Elise and a very proud Grandpa Jambo
The love story continues...

June 21, 2019 - Friday morning

52 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

You know, suddenly, I'm finding a continuous stream of beautiful girls featured on the blog. There have been pictures of my gorgeous granddaughters, more of Aria, cutie pie Isabella, and now Elise.

I've don't mean to brag, but one thing is obvious.

When it comes to the opposite gender, ages four and under, I'm a babe magnet. What can I say? 

Quincy, and Elise are best buds

Elise's Mom, Amelia Bedelia, has been down to their camp for a quick stay. It was good to see my young friend, the girl who calls me Uncle Tom. It's a name I wear with love.



Jambo and I got right down to work Thursday morning erecting the portable garage.

Weighing almost 150 lbs, it was much easier to use the tractor to unload the garage than abusing our old backs

Jambo was duly sworn in as Chairman of the Construction Committee.

Now wait a minute... Part A2 connects to C4? That just doesn't make any sense.

I knew we were in trouble when he asked if there was a basement to the garage.

Actually, it wasn't difficult to build. Under Jambo's guidance, the frame was assembled in well under an hour.

Since the garage is back in the woods, well out of the wind, securing the cover wasn't difficult.

It took just two and a half hours to build the "garage in a box." Since everything that required four hands was finished, I sent Jambo home to enjoy his family and granddaughter.

Amelia, Germaine, and Elise, stopped by later in the day so Auntie Sargie could get her baby and snuggling fix.

It was back to the garage for me where I spent the rest of the day securely anchoring it to the ground and tightening things up. 

All the joints were secured with self tapping screws and several pieces of long re-rod were used as stakes so the structure won't blow away in the future. I'm tempted to pound a few steel fence posts into the ground and fasten the frame to those. I'd rather be overly cautious than have to chase that garage all over the North Woods.



Sargie worked in and around the house all day, including taking the mower over the front and back yards to (as she says) "spiff the place up."

Our friends, Mike and Cosmo, are coming over this evening for pizza and to further advise me on the pond. Hopefully, I'll receive the thumbs up to measure and order the underlayment and liner. If not, I'll continue digging to their specifications. 

As Cosmo originally told me and I keep having to remind myself, this whole pond thing is a process. Problem is, I'm growing tired of processing the pond. I want some lights, cameras, action! I'd like to see water, water falls, fish, pavers, park benches, the garden house completed, and to realize my biggest dream, being able to put my garden back together before snow flies next fall.

Well, whining's not going to get that pond finished. It's time to get to busy.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Welcome to the world, Aria!
Born to Sasha and Alex on June 6th, 2019

June 20, 2019 - Thursday morning

56 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Sasha sent some pictures of Aria yesterday, so I thought I'd get them uploaded before they get away. Talk about a cutie pie, check these out.

Obviously, she's already thinking deep thoughts.
Hmm, a professor in the making?

The Mighty Milligan clan continues to grow!

Yesterday was a busy one. Sargie spent no small amount of time making some great kitchen magic for my birthday. 

She started with my favorite breakfast, fried taters, four fried eggs, a steak, and toast with peanut butter and jelly.

Yup, I ate it all. I may be inching upwards in years, but I still have the appetite of teenager. 

Sargie also made barbecued ribs, baked taters, and all the fixings for supper. As with the breakfast, it was to-die-for good. Thanks Honey.

Not finished, my bride also baked the best carrot cake with added raisins (my favorite), lots of frosting, and coconut. Life couldn't get any better than it was yesterday.

Seems cooking and baking weren't the only things Sargie was doing in the kitchen. Someone was enjoying watermelon too.

Thanks to those who sent cards. I enjoyed and read them all. 

Sargie took good care of me in the gift department as well.

I thought sure there'd be toy trains and tractors in the boxes.

I noticed a message on one of the boxes as I was unwrapping my gifts. 

Sargie either knows or is related to about everyone in the UP, including the UPS man. They've known each other and  have been friends via the Vision Center for years.

Among other goodies, my bride got me an Air Punch Nailer 700. What is that, you ask?

It counter sinks nails as well as punches them out of a board from the opposite side if one wishes to remove a nail. I'll use it when wanting to sink nail heads lower than the surface of a board, but doubt I'll need it to remove a mistaken nail since I seldom make mistakes. 

Ahem... yeah, sure. I think the new tool will be one of the most used items I own.

I worked for much of the day on the pond and I THINK the heavy digging is done, at least I hope so.

The terraces were completed and most the dirt removed. Now comes the hard part, raking, shaping, and removing the rocks by hand.

With Sargie's help, I cleared the area where the new portable garage will be erected later today.

I was moving the ice shack out of the way with the tractor. Whoops.

There was some quality construction that went into building that shack. Andy and I built it years ago to last. Nary a scratch or broken board occurred during it's fall from the bucket.

Yooper Brother Mark and Isabella stopped out and shared birthday cake and ice cream with us.

Thank goodness Isabella came along at just the right time. I don't know if I could have blown out those candles all by myself.

We also had time to play Super Hero. I don't remember who Isabella got to be, but as always, I was the old nemesis, PawPaw the Claw... or in Isabella's case, Uncle Tom the Claw.

 Boy, there sure is a big difference between little boy super heroes and little girl super heroes, although Isabella managed to get her licks in.

In the end, PawPaw the Claw went down to defeat and justice was restored the world over. When I asked why I never got to win, I was told that EVERYONE knows that super heroes always come out on top.

Duh on Uncle Tom.

Taking a more gentle approach, Auntie Sargie taught Isabella how to text and send pictures, especially to Mommy.

 From the looks of my messages this morning, they must have sent them to my entire address book. 

Sorry 'bout that.

I'm going to get this uploaded then head up to Jambo's. He volunteered to help put up the portable garage. Much more talented in the art of construction than I am, I think I'll take him up on that offer. According to Andy, who put one up by himself on a windy day, it's not difficult.

Yeah, that's easy for him to say.

Other than that, I'll work on the pond and let Sargie set the agenda.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Making my birthday cake
Sargie may be smiling, but underneath she's thinking
GET THAT CAMERA OUT OF MY FACE.

June 19, 2019 - Wednesday morning
52 degrees/clear skies/breezy
Pentoga Road

I looked at my phone a bit ago and noticed that I received the best birthday gift any grandpa could want. Emerson, Bennet, and Westley, all integral parts of the Munchkin Chorale, warbling their little hearts out.

Thanks, babies. I love you too.

So what does one do on his birthday? I lay in bed this morning thinking on those of the far past, back when Mom and Dad used to parade into my bedroom while I feigned sleep. Dad would sit on the side of my bed and roll me onto his lap while Mom gave me the mandatory birthday spanking. 

I pretended it hurt between giggles while wondering the real question. What did they get me for my birthday?

Dad's long departed, Mom's five hundred miles away, and Sargie's still asleep in these early morning hours. Times, they have changed.

Tuesday was a busy one in Title Town. We drove from one store to the other purchasing household goods and needed groceries.

You KNOW you're in the Dairy State of Wisconsin when you park across from a cow disguised as a pickup truck

We hoped to find a close out/discount on bedding plants, flowers mostly, but soon discovered that even at clearance prices, flowers are still ridiculously high priced. This is the first year in many that I didn't start our's from seed. I plan for it to be the last. This business of purchasing flowers is a pricey proposition.



I was shocked at the lack of activity in the Green Bay mall. It wasn't that many years ago that even during midweek, it was filled with shoppers.



I told Sargie that I wouldn't be surprised if it's completely closed down in a few short years. 

Leaving the mall and driving onto a local farm store, Sargie asked me to step into a screen house display. I thought she was going to join me, you know, maybe do a bit of screen house cuddling, some pre-birthday hoopla. 

Yeah, that didn't happen. 

Sargie reached up and locked the door, then walked away. 

So the day went. We dashed from one store to the other between driving downpours. Thankfully, the rain skipped the UP and remained to the south.

The last stop of the day was at Harbor Freight where we purchased a "garage in a box." Sargie and I will be erecting that later today or tomorrow. 



If you see blue smoke coming out of the northern skies, don't be concerned. It'll be me, muttering under my breath as we try to connect Part A with Part B.

After I snapped this photo, both clerks, a couple of sour pusses, turned around and gave me a dirty look. I smiled and winked, saying I was trying to capture their better sides.

It was well into the evening before we arrived home and got the car unloaded. We watched a bit of tv and enjoyed a snack or two before making that long, steep, arduous, climb up the steps to bed.

Today. Well, today will be like most other's. I'm going to go make a carved name in the shop before heading to the pond. (Note how it's suddenly called a "pond," rather than a hole in the ground?) There's an hour, possibly two, of backhoe digging to do and the heavy work will be finished. 

After, I want to bring the backhoe up to the north side of the barn and carve out a level place for the portable garage. Sargie's off for the next few days and I'd like to get that garage erected while she's here to help. 

So with all that, it's time to get this show on the 

road.

With the rooster standing guard, Sargie's irises are in full bloom

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road... 

Let me out, Sargie! I promise I'll behave.

Tired of seeing dirt pictures?
Me too!

June 18, 2019 - Tuesday morning

59 degrees/partly cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

These blogs are getting easier to write. Dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt... oops, I forgot, rocks rocks rocks rocks, more dirt, a boulder here and there.

Hmm, is that a run on sentence above? 

My life has been reduced down to digging and dirt. The stuff has to be pried out from under my finger and toenails (and yes, Mom, I'm wearing my shoes and socks) on a daily basis and no amount of scrubbing can erase the stain the clay leaves.

I decided to forgo removing the boulder. After crawling over ten feet down into the hole, oops, I mean the bottom of the pond, with shovel in hand, I dug and dug some more around the monster.

 After an hour, it became obvious that 1) it could be moved in some fashion or the other, and 2) doing so might be flirting with committing suicide. The boulder has officially become part of the pond. 

The DNR (Dept of Natural Resources) would refer to the over sized rock as structure and part of the natural fish habitat. Why would I move it? We all know that a structured goldfish is a happy goldfish. 

So the day continued. Dirt dirt dirt rocks rocks rocks. 

I developed a severe case of Clutch Leg after spending several hours on the Ford tractor moving mountainous piles of dirt, some so tall that I noticed a change in the weather patterns. 

For those I've never personally met, I'll be easily recognizable. I'm the guy whose left leg will be about ten times larger than his right. The rest of my old body may be baggy and saggy, but my left leg can only be described as (as the kids say) buff.

If only the rest of my body would follow suit.

I finally quit last evening. After a good shower and steak sandwich, keeping my eyes open while waiting for Sargie to arrive home was a real battle. My favorite optician had a good day in the Vision Center and said they were so busy that the time flew by.

We're off to Green Bay later this morning for a day of... gulp... shopping. l'm unsure whether we'll spend the night or simply come home later this evening. I'm guessing it all depends on the number of clearance tables Sargie finds and bargains she's unable to live without. 

I'll leave those executive decisions up to her. My specialty is playing in the dirt, not shopping.

Time to get ready for a day of sitting in the middle of the mall with the other old guys, all waiting for their wives to finish shopping. No doubt the Packers will be cussed and discussed and by day's end, I'll have the inside scoop on this upcoming season.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Look at that terrace. Too bad it will be covered by six feet of water. All that beauty, form, and style going unappreciated. Sometime's life is simply not fair.

Happy Anniversary, Sargie!

June 17, 2019 - Monday morning

45 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

They say God gives us exactly what we need when we need it. He sure does.

It was eight years ago that I lost my glasses while riding the four wheeler back home from Yooper Brother Mark's. It was the end of the summer and almost time to fly back to Alaska. In a blind panic, (pun intended) I drove to the Vision Center in Iron Mountain hoping to purchase an inexpensive pair of glasses. 

I walked in and there she was. The last thing I wanted or needed in the world was to become involved in another relationship. My track record, for one reason or the other, hadn't been exactly stellar to that point. 

That beautiful woman wearing the white lab coat would hardly make eye contact. Later, I asked her to email me and maybe, we could have lunch or supper sometime. She looked down, smiled, and gave no reply. Though disappointed, I shrugged my shoulders and resumed looking forward to a solitary senior life of travel and adventures.

It was a week or two later when I walked by the Vision Center at closing time. There she was. God, she was beautiful. What I noticed most were those beautiful eyes.

I walked in and stuttering, said something about how I happened to be in town and wondered if she wanted to get a bite to eat. Summoning her courage, she stood silently, weighing her options for what seemed an eternity, then finally said that she usually got a Coke after work every night at McDonalds and guessed she could meet me there.

I did an internal dance of joy and told her I'd be waiting at Mickey D's. 

It was important I go on ahead as I didn't want her to see me in my only vehicle at the time, the old Man Truck. With fenders falling off and featuring a rust decor, the old wood's relic wasn't a good first impression maker.

She eventually pulled into the parking lot. I met her at the door and ushered her inside. She ordered her usual, a Coke. I had a hot fudge sundae. 

We talked and did the careful verbal dance of getting to know each other. Trying to be suave and debonaire, I managed to slop half a sundae down the front of my shirt. 

She didn't excuse herself and leave after. We both shrugged it off and laughed. Hmm, my kind of girl.

The mystery woman whom everyone called Sarge remained a mystery for several weeks. We'd meet at a neutral location for each date, spend an afternoon together, but that was it. I had her phone number, but other than pointing in a general direction to the east, had no idea where she lived.

Time went by and I flew back to Alaska. We kept in touch daily and when I flew back in October to close up the house on Pentoga Road, there she was at the airport, honestly, the most beautiful woman I'd ever met and to this day, have ever, seen. 

The rest is history. Both of us were just emerging from some very hurtful pasts and though we trusted each other, were wary of any longterm, final, relationship. We both wanted one, we simply were fearful of ruining what we'd developed, a true and loving friendship.

Six years went by and with that time, we became certain that neither of us wanted to ever live without the other for the rest of our lives. Yooper Brother Mark began asking when we'd tie the knot, but it was Mom who made it final.

We had previously decided to give her a huge 90th birthday party. One of the things Mom had previously mentioned was that she hoped Sargie and I would get married someday while she was still living. What better gift for Mom's birthday? She wanted it. She got it.

Not wanting to take the thunder from Mom's celebration, nor wanting any gifts, we waited until the last minute of the day before Mark asked everyone to stick around for just one more minute.

And there, by our garden on Pentoga Road, my beloved Sargie and I were married. With Yooper Brother Mark officiating and friends and family surrounding us, we sealed our union.

Maybe it's luck, perhaps fate or the alignment of the planets, but I prefer to think that it was God, He who felt sorry for a couple of aging and hurting souls, He who brought us together and joined us.

Today, Sargie and I begin yet another year of beautiful marriage. We have few up's, fewer down's, just a quiet, happy, loving, union. I never dreamed I could ever be so happy. She says the same.

I'm glad I never found the glasses lost on the four wheeler trail. In fact, losing them is the best thing that ever happened to me. Sharing life with Sargie is the best.

Happy Anniversary, Sargie. I love you with all my heart.

Love Always, Tom

That's me many years ago holding my oldest granddaughter, Abigail. I was down from the arctic for a visit at Luke's in southern Maine.

June 16, 2019 - Saturday evening

59 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'm so tired tonight after getting on and off the tractor, doing the same with the backhoe, crawling down the hole, back up, onto the backhoe, moving dirt with the tractor, and so on and so on.

Still Diggin'

I began working on the pond first thing Sunday morning. After moving a huge pile of dirt, I decided to begin cleaning out the bottom which is ten feet deep. Since the backhoe won't reach more than seven feet, I had to lower the bucket, climb off the backhoe and descend into the hole, fill the bucket by hand, climb back out of the hole, dump the bucket, put it back in place, and climb back down. The cycle was repeated over and over all day long.

I've cleaned a great deal of fill that has fallen from the above terraces, but still have more to go. The biggest chore for tomorrow will be moving a huge boulder that fell into the trough while I was digging a terrace above. It weighs in the hundreds of pounds and will take some calculating and a bit of engineering to relocate it to the surface ten feet overhead.

The boulder is ten feet down in the bottom

 The plan right now is to remove all the dirt before circling and cinching it with a tow strap. Since it's too heavy to lift and way too deep to reach with the bucket, I'll try to gently drag it out the opposite side using the backhoe. 

Sargie arrived home tonight with a huge two inch thick New York Strip steak along with two smaller ones. Grilled, it was one of the best cuts of meat I've enjoyed in years. We had steak, baked potatoes, and cole slaw for our Father's Day meal. For desert, I pigged out on my favorite pastry, an apple fritter/donut. It was delicious.

Thank you Sargie for a great meal.

Tomorrow's our wedding anniversary. Since Sargie has to work all day, we'll celebrate together on Tuesday when we drive to Green Bay. Meanwhile, I'll celebrate by myself tomorrow by climbing back down the hole bright and early and try to get as much done as possible. Other than a small area at one end, the hole is dug. I'll be cleaning out any dirt and rocks that have dropped into the bottom along with shaping the terraces. Once that's complete, I'll be ordering the underlayment and heavy rubber liner.

It's all a process.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...