Time to pick our Concord grapes

September 10, 2020 - Thursday

33 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

There's frost on the pumpkin this morning. No, I mean, literally, there's frost on the pumpkin.

Yesterday's rainfall amounted to three quarters of an inch. The next precipitation is forecast to fall on Saturday, just in time for Taylor and Nikki's lakeside wedding. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it stays away, at least long enough for the vows to be exchanged and the pictures taken.

I squeezed in Wednesday morning's walk before the rain began. It looked dark and threatening when I left home and had just stepped back in the house when the skies opened. 

Most the morning and early afternoon was spent cutting and fitting foam board insulation in the garden house.

It's coming, albeit slow. Since the foam boards were used before the fire at Yooper Brother Mark's plant, all are chipped on the edges causing me to square each before cutting to fit between the studs. It's a process, slow and tedious, but not difficult.

I'd noticed the door on the garden house wasn't closing correctly. Portable and sitting on two treated 6x6 beams, the building has settled somewhat. I hunted down Dad's old plane and shaved enough off the trim so the door closes once again.

I found a Wolf River apple under the tree alongside the pond. It was the right size and certainly red enough. The big question was, was it ripe?

NOT EVEN CLOSE!

The Wolf River is a winter apple and requires a much longer season, right into cold weather, to turn the starch into sugar. Actually, it's more suited as a cooking/pie variety. When Sargie and I tried eating yesterday's find, both of us puckered up as if biting into a lemon. Last year, we dehydrated most of the winter apples and they were absolutely delicious. 

I played in the shop for a couple of hours Wednesday afternoon, working on variations of a new font for making names. I also began sawing a segmented Halloween piece.



I was gathering firewood for last night's fire in the wood stove when I happened to look overhead. The butt of a small limb was poking through the roof of the portable garage.



You know what I'll be doing today. I've also discovered another weak area in the roof of the red shed, so that's also on Thursday's agenda. If there's any time left after, I'll be back in the garden house.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road... 

My prediction is for a bad winter.
My trap line in the shop produced doubles the night before last. Despite using bait blocks around the house and barn, there seems to be no shortage of mice this year. Thankfully, they're staying out of the house, but the barn is a different story. I'm about half tempted to get a couple of barn cats, if such a creature still exists.