We were introducing the mini girl cousins to each other, but seems  Elizabeth, far right, was having none of it.

L to R - Cheeks, Squirt, Elizabeth

July 5, 2021 - Monday morning

70 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

A nice surprise just blew through in the form of a thunderstorm that dropped .3 of an inch of rain. After last week's four inches of precipitation, it was beginning to get dry again so this latest rainfall was a pleasant surprise. At least we won't have to water the flowers and garden for a day or two.

Home from Sunday morning's early walk and knowing that Sargie and Cale were still sleeping, I worked up the rest of the wood from the first ash tree that was in the trailer. 

Having finished that load, I pulled the trailer back to where I'd cut up the second tree, loaded those pieces, and brought them up to the barn. 

I've calculated that each hardwood tree will heat our home for two to three weeks. Two down, eight to go.

Life was stirring in the house. I asked Cale, a licensed personal trainer, how to eliminate a problem with a sciatic nerve that dwells in my right backside and causes no small amount of pain as it travels down my leg and into my right foot. He spent time showing me several exercises and ways to eliminate that nasty pain.

Cale also made several suggestions about how to strengthen my quads, the front of my legs, for hiking down steep inclines.

I took some table scraps back to the "bear pile" and retrieved the flash card from the trail cam. Seems we've got a new visitor on Pentoga Road, a juvenile male black bear. He was sure curious as the camera caught him standing up, looking at the tree next to the camera. Thankfully, he didn't see what was taking his partial picture.

Showers taken and food packed, it was time to head to Derek and Leah's in Iron Mountain for the annual Mighty Milligan Fourth of July Celebration.

As always, I'll let the pictures tell the story and there are many of them.

Grandma Sargie and Cheeks

Great niece, Brielle, is flying through the air.

It's obvious that she's adopted and her real parents are the Flying Wallendas

Indiana "Ross" Jones

Hambone's chillin' out in the sun

Squirt entertained us throughout the afternoon

No, we're not in trouble.

Nephew, Garth, was on duty, but stopped in long enough for to wish his father, Teddy, a happy birthday and grab a burger. 

Food? There was enough food to feed the starving third world countries with some left over. There were burgers, brats, chicken, salads, and desserts. 

My favorite was the cowboy burger that consisted of a large cheeseburger piled high with pulled pork and topped off with cole slaw. Add to that all the toppings and it was a real Dagwood sandwich.

It was well into the evening before this year's Mighty Milligan Fourth of July Celebration came to a close. With crying, tired, munchkins in tow, the adults, all, who had eaten too much, gave out hugs as an echo of I love you's was heard over and over.

It had been a perfect day.

My friend, Hannah, will be along shortly. Hannah's a long distance hiker and up from Appleton, Wisconsin, at their camp on the Brule River, she will accompany me on my morning walk. No doubt we'll talk hiking as she prepares to do a solo trek through the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana in the next few weeks. 

My plans for today include working up the wood from the second ash tree that's in the trailer along with cutting down and bucking up a third ash tree. The rest are all maples.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Keeping with tradition, Niece, Sasha, and I always take a picture together at family gatherings, usually a selfie. This year, we were joined by Aria.

What a cutie pie, eh?

July 4, 2021 - Independence Day - Sunday

63 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Now here's a first. Sargies son, Cale, opted to sleep downstairs last night in the living room, the place I usually write in the early mornings. Not wanting to wake him, I moved out to the shop, but that seemed too confining on such a nice morning. I'm now sitting in front of the barn enjoying the cool temperatures of these pre dawn hours. Perfect.

Yesterday was another tree day. Having learned my lesson about working up wood in the heat of the day, I headed to the woods immediately upon my arrival home from my morning walk. 

Yesterday's tree was another ash, an old one. I quit counting the rings at 85. Making a calculated guess, it wouldn't surprise me if it was a hundred years old or more. 

It's sad to see what was once a grand and beautiful tree sawed to the ground to be used for firewood. On the other hand, I guess it's no different than for us humans. The Bible says, ashes to ashes/dust to dust. 

Sooner or later, our physical remains all end up in the ground in some form or the other.

My sons would have been proud of me yesterday. Having only one place to drop the tree, I carefully eyed the drop zone, sawed a large notch, then began back cutting. I held my breath as the tree began to fall, slamming to earth so hard that it rattled the ground around me, right where I wanted it to drop.

It's a game the boys and I used to occasionally play, to see who could land a tree in an exact place. I'd have been awarded the Paul Bunyon trophy yesterday. 

Earlier, I'd mowed a narrow path where I expected it to fall

Sawing complete, I loaded all the woods goodies into the tractor and returned to the barn. I'll be going back to load the chunks of wood in the next day or two.

Sargie's son, Cale, arrived later in the morning. Somewhat under the weather, we didn't see a lot of him during the day. Having worked a long week, I'm glad he feels enough at home that he can relax while he's here.

Cale's pup, Romeo, and I spent some time together while I split wood then went to the shop to put the last coat of finish on the Fourth of July piece.

We'll be going to Derek and Leah's later this morning to join in the Mighty Milligan Fourth of July Celebration. There'll be swimming, eating, laughing, and loving galore.

So, I'll end today with the message below.

Happy Fourth of July!

Just remember, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

I inadvertently left out mentioning the women who serve today. My apologies. Thank you and again, Happy Fourth of July.

The owner of exactly one share of Packers stock, Andy asked if I'd represent him at this year's shareholder's meeting. With Aaron Rodgers having a hissy fit, I'm going to make the motion we let the prima donna go and bring Brett Favre back into the fold.

July 3, 2021 - Saturday morning
65 degrees/hazy/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Makes perfect sense to me. As good as Aaron Rodgers is, we need a leader, not self appointed royalty. A fellow alum of Southern Miss, I say let's get Brett Favre back into green and gold and let 'er rip!

Whew, it's already humid and the sun's not quite over the horizon yet. Today's predicted high? 91 degrees. 

Friday was all about firewood. Yesterday's came in the form of a large ash tree that had been killed by Emerald Ash Borers.

The little worm invaded this part of the country long ago and when traps set out by the DNR failed, ash trees, large and small, literally millions of them, began to die.

Pentoga Road wasn't immune. Between the Emerald Ash Borer and the Spruce Bud Worm, much of our woods has fared poorly. From what the county forester/biologist told me, our woods is in better shape than most, but it's still sad.

With my morning walk out of the way and errands run in town, I made the power saws ready for a day in the woods.

The ash tree I cut yesterday was a large one. Deciding to have it fall into the woods and not onto the mowed path was a smart one. I wouldn't have to spend time clearing brush and small limbs. 

The tree, symmetric at the top, was easy to put down and I immediately started to "buck" it up. Things were going well until, at one point, the tree was faster than my reflexes and pinched the saw.

No problem, I walked back to the barn and got the tractor. The trunk was soon lifted enough to free the blade. I was back in business. 

The tractor certainly makes life easier when working up firewood. I utilize the tines on the bucket to lift the wood to waist height so I don't have to bend over and/or worry about hitting the ground while using the saw.

The trailer I purchased from Yooper Brother Mark is coming in handy. It, too, is just the right height and size, although I did manage to wedge it between two trees yesterday while trying to pull it out of the woods.

The wood was brought to the barn where it will be worked into burnable pieces and stored for next winter. 

One tree down, nine to go.

I'm horribly disappointed in my body. Used to be, I could work up wood all day long. The Pennington boys and I once began early on a morning and didn't quit until the sun was setting. I'd cut while they hauled, we'd split by hand using a twelve pound maul, then all of us would carry and stack the wood in the basement.

My mind is still that of a thirty year old, but my body seems to have other ideas. Though I'd planned on working up two trees yesterday, I quit after just one. I hate that my energy level and body has declined to such a state. 

With a mind set of working up a tree a day, my son, Luke, reminded me yesterday that I could work up one tree a week and still be finished well before snow falls. The boy has a point and after hearing the news that his father-in-law, George, who is the same age as I am, was recently hospitalized overnight from dehydration and possible heart problems caused from working up wood, I may follow Lukie's advice.

That's why he's the captain of his fire station and I'm a retired school teacher. He just knows these things.

Sargie wasn't idle yesterday. My girl wanted to make the yard look perfect for the holiday weekend and spent much of the day manicuring it to perfection.

Needless to say, we both slept like babies last night.

Sargie's son, Cale, is coming today and will spend the night. I'm heading out shortly for my morning walk then will return to the woods and take down a second large ash tree. It's my hope to get it sawed into chunks and possibly hauled in before Cale arrives. 

Oh, that tree a week thing that Luke was talking about? He made a good point, but I've been thinking.

I may be getting older, but I ain't near that slow. 

Whoops, I forgot about my shoes being filled with sawdust. Sargie loves when that happens.

Time to get a move on. Daylight's burnin'.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

No problem! Roomba to the rescue!

Dave - fixing the backhoe

July 2, 2021 - Friday morning

41 degrees/partly cloudy skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

The Fourth of July weekend unofficially begins today. No doubt, there'll be those who have taken a vacation day to stretch a three day holiday weekend into four. 

It'll be truck, camper, truck, camper, and so on, as the tourists flock north to escape the city noise and heat. Seems the majority are from downstate Wisconsin or Chicago, six hours away. 

I don't mind the tourists. I do hope they remember that there are a few of us who live here year round and that this is our home as well as their playground.

Thursday was a busy one. I headed to town immediately after my walk to "help" Dave fix the backhoe. (Note: there are definite quotes around the word help.)

There are some people who seem to be born with an innate knowledge of how things work, be it mechanical, structural, carpentry, plumbing, etc. My son, Andy, has that gift. I'm pretty sure he was born with a fistful of wrenches in one hand.

Mechanic Dave's the same. What a talent.

We began the morning by towing the backhoe into the shop using a skid steer.

Naturally, the break, a fracture really, was on the underside of the frame and could only be reached by tearing the backhoe completely apart. That entailed draining several gallons of hydraulic fluid, disconnecting all the hoses, and removing the motor before pulling pins and moving hydraulic cylinders out of the way.

Eventually, the back half of the backhoe was flipped upside down. Only then could Dave begin to grind out the old weld.

We (he) discovered that the stress fractures had weakened the area where the legs that keep the backhoe from moving while digging are attached. 

Dave pounded, heated, ground, reinforced, and welded it all. In the end, the backhoe was made as strong, or even stronger, than the day it came from the factory seven years ago, when Dave initially put it all together.

I enjoy Dave's company. Having adopted children, fostering others, and having their own, he's a natural teacher and seems to enjoy explaining what he's doing at the time and why he's doing it. Every time I'm around the boy, I learn something new, be it about mechanics or welding.

I also like that he occasionally calls me Old Man.  Coming from Dave and the way he says it, I take it as the ultimate compliment. 

I usually call him Son. My heart's big enough, there's always room for one more, especially for someone who has a bigger heart than mine.

Welding and grinding done, it was time to reassemble the machine and begin putting all the pieces back together.

It wasn't yet noon when I towed the backhoe away. I know it sounds strange, but while the machine was inoperable, I missed it, not because of the work I couldn't do, but... oh heck, I don't know. I just missed it. 

The old Ford 8N tractor and the backhoe are my two favorites in my outside toy box of life. Inside, it's my scroll saw and lathe. 

Mom was right when she said I'd never grow up.

I hadn't seen Sargie all morning so we decided to take a ride. I just KNEW she wanted to hear each and every detail of fixing the backhoe. 

I have to hand it to the girl. She smiled and nodded at all the right times. 

The day was pleasant with low humidity and cool temperatures.

I have no idea why, but I was all done in by the time we arrived back home. Other than take my walk and "supervise" Dave, again in extreme quotes, I hadn't done a thing. I sat in my recliner, closed my eyes, and didn't open them again for almost an hour.

With the energy tank once again refilled, it was time to mow the back trails. With all the rain that's fallen this past week, the grass had grown inches per day.

There are two large ash trees that I'll be cutting for firewood, probably today. 

Once I was finished mowing, I used the two wheeled weed trimmer to mow around the base of the trees and where they should fall. 

About ready to call it quits, I unhooked the backhoe from the Blazer and moved the legs and wheels into the digging position. I mean, I HAD to try it, didn't I?

It took but a mere roar of the engine and swipe of the controls before I knew we were back in business, my backhoe and me.

The last chore of the day was to take table scraps back to feed the bears. It had been a good day, busy, but good.

My poor poor son, Andy, is preparing for an oil rig move near Trinidad, but first, has to quarantine in the island nation of Curaco, off the coast of Venezuela. He's has the run of the island for the next seven days before he can get to work.

Why aren't I feeling bad for the boy? 

The view from Andy's hotel room

I also learned that my son, Matt, is leaving next week for Switzerland on business. For being brought up in the remote wilds of northern Maine, my sons sure get around the world. Andy seems to think he'll be heading to Norway as soon as the Trinidad job is finished.

Poor kid.

Okay, it's time to get the day started. The sun is up and I want to get my walk in before playing Paul Bunyon and cutting down those two large ash trees. Today's goal is to get the wood up to the sheds where it can be split and stacked for next winter's use.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The day lilies given to us by Mike and Cos are now planted in the flower beds alongside the barn

July 1, 2021 - Thursday morning

51 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's a quick write this morning as I want to go for my walk before going to town to help Dave fix the leak in the backhoe. I towed it in several weeks ago and it's been sitting at Yooper Brother Mark's plant since. Dave texted that he has the time now so we're gonna git 'er dun.

Home from my walk on Wednesday morning, I began moving what was left over from last year's firewood to the west woodshed.

I've always kept an emergency pile in back of the sheds covered over with tarps. Dad believed it was better to be safe than sorry and I subscribe fully to his philosophy. In this case, it cost us a day of labor, but no one around here went cold last winter.

I was unloading wood when I looked down in the next shed and noticed a tiny clump of green growing by the riding mower. It appears rutabagas have sprouted out of the gravel.

Don't ask me how rutabaga seed got from the garden house to the wood shed, but sure enough, it did.

During a late morning break, I called to the tire place in Iron Mountain to inquire about having two new tires put on the Hyundai. They said to bring it on over.

It was a good trip that was well worthwhile. Experiencing a slight thumping from the rear of the car earlier, we assumed the noise was either being caused by the brakes or a bad tire. New brakes were needed anyway and put on last week, but that didn't help. 

Next came the tires.

Boom!

Thumping is gone.

We'd planned on getting new tires this fall along with a brake job, so it all was good.

We drove through the worst rain storm I've experienced in a long time coming home. Of course, hardly a drop fell on Pentoga Road. With these summer storms, it's a hit or miss proposition.

Sargie and I resumed moving the firewood and finally finished late in the afternoon. It's nice to have that all done and be ready for the hardwood that will be worked up in the coming weeks.

It's time to get this uploaded and go for a quick walk. As mentioned above, I'll be spend part of today with Dave, tearing apart the backhoe so it can be welded, then putting it all back together. 

Time to get a move on.

After all, man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...