May 19, 2021 - Wednesday morning

58 degrees/light rain/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I see four tenths of an inch of water is sitting in the rain gauge that wasn't there last night when we went to bed. 

Good! 

We're so dry, but thankfully, the forecast is calling for occasional rain and storms over the next several days.

Arriving home from my Tuesday morning walk, I met with Carly, the forester from the Conservation District, who stopped by to see what kind of invasive vine is growing up several of our trees. She thinks it's the Mile a Minute vine, one that can be eradicated, but will contact me later this week with the next steps. Thankfully, it's in just one isolated area, so we'll be dealing with that in the days to come.

Carly left and I thought I'd use the time between then and the time we left for Iron Mountain to seal the deck. I'd pressure washed it the day before.

Ready to begin, I noticed some rot behind the steps. Two hours later, the damage had been repaired and the deck leveled by about two inches.

The heaving frost from the past two years has not been kind. If it was just the deck that was uneven, fixing it would be fairly simple. Unfortunately, it's the footings on which the deck sits that have shifted. 

I managed to fix the rot and use a jack underneath to insert spacers to make everything seem level. As long as no one comes along and puts a level on it, we should be in good shape.

Far from perfect, both the steps and deck passed the Sargie test. 

I used a roller to apply two huge cans of Thompson's Water Seal. 

The wood soaked it up like a dry sponge. Not planning to be here next spring, I wanted to ensure that the decking was thoroughly treated.

It was soon time to drive to Iron Mountain and our mechanic's appointment. Rather than wait at the shop, Sargie and I began walking around the downtown area and visited a local hardware store, a greenhouse, and lady's notion's shop.

Having two new tires replaced, a third with a slow leak fixed, and a front end alignment, it all took under an hour. We left Iron Mountain poorer, but happy, with our newly renovated Kia. 

With rain in the forecast, we wanted to empty the six barrels full of wood shavings in the garden aisles before it began. Sargie and I spent the rest of the afternoon laying landscape cloth and spreading shavings.

The garden paths are more than half finished. Another day or two of nice weather should see us ready to actually begin gardening.

I found two old giant pumpkin seeds stored away in the air tight can used to store any garden/flower seeds that are leftover. Both are several years old. Not thinking either would actually be viable, I planted each in a pot to see what might happen. Sure enough, one is actually sprouting.

Oh no, not a giant pumpkin year. Growing one is much like having a pet. It requires twice a day feeding with constant maintenance. 

Still...

Assuming the seed continues to grow, it appears I'll be attempting to grow one this year. The last giant pumpkin I raised grew to over 600 pounds. 

We'll see.

OK, Vince the Plumber is due to arrive at 8:30 this morning. It's time to go for my walk. Randomly kicking on for no reason,Vince seems to think the pressure switch on our water pump is faulty. As he said, "No big deal."

Yeah, we'll find out how big a deal it really is. Every time Vince steps foot in our house it costs me money.

Time to get the day started.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...