Over an hour was spent in the orchard Tuesday morning picking blueberries

July 27, 2016 - Wednesday

62 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Another two-tenths of an inch of rain fell last evening and more is forecast for today. As with last year, everything is green and lush.

Daisies, cosmos, dahlias, and a giant sunflower, all growing around the small greenhouse fountain

Tuesday dawned hot and humid. I started the day in the barn, storing twenty treated posts overhead. What a treat to finally have the floor to where I can pull in the mower, both four wheeler's, the lawn sweeper, the hand mowers and trimmers, and still have room to walk.

There're still plenty of other goodies remaining to put or throw away, but this is a start. Since summer is more than half over, it's probably a good thing.

I attacked part of the nasturtiums growing in the pyramids. They are getting long and gangly and the leaves have lost their brilliance. I read somewhere that the plants can be trimmed back to encourage regeneration. Since I've never tried it before, I simply did a test trim on those in one planter. If it works, I'll know what to do next year.

Check out the pumpkin plant growing up the side of the barn.

I wanted to get the blueberries picked before it became too hot. After spending years picking the smaller wild ones, both in northern Maine and on the tundra of Alaska, it's a pure pleasure to pluck the large tame fruits from waist-high bushes. 

It didn't take long to fill an ice cream pail about one-third full.

The temperature was approaching the upper 80's so I retreated to the shop. One thing I did well when building the shop was to over insulate it. During really hot weather, it stays comfortably cool inside for most the day, much like a basement. 

I'd purchased a large LED bulb on Sunday to replace an overhead light that had quit working. With a bit of work, I scavenged a porcelain receptacle from an old kitchen light, grabbed a hanger from another, and utilizing a tin pan to use as a reflector, made a perfectly acceptable overhead light.

Sargie's been wanting a new light over the kitchen table and I offered to make her a similar one. So far, all my well-meaning efforts have been ignored. 

It was late afternoon and I was hot and tired. 

The phone rang.

Grady's babysitter seems to have backed out from her responsibilities this week. Would it be possible to have a Pawpaw/Grady day on Wednesday? 

I'd really planned on working on the mower today then cutting the grass as well as doing some electrical work in the barn. Hmm, sure, we could have a Grady day.

I headed back outside and postponing replacing the bearings in the deck, hopped on the old machine and started cutting the grass. Three hours later I turned the engine off.

I'd just taken a shower and sat down when I heard someone talking outside. It was Yooper Brother Mark and Isabella. They'd stopped by for a visit.

It didn't take long for Isabella to discover Grady's toy box.

Isabella had just woken up after a quick nap in Grandpa's truck and though I got one or two quick smiles, we never did get to snuggle or play.

A fairly good storm blew through last night, but produced little rain. In looking at the radar this morning, it appears we'll have ample opportunity to get more. There's a pretty large cell just off to our west heading this way.

Sargie and Grady arrived home around 9:30 and it didn't take Hambone long to settle into the routine.

The first order of business was to put on Pawpaw's old imitation Crocs. I'd worn a hole in the old ones and Sargie had purchased a new pair for me earlier in the day. As I tried on the new ones, Grady put on the old.

They fit Grady perfectly, wrong feet and all! Yes, I know, I'm making an after-shower fashion statement. Packers jammie shorts, an old Coast Guard shirt, socks and Crocs. No wonder everybody wants to dress like me.

It was getting late so we had just a sandwich for supper. 

Bedtime came shortly after.

I'm not certain what's on the agenda for today. Since almost everything Grady and I do seems to be weather-driven, it might be more of on inside day.

I'll call Isabella later this afternoon and see if she wants to come over. Maybe she'll even bring her mommy, one of my former college students, and we can talk while the munchkins frolic and play.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Today's random photo.
What happens to imitation Crocs after several summers' of hard use.

A second set of lumber shelves (on right) were hung on Monday. The new window will be installed in the outer wall of the shop later this summer.

July 26, 2016 - Tuesday

61 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'm sitting here wondering how to make cleaning a large section of the barn, then hanging shelves, sound exciting. That's what happened yesterday on Pentoga Road. 

I was reading some old blogs from arcticprofessor.us (no longer available on the internet) several days ago. Those were times of long snowmobile journeys across the North Slope, being stranded in the Brooks Range, helping to search for a downed plane, finding a path across a glacier, and once, of taking a break and sipping hot tea while sitting on my snowmobile, watching two polar bear cubs wrestle on the sea ice and not realizing I was being stalked from behind by their mother. 

Now I write about hanging shelves in the barn or watering giant pumpkins. Oh well, I'm not as young as I once was and life's a journey. I'm simply treading a slower path. When the feet get itchy and the urge to go out and conquer some new horizon becomes almost unbearable, I need to remember that.

Yesterday's big activity was to hang the second set of lumber shelves. Actually installing them wasn't too bad, but cleaning and putting everything away first so I could get to the wall was a chore.

The new talking tape measure is a godsend. I simply stretch it out to the desired length and pause for a second or two. It then announces the measurement down to the sixteenth of an inch. It made installing yesterday's shelves much easier.

After my usual walk, it took until well past noon to actually begin.

I took a break later in the afternoon to drive to Yooper Brother Mark's plant for two pallets. Mark's a happy grandpa. Sarah and Isabella found themselves with a bit of time before Sarah begins her new teaching job in Wyoming, so they flew back to Michigan for a few days and surprised Mark and Sheri.

The shelves were finished by late afternoon and are already full. 

Sargie was home early last night and helped me move a pallet under one of the pumpkins. We were gentle with the vines, but try as we may, I couldn't get the pumpkin centered on the pallet. We decided to try only one elevated pumpkin this year and leave the other sitting on a board. As I told someone earlier, it's the scientific method, I made a hypothesis, that the pallet will provide better growing conditions, have a control group, the other pumpkin, and now we'll see what happens.

If all goes right, the pumpkin should cover most of the pallet in the next six weeks. A solid sheet of plywood will be placed between the pallet and the pumpkin later today.

Sargie closes tonight making it a long day. I'm going to continue working in the barn. There are lights to hang in the shop, new bearings to install in the mower deck, barges to tote and bales to lift. It's also time to begin picking blueberries. There are quite few dark blue, dime-sized, fruits about ready to fall from the bush. They are huge this year.

After reading all the above, today's blog is just pretty ho hum, but try as I may, I can't find even one polar bear or downed plane in the neighborhood to write about.

Oh well, trust me. A man's work is never done, even if we do occasionally tread a slower path.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

A mixture of day lilies and hostas in bloom.

July 25, 2016 - Monday morning

62 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I should be out fishing this morning, but just don't have the gumption. Sargie mentioned last night that we should have gone earlier in the evening. I agreed, however, we didn't arrive home from our day of activities until almost 6 PM.

Sunday began as usual. I worked for over an hour in the garden and listened to a radio broadcast from our local Lutheran church. I was also relishing the fact that we'd received some badly needed rain and marveling how fast everything grows after a good, soaking, shower. 

The dahlia's are beginning to bloom 

The flowers were more colorful than usual and the vegetables had jumped to life. 

The cosmos are everywhere, including the aisles where they self seeded from last year.

Irrigating seems to simply keep the plants alive. Rain is like nature's fertilizer and has the ability to kick start an entire garden.

One leaf on a giant cabbage. This year's goal is a head of forty five pounds.

Neighbor Mike called and asked what I was doing. He said that he was at the camp alone and thought he'd walk down for a visit. 

Mike asked to tour the garden and after, we sat in the shade of the barn and gabbed for over an hour. Things seem to be going well in Neighbor Mike's world.

It was past noon when Sargie and I left for our usual Sunday afternoon ride. We made one stop here, another there, and before we knew it, I'd asked if she wanted to make an impromptu jaunt over the Rhinelander. One of my large lights went out in the shop and I needed to find another, stronger, source of light. Saying she wasn't dressed to go shopping, I told Sargie this wasn't a shopping trip, but rather one of necessity. With that, I pointed the car in that direction and away we went.

Sargie found a small chair she really liked. Unfortunately, it was a demo and rickety from being sat in so many times. The store had no others so we walked away.

Most of the time was spent at Menards, a big box store. I found my light and other treasures that we couldn't live without. 

I wouldn't pay the money they are asking for the playhouse and swing set, but I might be enticed to build one from scratch. Grady and the great nieces would probably enjoy it. Hmm, do I feel a Pawpaw project coming on, if not this summer, then next?

A trip was also made to Aldi's, a discount grocery store. 

Too bad cars can't run on moo juice as milk prices have really plummeted. I remember paying over $11 for a gallon in one of the small arctic villages years ago. 

It was 6 PM before we arrived back home. I headed for the garden to feed the pumpkins. Sargie worked on her coffee table in the shop and after, we sat out on the front porch and talked until almost dark. It had been a wonderful day.

There's a squirrel up yonder in that thar tree somewhere.

Sargie opens today, the busiest of the week. I'm going to walk first thing then begin replacing the bearings on the mowing deck of the Cub Cadet. Better plug your ears. That's usually a knuckle scraping job that finds me with grease up to my elbows, sweat dripping in my eyes, and words coming from my mouth that would cause Mama to reach for the bar of soap.

Sargie purchased a nickel plated light on clearance that she'd like hung in the front kitchen window. The girl also bought a solar security light to mount outside over the garage door. Never, I repeat, NEVER, allow Sargie to tour the lighting section of a large store. She'll find half a dozen every time that she can't live without.

The back door on the living room badly needs replacing. Sargie found one she likes.

Needless to say, it appears that no grass will grow under my feet today.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...  

The best part of waking up might be finding Folgers in your cup, but by far, the very best part of a hot summer day is at sundown, when temperatures begin to cool, sitting on the front porch, relaxing and talking.

Run and save yourself while there's still time! The giant pumpkin plants are taking over the world... or at least their side of the garden.

July 24, 2016 - Sunday

69 degrees/clouds - rain/calm winds

Pentoga Road

What an absolute delight is was to awaken this morning to thunder and the sound of rain pounding down on the metal roof overhead. 

Given enough rain, it appears we should have a bumper crop of wild raspberries this year. It won't be the first time that I'll be competing with the bears to get my share.

Even with the .4 of an inch that dropped earlier last week, the several days of 90 degree temperatures, coupled with a hot wind, meant the garden was quickly drying out. 

The first raspberry of the year. Though not necessarily the sweetest, always the best.

Saturday began with a trip to Iron Mountain to retrieve the Blazer and purchase a few things for the garden. I stopped in the Vision Center to kiss my favorite optician goodbye before returning home.

I was tying up cucumber vines on the trellis in the garden when Jeanne and Boyd, Sargie's sister and brother-in-law, dropped by for a visit. What a wonderful surprise. They are such nice people and both, superior gardeners, in their own right. Most of the time was spent walking up and down the rows, sharing ideas, talking, asking and answering questions. 

One of several varieties of this year's winter squash

Their home in Iron Mountain is surrounded by gardens and flower beds and Boyd has a separate garden at his camp. Their yard, gardens, and home, all look like pictures out of Better Homes and Gardens. 

I was able to send them home with a head of cauliflower, a zucchini, and a handful of beets. It's that time of year when the bounty begins.

The talking tape measure that Mom ordered for my birthday arrived yesterday. I couldn't be happier. The size and weight of a conventional tape measure, one works it in much the same way then waits for about two seconds before a voice announces the distance. 

I told Mom last night that I might take the arbor and lattice apart and redo it just so I can use the new tape measure. Okay, I lied, that ain't gonna happen.

Since I know there are several who read or listen to this blog who also have less than perfect vision, but still enjoy being active, here's the contact information. Maxi-Aids are easily found on the internet.

I ventured back out to the garden later in the afternoon and worked for sometime on one giant pumpkin plant. Last year's pumpkin grew so large, so fast, that it almost separated the stem from the vine by pushing it away. In the end, only a small part of the stem remained attached, severely restricting the flow of nutrients to the pumpkin.

Yesterday, the vine was moved at right angles to the stem, rerouted, and buried at several of the node nodules. Those nodes will develop roots and send more nutrients to the actual pumpkin causing it to grow bigger in a shorter amount of time. I'll do the same to the other pumpkin this coming week. 

The primary vine juts out to the left. That on the right is merely the stem of a leaf. The pumpkin almost doubled in size overnight.

The battery on my computer, an older Macbook Pro, has been going bad, getting hot, and swelling to where it interferes with the track pad. My buddy, Vince, warned me yesterday about the hazards of not getting a new battery, mostly that the machine can get so hot it will catch on fire. That's simply not an option. I ordered a new battery yesterday that should arrive this coming week.

Sargie was home early last night and she's off today. Other than slopping the pumpkins, I have no idea what's on the agenda and really, don't care. I have another set of lumber shelves to hang in the barn, but with a hundred percent chance of rain, I'll be more than happy to take a ride with Sargie and/or enjoy a grandpa nap later this afternoon. It's what we do on Pentoga Road.

Oh, one last thing. I received this video yesterday afternoon from one of my deep undercover sources in southern Mississippi. Seems as though there's at least one other old fool whose not afraid to join in the fun with his grandchildren.

Even while enjoying a good birthday party, Mississippi Brother Garry knows that a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The random picture of the day is of a bowl of oatmeal I enjoyed yesterday with two big dollops of ice cream sitting on top.
 Sargie has quite the recipe when making America's favorite hot cereal that includes, but not limited to: raisins, peanut butter, peanuts, (or almonds) coconut, cranberries, honey, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and eighty or a hundred other highly guarded Milligan family ingredients.
Grandpa Pennington used to enjoy his oatmeal with ice cream on top. Running short of milk Saturday, I remembered how he loved his early morning oats and ice cream and decided to try it. No wonder Grandpa smiled so much!

July 23, 2016 - Saturday morning
55 degrees/clear/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I'd like to find the deer that trimmed the sunflower growing on one side of the drive out by the road. I had a plant left over last spring and stuck it out there as an afterthought. It's been doing quite well until the night before last. Sargie pointed it out to me last evening... it had been severely pruned.

I reached into my bag of tricks and brought out a bottle of deer repellent, a mixture of rotten eggs and other things too obnoxious to mention and sprayed the sunflower and all the flowers in the planter on the opposite side of the drive. Hopefully, the deer will get the hint.

The past several days have been action-packed. 

Some of the biggest news is that I FINALLY completed and installed the lattice on the garden arbor. 

It took an entire day and it's probably a good thing that only the bulldog could hear me mutter, but in the end, it's done. Next will be making the self closing, swinging gate.

Eventually, I hope to build a set of benches that will attach to each side of the lattice facing inward, towards the eventual garden pond, waterfalls, and bridge, that will be in the middle.

Pawpaw had Grady all by himself for an entire day and we had a ball.

Grady helped me drive the four wheeler on our way to town to see Uncle Yooper Brother Mark at his plant.

We swam, took four wheeler rides, played dinosaur and monster, and even spent no small amount of time chasing each other around the yard in a two-year old's version of tag.



Grandma Sargie got to join the excitement for another day, but we couldn't entice her to get into the pool.

There is absolutely nothing more fun than walking around in Pawpaw's hiking boots.

I met Uncle Terry and Sue Friday morning for breakfast. We had a wonderful conversation and spent more than two hours catching up on life over the past couple of years. They are heading towards their home in West Virginia after spending a few weeks volunteering at the Fine Arts Camp on the old Sheldon Jackson Campus in Sitka. 

It's been hot. I mean REALLY sizzling. Yesterday's high was well over 90, the second or third hot and humid day in a row. 

Taken Friday afternoon while on my walk along the beach at our local lake

Today's to be the same before temperatures begin to fall to more seasonable norms. We've had the occasional thunderstorm come rumbling through which has kept us somewhat moist, but if we don't receive rain in the next day or two, I'll have to begin watering the garden.

Speaking of which... I was reading the log from a year ago and see that one of this year's giant pumpkins is actually larger than the one last year on this date. In my mind, I've thought I was way behind, but evidently things are on track. Problem is, currently, I have two that I'm feeding and both are growing by leaps and bounds. It's two gallons each of water and fertilizer every morning and evening. Some people slop the hogs, I slop the pumpkins. It's the way I roll.

Weighing in at half a pound with 499.5 to go over the next six weeks. 

I drove to Iron Mountain last night to purchase dog food and ride back with Sargie and will be returning this morning to get the Blazer and look for a set of torx five star screwdrivers. I need to remove the battery from my MacBook Pro computer and it takes a special type of driver. I'm guessing I'll end up finding them on Amazon, but I'll stop at the local computer shop first and see what they have.

It's good to be back writing. After fifteen years of pounding out a daily blog, plus twenty before that of writing a newspaper column, it's become a part of my daily life.

I'm expecting a call at anytime from GQ Magazine wanting a full photo layout.

I could write more, but it's time to do chores, you know, slop those giant pumpkins.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The first beets of the season. Still on the small side, Sargie had them with supper last night and said they are sweet and tender.

July 19, 2016 - Tuesday

51 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Monday came and went in a whirl. I extended my walking distance to five miles yesterday morning, a jaunt that includes several inclines, including Heartbreak Hill. When I do the three-mile route, though therapeutic, it's so flat that my heart never gets a workout. 

Once home, I resumed work on the lattices and am happy to say that both should be mounted today. In fact, I was so excited that I even got a hole dug for an outside post on one side.

I was tired after so I ate a late lunch and later, had a short grandpa nap. It was just what I needed to finish the rest of the day.

The blue four-wheeler hasn't been used to speak of this summer. I got it started then took a ride to get some fresh gas in the carburetor. The trickle charger was connected last night and the little work horse should be good to go for the last half of the summer.

Sargie made mention sometime ago that the roof on Brutus's house needed painting as the original red color had faded badly. I'd gotten a quart of fire engine red paint last week, but with all the rain, hadn't had a chance to brush it on.

With yesterday's dry, sunny, breezy, conditions, the paint dried quickly.

Sargie was home early last evening and was surprised to find the first of the snap peas ready. She enjoyed several right off the vine.

It's going to be a busy next few days. Grady is coming to visit tonight and will be here for a couple of days. 

Uncle Terry and Sue are in Wisconsin at their grandchildren's camp and we're looking forward to a visit with them as they make their way back to West Virginia from Alaska.  

Macrea should be with us on Thursday evening. Who says life moves at a slow pace on Pentoga Road? 

With that being said, I think I'm going to take my usual twice-a-year break from writing for a day or four. 

This little gal was watching me walk past from a neighbor's yard on Monday morning.

I'll be back before you know it, but until then, be sure to keep in mind that...

... a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie's dad loved cattle. This one, peeking out from the front flower box, serves as a reminder of Mr. Milligan each time we walk past.