacuum, so hey, why not?

Attached to the pole used with the skimmer, it worked well and removed quite a bit of crud left by last fall's rotting leaves. I'm pleased.

Eugene is keeping a watchful eye(s) on the new fangled intruder into his pond

Hambone was up and around by the time I arrived home from my walk. I found him and Grandma Sargie in the kitchen making pancakes.

Nothing will do but homemade maple syrup, gobs of real butter, and whipped cream with sprinkles for that boy.

Hambone finally made his way out the garden where he helped me cut asparagus. 

Note the life jacket
It's a firm and fast rule that unless one of us is directly with him, Hambone has to wear the life preserver anytime he's in the garden/pond area. Most the time he forgets he's wearing it.

The harvest, probably the last for the season, was a good one.

I had an appointment with Eric the Dentist Friday afternoon to have the tooth filled that had the root canal performed on it last December. A crown will replace the tooth sometime in the future, but for now, a good, old fashioned, filling will suffice.

With Sargie's help, we covered the delicate plants before leaving for Iron Mountain to have supper with Mel and Macrea and make the Hambone exchange.

Sargie spread frost blankets on the flowers and beds while I spent time in the garden doing the same with buckets, styrofoam glasses, ice cream pails, and anything else that might provide protection.

Dinner last night at the Mexican restaurant was just okay. It's usually pretty good, but I'm thinking the chef needs to go back to school and bone up on his skills after the long layoff due to the virus.

We did have a bit of fun while waiting for our food. Hambone and I had a contest. Who could bite into a lemon and not make a face? You might enjoy the following video.

Hambone and Pawpaw's lemon eating contest

We handed Hambone off to his mama and daddy after dinner and made our way back to Pentoga Road, but not before stopping in Florence, Wisconsin, for some delicious, homemade, ice cream. It was the perfect ending to great week.

We stopped by Jambo's to check that his garden was protected for the cold night ahead. 

I was in bed last night when the phone rang. It was Brother Elmer, calling from the arctic. We had the most delightful half hour conversation, talking of grandchildren, old times, and how good it was to once again touch base with each other. You'd never know so many years had passed since the old Inupiaq Eskimo and this old white guy had been apart. Seems we picked up last night right where we left off so long ago.

It seemed eerily quiet last night, but ah, it was peaceful. I don't believe Grandma Sargie had any trouble sleeping and I know, for sure, Pawpaw slept like a rock.

Today is siding day on Pentoga Road. Mark and Tim, both, said they are stopping over to assist with the siding of the garden house. I'm going to skip my usual walk and begin gathering what tools we need to make all that happen.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Deer grazing in Jambo's meadow alongside his drive