Larry the Heavy Equipment Guy came Friday morning and what a difference he made!

August 1, 2020 - Saturday morning

53 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I hate these mornings, these early mornings, when I awaken and can't get back to sleep. It's 1:30 AM for cryin' out loud. I've slept for three hours and my body refuses to allow me to get more. I'll write for a while before once again climbing the stairs in an attempt to get a bit more shut eye.

I think one of the reasons I can't sleep is that I'm excited about working on the front lawn, the area in front of the garden that used to be a giant, boulder strewn, weed patch.

Larry the Heavy Equipment Guy arrived Friday morning driving a big ol' dump truck filled with the first of three loads of top soil.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how Larry was going to turn the rocky area where he'd spent several days working in June into a piece of ground that we hope would become a part of our front yard.

First, he spent over an hour scraping the surface, pulling the clay and rocks into a pile to be redistributed to the low areas. 

After, he began doing the same with the top soil, dumping one or two bucket's full, then pulling it back towards the middle with the skid steer.

Larry was almost finished when we decided that a third load would be warranted to complete the job. As long as so much time and money had been spent on this project, we wanted to do it right. Larry left and came back later with another load.

Half was spread on the yard. The other half was stockpiled at the edge of the woods and will be utilized next spring to refresh and expand the raised beds in the garden.

Larry continued to dump, scrape, push, and level. Almost six hours after he began, we called the job "good 'nuff."

I wasn't idle during the day. With Sargie off to Milligan Mountain to help prepare for today's wedding shower, I headed to the garden.

Yesterday's bounty included the first picking of carrots, more beets, and a few green beans. Our spring was so wet and cold that germination was poor. We're currently paying for the poor weather with a greatly reduced harvest. 

Friday's failure at producing a bowl bothered me. I don't mind setbacks, life's full of them, but as mentioned yesterday, everything I touched seemed to fall apart. 

I might have taken a tumble off the horse, but I was darn sure going to get back on and try again.

The wood spun easily and my chisels shaped it into a bowl with little trouble. In the end, it was sanded and detailed a patriotic red and blue before several coats of finish were added. 

I also buffed and polished the goblet that had been turned a couple of days ago.

I'm not sure what the problem was on Thursday, so I'll just chalk it off as being "one of those days."

Sargie had mowed Thursday evening. With all the rain we've had this month, the cuttings lay thick on the grass. I hooked the lawn sweeper behind the tractor and tidied up the yard a bit.

Yooper Brother Mark had texted saying the trailer was once again filled with wood. I asked him earlier if he knew where I could get a set of bed springs to drag in the new area of the yard behind the four wheeler. He said he didn't, but suggested I use a heavy pallet, one that he threw on the trailer at the plant.

The pallet worked perfectly, spreading the dirt evenly.

I needed more grass seed, a walk behind spreader, and straw to cover the seed. We left for Iron Mountain after Sargie arrived home.

One of our stops was at a self serve farm stand where we purchased two bales of straw.

 It makes me feel good that the honor system is still alive and well in Florence, Wisconsin, where demonstrations, destruction, and looting happen elsewhere. I stuck the money in a box, loaded the two bales of straw onto a tarp in the back of the Kia, and we drove on home.

I'm going to head back upstairs and see if I can salvage another couple hours of sleep. My mind is tired and hopefully, my body will follow.

Sargie will be up bright and early to assist in making the final preparations for Nikki's wedding shower later today.



I'll go for my walk first thing this morning then begin to rake the new yard in front of the garden. There's over sixty pounds of grass seed to sow with straw to be spread over that. Carl says there's a decent chance of rain later, so hopefully, my timing will be good.

Oh, yeah, there's also that trailer filled with wood to work up. No wonder I'm excited.

Yawn.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...