Ann's husband, Gary, sharing an English muffin with a wild piebald deer that calls their yard her home.

November 12, 2015 - Thursday
44 degrees/cloudy/light rain
Pentoga Road

I almost skipped writing this morning. Wednesday was a ho hum day and there's only so many ways one can describe vacuuming the seats and carpet of an SUV, or hauling an old snowmobile into the barn in an attempt to squeeze another year's worth of use out of the thing.

I arrived home from Iron Mountain around noon on Wednesday. Thinking we were taking the Blazer to Indiana this weekend, I went to the Jiffy Lube place for a quickie oil change. Half the Upper Peninsula was in line before me. I pulled in, sat for thirty seconds, then pulled out. The Blazer wasn't really due for an oil change for another 600 miles, but thought it was better to be safe than sorry. That idea was nixed and I came on home.

So time was spent cleaning and vacuuming, making the Blazer pretty on the inside...  well as pretty as a 1997 SUV with lots of miles can look. 



I next turned my attentions to one of two old snowmobiles that have been sitting in back of the barn. I need one or the other to run this winter, simply to haul my ice shack around on the lake. The first one I towed to the barn used to run, but when I removed the first spark plug and witnessed water running out the hole, I knew I might be in trouble. I think that machine is going to require more than a squirt of starting fluid in each hole and a pull on the rope.

I towed that snowmobile back to it's original place and on a whim, attempted to start the second machine, one that hasn't run in two years. It sputtered to life on the first pull then died shortly after. It was threatening rain and I didn't want to do my simple shade tree mechanics outside, so I postponed any major mechanical surgery until next week. I'll bring it in the barn and see if I can eek some life out of the thing, at least enough for another year.



So that was my day. Pretty lackadaisical. I really wanted to invent home fission or fusion, but I ran out of daylight. That'll have to wait for another time.

I talked with my sister yesterday afternoon and she recommended we not attempt to bring home Dad's boat this trip. My brother-in-law recently had a knee or five replaced and he's not been able to prepare the trailer for a fairly long road trip. So, with that being said, we fell back on Plan B and will take the Kia, which gets roughly twice the mileage per gallon of gas than the Blazer.  

We're planning on leaving Friday afternoon and since Sargie's behind the wheel, I'll let her decide how far we go until we stop for the night. The plan now is to arrive at Mom's sometime Saturday afternoon in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Brutus will be staying at his favorite kennel, the one that allows him to run and play with other boarded puppies. I think it's a canine social thing and he absolutely loves it.  After being glued to a boring old man day after day, I completely understand. 

Sargie's off today. I know she wants me to vacuum and clean the Kia in readiness for the drive. She also mentioned something about cleaning the house and doing laundry... and in the same breath, mentioned how much easier it is when two people work together rather than one. I was hoping to play in the shop, but I'm not certain that's going to happen. Sargie has other plans.

After all, man's work is never done.

So are tales from Pentoga Road...

November 11, 2015 - Wednesday - Veterans Day

26 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Happy Veterans Day to all who are or have served. To Dad, Mr. Milligan, Josh, and Andy... thank you. God bless America. 

Tuesday was another busy one and somewhat frustrating on Pentoga Road. I intended to cut down a dead tree and work up the fire wood. 

Chain saw - check

Four wheeler - check

Splitting maul - check

tow strap - check

bulldog - check

I chugged out into the woods, getting in deeper and deeper and drove to where I thought the tree should be. What tree? I walked and drove all over God's green North Country and spent almost two hours searching for that darn gray birch. I had my nose up against every tree on the north side looking at the bark... to no avail.

I've been frustrated, but this almost put me over the edge. It's a good thing I no longer drink or I'd have been content to sit on the forest floor and chug a case of cheap beer.

To make matters worse, I started back and found I wasn't sure in which direction to go. I called Brutus to take me home, but just when I needed his trained guiding abilities, he was no where to be found. 

I whistled and yelled and though it took him a few minutes, in true Brutus form, he came galloping from far away. The pup may not know a red light from a green one, but in the woods, he's a hundred percent accurate and brought me out of the deep woods. 

I gave up on finding the tree. It had obviously taken up its roots and relocated. I did stumble into a couple of smaller ones that were dead and unlimbered the chain saw and cut both.

I was dragging a limb, glancing behind me, when I almost ran into another tree. I swore before looking at it closely, up and down, round and round, felt and smelled the thing, and discovered it was the one I'd been searching for all along. Ah, those sneaky trees. They can run, but they can't hide. By morning's end, I cut more wood than I'd planned on harvesting. It took a while, but all was cut, split, and put away for the coming winter months.

The sun was bright, the temperature warm. It was time to finish washing the living room windows.

I took out a storm window and look what came with it... thousands and millions of dead lady bugs. We had a huge hatch a couple of weeks ago and they obviously found a seam under where the air conditioner had been sitting. Needless to say, the lady bugs have vacated.

Washing windows was another frustrating experience. Up and down the ladder. Up and down and up and down up and down. I couldn't see good enough to tell what was dirty and what wasn't, then if the spot was on my side or the other. I finally quit. There was an evil part of me that felt like throwing the full bottle of Windex through the windows and calling it a day.

To add insult to injury, I was sitting on the back steps of the deck, extolling the injustices of life to Brutus. I had one arm wrapped around his neck when he suddenly turned his head to, no doubt, lick my face and knocked my glasses to the ground. To make matters worse, he stood and before I could find the glasses, stepped on them. They are delicate wire rims and I bent the frames back the best I could.

What to do when feeling frustrated? Well, Mom lives too far away to rock me, Sargie was working, and I'm too big to lay in the corner and suck my thumb. What makes Tommy P feel better? Fishing of course!

Since the boat and its accessories had been stored away for the winter, I grabbed a kayak, threw it in the Blazer, and was soon at the lake. 

Fishing was slow, although I did catch a northern that dragged me all over the lake. I snapped a quick picture and turned him loose. Hopefully, we'll see him again in another month to six weeks when ice fishing begins.

I had to leave to get to Iron Mountain before dark so I can have the Blazer serviced today. We leave for Mom's, who lives in Indiana, Friday afternoon. Sargie's off Thursday. The only time to have the oil changed is today.

I sprinted through the shower and arrived in Iron Mountain just as the sun was setting. The oncoming car lights emitted a glare that made driving almost impossible. If I'm going to continue to meet Sargie once a week and ride back with her, I'm going to have to leave much earlier in the day. 

While at the Vision Center, I asked my favorite optician in the world, the one who always makes me feel better, if she might fix my glasses. Within minutes, they were good as new.

We spent last evening watching the Republican debates and were in bed soon after.

Oh sure. We've had the nicest fall weather and just when we want to go to Mom's, this forecast comes out:

We'll make it, one way or the other. Oh yes, by all that is holy, we will make it.

Sargie and I will be heading back to Iron Mountain after while. I'm going to get the oil changed in the Blazer then cruise back home. I think I'll spend the day doing something I really enjoy, like working in the shop and listening to music. For darn sure, I'm not going to go deep into the woods looking for trees or wash any windows. No doubt, there's a grandpa nap on the horizon for this afternoon.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Monday afternoon was spent on the roof cleaning the flue.

November 10, 2015 - Tuesday

28 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Whew, I'm running late this morning. I had difficulty getting comfortable last night and no matter which way I lay, my back hurt. It's unusual for me to sleep until the alarm sounds, but that's what happened this morning.

Monday's high of 65 was too good to let go to waste. Rather than go into blow-by-blow detail of Monday's activities, I'll simply let the pictures tell the story:

I spent much of the morning arranging and rearranging the barn so everything easily fit and there was a good aisle to get to the shop. 

The backhoe drew the short straw and will spend the winter wrapped in tarps out of doors.

My basketball days are finished for the year. The water was drained from the base and the goal moved to the barn.

Another bale of cedar shavings was added inside Brutus's house, the heat lamp affixed, some caulking and other winterizing done.

Half of the living room windows were washed. The rest will be done today.

Cleaning the flue was the biggest project of the day. I was up and down the ladder several times, but in the end, it was scrubbed and made ready for another season of heavy use.

Before

I tied a garbage bag onto the bottom of the flue to catch the suet. 

After

When it became too dark to work outside, I moved into the shop and resumed cutting out letters for the sign.

It was a tired boy who came inside last night. Sargie had to work late and I was contented to take a shower and eat leftovers while watching Dancing With the Stars.

Sargie opens today which means we should have an evening together. It's to be another nice day and I hope to finish washing the windows then cut down and work up that last hardwood tree I've been talking about for the last week. Water needs to be blown out of the high pressure washer before it can freeze and I have to move the wooden swing from the back porch and put away the three Adirondack chairs. 

It's time to get breakfast and pack Sargie's lunch. There's no time to think deep thoughts this morning!

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Go ahead and try to take that rawhide bone from him. See how far you get.

Granddaughter, Emerson, singing Frere Jacques in French. Em's mommy, Jessica, is French and bilingual. Unfortunately, it appears Emerson has the same abilities for singing in French as her daddy and grandpa.

November 9, 2015 - Monday

32 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's another beautiful day dawning outside my window this morning. Highs are forecast to reach into the mid fifties with light winds and plentiful sunshine. It doesn't get any better than this.

One of our local lakes. Taken during Sunday afternoon's drive.

Sunday began with working out in the shop. I cut a few more letters out of pine. All will need to be sanded before painting and mounting them on the sign.

I watched the first half of the Packers game. Whew... it wasn't pretty. We took our usual drive immediately after and arrived home in time to see the end of the game. The boys are going to have to shape up or it'll be a long off-season ahead.

With Sargie's help, we moved the rest of the root crop vegetables, geraniums, and other plants, down the basement to overwinter. Everything is put away and we're ready for whatever the next few months have in store.

We've got a pesky mouse down the basement that seems impervious to conventional traps so, following Yooper Brother Mark's instructions, I made a newer version of the "Bucket of Death." This one involves putting slits into a mounted paper grocery sack and baiting the ends with peanut butter. The mouse skidaddles up a ramp, onto the paper, and falls through the slits into the the water below, there to meet his demise.

We had a quiet evening last night munching popcorn and watching television. I think all the fresh air of the day might have done us in as the tv was turned off at 9 and after doing our usual nightly before-bed activities, climbed the steps. Neither of us seemed to have difficulty sleeping.

Sargie closes tonight. I'm going to play in the shop or outside all day. I want to take the backhoe out of the barn and put the tractor in. There are still a couple of posts to be replaced on the deer fence, one last hard wood tree to be cut and worked up, and of course, the sign to work on. So much to do, so little of me.

But then as everyone knows, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

A friend of Mark's sent him this picture of a wolf caught on a trail camera. It appears that a coyote had dragged a deer carcass through the area an hour and a half earlier. (See the picture at the bottom.)

November 8, 2015 - Sunday
23 degrees/clear/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Even though it's barely out of the teens, the air feels fifty degrees warmer this morning than yesterday. The high only reached 37 degrees on Saturday and was accompanied by strong winds, cloudy skies, and an occasional snow flurry. We'll take this beautiful sunshine.

I began Saturday morning in the shop and noticed upon entering that it was colder in the shop than in the barn. With my hands outstretched, I began feeling around and finally, after getting onto my hands and knees, discovered that cold air was pouring back into the shop from the solar heater mounted on the outside. I don't know why I didn't think of such a thing happening earlier. Cold air sinks, hot air rises. Duh on me.



I found a piece of styrofoam insulation and cut out plugs on the jig saw to fit inside the pipes. The cheap fix worked great.

When the sun's not shining, the plugs go in the intake pipes

Yooper Brother Mark was heading to their camp to retrieve the memory card from his trail camera and spread some more corn as deer bait.

Reminds me of the old camp up in the big woods of northern Maine where the sons and I spent so much time.

I drove to town, then rode with Mark to the camp, where we took his side-by-side ATV deep into the woods. 





Other than being cold and windy, it was a great outing and as usual, we got caught up on the news of the world... or at least in each other's lives.

Sheri (second from left) received recognition on Saturday afternoon honoring her for all the hours she's spent volunteering at our local museum.

I returned home and resumed working in the shop where I began cutting out letters with the jig saw, sometimes switching to the band saw, for the new sign. 



I also put up another light in the shop over that particular work area. Seems as though there is never enough light for whatever close up work I'm doing anymore. Even the magnifiers aren't as effective as they once were. This getting older/macular degeneration thing isn't for sissies... or those with little patience.



I worked up enough wood to use for the next day or two and after playing fetch with Brutus, came inside around dark.

After a shower, I plunked a big ol' pork steak on the grill and enjoyed that for supper along with a winter squash swimming in butter, salt, and brown sugar. I know darn well there are some food groups in there somewhere.



Sargie arrived home late from her charity event and said she had a good time. Her decorated sunflower bra sold for $65 and she said the event had raised thousands for breast cancer research. 

Sargie's finally off today. I have no idea what we'll do, but other than watching the Packer's game at noon, I'll leave the rest up to her. I hope she's able to sleep in. The girl has been burning the candle on both ends this past week.

I think I'll go work out in the shop for a while. I hooked up a different propane heater yesterday that REALLY warms it up, but had to keep the door partially open so the heater doesn't deplete all the oxygen. I ran the thing on high for about twenty minutes, then adjusted it to the lowest setting and was comfortable the entire time. 



I see the sun is now hitting the solar heater. Time to crank it up for the day and take advantage of all that free heat.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

This looks like a coyote carrying a deer carcass.

St. Yooper Brother Mark repairing the overhead door opener in the barn

November 7, 2015 - Saturday
30 degrees/partly cloudy/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Though it was cloudy, cold, and windy, Friday morning, I felt like I'd been shot out of a cannon and was ready to rock and roll. Where's all that energy on a daily basis... like this morning? I felt like I was twenty-five again and could conquer the world and was well satisfied with my accomplishments by day's end.

My morning trip to town was productive. The $8 master cylinder gasket purchased from the auto parts store turned out to be exactly what was needed to return the brakes like new on the Blazer. I had to go to the grocery store after getting the gasket, so I changed it in the parking lot, a thirty-second, under-the-hood fix.

The brakes were pumped a few times and suddenly, there they were. 

The rest of the morning and part of the afternoon was spent cleaning the shop and barn, also hanging laundry out on the line.



I'd like to catch the bugger who sneaks into the shop and makes a mess when I'm not around. It must be Mississippi Brother Garry who is sneaking up here late at night using my shop, then not cleaning up after. After all, my mama and daddy taught me to never leave a mess. I wish I would have listened. 

Mark came out later in the afternoon and took apart the opener for the barn door. It was as he thought, a plastic gear that had shredded.



I didn't realize those things could be fixed and replaced. I ordered a kit online for $28. As Mark said, it sure beats spending $200 for a new opener.

The last big project of the day was to change the wheels on the backhoe, winterize it, and tow it into the barn. 

No, I didn't break it. To be towed, the wheels and stabilizers must be moved to opposite places. It only looks bad. The bucket is used to lift first one side, then the other.

I was hoping there'd be room for both four wheelers, the mower, the Blazer, the backhoe, and the tractor under one roof, but I'm going to have to make a decision... either the backhoe or the tractor will have to sit outside for the winter, wrapped in a tarp to protect it from the weather. I think the tractor will be put in the barn and the backhoe moved out. According to the serial numbers on the little Ford 8N, the tractor and I were manufactured in June of 1952. We're the same age and as such, it deserves a place under cover.



Sargie didn't get home until later last night. There's always someone who wanders into the Vision Center just as she's about to leave and demands her attention. We went into town and grabbed a burger for supper then came back home for a short evening together before bedtime.

It's another long one for Sargie today. She works then will attend the Bras for a Cause cancer fund raiser this evening. Sister-in-law, Debbie (Milligan of course) is interviewed in this television news clipping:
http://uppermichiganssource.com/news/local/bras-for-a-cause-fundraiser-event-coming-up

I've got to go into town this morning and pick up a couple of loaves of bread that were ordered yesterday. Other than that, I'll be in the shop busily working away, no doubt, reinventing the wheel. Hey, it's just the way I roll.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...