Though they missed us, large storms rattled around the area just before sunset Saturday evening.

July 22, 2017 - Sunday

59 degrees/cloudy skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

The only news to report this morning is that yesterday was filled with lots of talking and catching up on life. 

Joanne and Schamz

We talked and laughed, took a short ride into town, and did absolutely nothing. At one point we fiddled around the garden pond where Sargie rearranged some of the rocks left from when I worked on the leak in the waterfalls last week.

We enjoyed a humongous family-sized pizza last night for supper and watched reruns of Frasier on Netflix. 

It was a wonderfully lazy day, one that I hope will be repeated today.

We'll be heading to town later to purchase fried chicken and ham for today's lunch. After, I think we'll drive over to the Old Mansfield Mine site and show Joanne the log cabin church in the old ghost town. After, it'll be home for a late lunch and more talking and laughing.

One of Sargie's favorite flowers, the day lilies, are beginning to bloom.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Look who came to see us?
It's Joanne!!

July 22, 2017 - Saturday

62 degrees/high overcast/calm winds

Pentoga Road

As I mentioned earlier, stretching back to the Maine days, Joanne has been a family friend for many many years. We've shared good times and bad and though we don't see each other often, our daily emails keep us current with each other's lives.

I dutifully write three people first thing every morning, Mom, Mississippi Brother Garry, and Joanne. I've written Mom daily since Dad's passing fifteen years ago. Joanne and I haven't missed many days for close to twenty, and Garry and I have written every morning for well over thirty years, each and every day.

Joanne arrived tonight and promptly gave Sargie the biggest hug. I got one too. Perfect.

I was busy all day Friday. I'd told Sargie I'd scrub the laminate floors and run the vacuum sweeper over the rest, including the steps. 

With sweat dripping off the end of my nose, I finally folded and installed the window air conditioner. We seldom need it, but when we do, it's greatly appreciated. Yesterday was one of those days.

Lacking an attic fan to suck the hot air from the second floor, I place a regular box fan facing out in our upstairs bedroom window. Since it has the tendency to fall out, I support it with a broom stick. Sargie doesn't necessarily agree with my HVAC engineering tactics, but it works!

Much of the day was spent unloading the wood from the trailer.

With the small splitter alongside the trailer, I worked up the larger pieces before throwing them onto the pile. 

Another four or five loads should see us through this coming winter and into the next. There's already another pile of dry wood plus both sheds are filled to the roof.

It's difficult to back the trailer alongside the wood piles. A spindly wild apple tree is in the way. Worse, half the tree droops so far down that a limb catches the trailer.

I fixed that problem today by using a roof (snow) rake to prop the limb up out of harm's way.

I took a break from working up wood to pull the lawn sweeper over the entire yard and part of the meadow where the grass clippings were so heavy. It looks much better.

Mowing in what was the flooded area, this is the sum total of my year's harvest. One berry.

There was a casualty. A tree jumped out in front of the mower and snapped a wheel off the deck.

It's been welded once, so I'll have to weld on top of the weld. I'll worry about reattaching the wheel next week.

One of the hazards of having poor eyesight is running or walking into objects. The worst are those things that aren't eye level.

I snagged one ankle on the back corner of the trailer today and later, walked into the flower planter by the patio.

I wish those things would stop jumping out in front of me. There isn't a lot of meat on my skinny legs and ankles and if they could talk, I'm certain both would be begging for mercy.

Sargie arrived home with chicken wraps for supper. We wanted something easy for Joanne when she arrived later in the evening.

It was well after 10 PM before we met Joanne at a junction eight miles away and she followed us home. Along with her pup, Schmaz, both seemed to be extremely happy that their long drive was over. 

I'm not certain what's on the agenda for today. Rain is in the forecast, but that makes no difference. I imagine there'll be no shortage of talking and catching up and that can be done inside just as well as out.

Guess I ought to end and do something. It won't be long until the action begins.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Brother-in-law, Ross, sent this picture of Holly's impatiens, saying the combined blooms are over four feet across. That girl can sure grow some flowers.

For the first time in six weeks, all the trails and meadows are mowed. 

July 21, 2017 - Friday

56 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I was keeping Sargie company while she was cleaning the spare bedroom last night and for whatever reason, I started going through some of my arctic Alaska DVD's and blogs. I found one where I was preparing to take a solo 75 mile snowmobile trek across the tundra and planned to go grizzly bear hunting the next day with the principal of the native village school. 

Here's a little blurb meant to keep you from getting bored:

This was sent to me the following summer by the principal. They were fishing when he happened to glance down the river and see this grizzly stalking his son. The rest is history.

That was long ago. I look back on those times and have such great memories. How lucky was I to be able to experience true bush Alaska, not some cheesy Alaskan wanna-be reality show. 

Meanwhile, back to the UP, where the biggest excitement we have is how to keep a pesky black bear out of the burn barrel.

I was up early Thursday morning rarin' to go and skipped the usual daily walk so I might get an earlier start to building the privacy fence.

I constructed two sections on the floor in the barn and carried them out to complete the project. Sargie thinks I should put up a third side closest to the house. The jury's still out on that.

The trailer was hooked onto the Blazer and I made my way to Yooper Brother Mark's plant for a load of firewood. 

I like working with wood, always have. Grandpa Pennington instilled in me the knowledge of how to read a grain, miss a knot, and let a splitting maul do the work rather than one's back. 

I passed that knowledge onto my sons and hopefully they'll do the same with their's. For sure, Grady will learn how to read a piece of firewood. It may not be relevant to his generation, but knowing how may come in handy someday. 

The wood I get from town is softwood, mostly popple. It burns twice as fast as hardwood, but I'm home all day anyway and it makes no difference how much we burn. Seems there's a huge supply if I'm willing to carry it home from the plant and work it up.

The boys at Yooper Brother Mark's plant will load the wood for me if I want to leave the trailer for a few days, but I'd rather fill the trailer myself, pick and choose the best pieces.

I could have fit more in the trailer Thursday, but I was beginning to feel the effects of the heat. At one point, half through, I simply sat on the the pile of wood and caught my breath. No sense tempting heat stroke.

In my senior years, I've traded the splitting maul for a small log splitter. Be that as it may, I still occasionally pick up the 12 pound monster and split a piece or two by hand for old time's sake.

Once home, I backed the trailer next to where this year's wood pile will be (behind the new privacy fence!) and came in the house. I chugged all the water I could hold and sat in front of the window fan until I felt stronger. The heat had really zapped my energy.

I was going to wait until today to mow the yard, but growing restless, I decided to begin Thursday afternoon. 

Four hours later, I'd mowed all the trails and the bottom of what had been Lake Pentoga.

What a stinky, smelly, dusty, mess. What was once green grass is now packed with dried mud. It made me sad to see how many ferns and trees have died because of the high water. Most of the raspberry plants perished and there'll be no crop this year.

The entire meadow is pock marked with deep tracks where the deer waded through the water.

Any trails that weren't flooded were overgrown with waist high grass and weeds. The water prevented me from getting to any high ground and mowing.

One small meadow usually looks like a park and I've thought about making a picnic shelter and camp site for any relatives or friends who would like to use it.



It took over an hour, but the small clearing was finally mowed. I'll need to use the lawn sweeper to pick up the clippings, then will have to cut it again.



All that remains to be mowed is the area on the north side of the drive. Since there were bed sheets drying on the line, I decided to wait until this morning. It's small and doesn't take long.

Sargie was busy doing one thing or the other Thursday evening. She opens today, but has the weekend off.

I'm going to finish mowing and trimming the yard this morning then plan to empty the wood from the trailer. If it's early enough and I have the energy, I may go back to the plant and get another load. 

Joanne's due to pull in late this evening after a planned lunch with her niece in Grand Rapids, Michigan, eight hours away. Aunt Joanne has a long drive ahead of her. 

I think you now know everything I know. Guess I should saddle up this pony and get the day started.

Neighbor Mike gave me a packet of red bean seed last spring. I have no clue what variety it may be, but if the beans are half as tasteful as the flowers are pretty, it'll be a keeper.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

2002 - Spring grizzly hunting 

This is what happens when you actually see a grizzly and attempt to get into position for a good shot rather than paying attention to where you are driving. This was in a mountain pass in the foothills of the Brooks Range.

The newest addition to the pond, a floating, solar, fountain.

July 20, 2017 - Thursday

53 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

We're excited here on Pentoga Road. Our friend, Joanne, is stopping by to visit by way of Atlanta to Rochester, Minnesota. She's due to arrive Friday afternoon or evening.

Joanne has been a family friend for many many years, since I lived in Maine and the boys were growing up. She was a loving part of our home and family on many holidays and kept our boys in pocket money by having them mow her lawn and doing odd jobs.

Joanne's a retired therapist, or as I always called her, a shrink lady. She left northern Maine for a position at Mayo Clinic. In the medical field, that's the equivalent of playing in the major leagues. Joanne retired to the relatively moderate climes of the Atlanta area several years ago where she enjoys her granddaughter and daughters.

Wednesday was a busy one. I rode back with Sargie to Iron Mountain and later stopped by Home Depot to purchase the needed lumber for the next two sections of privacy fence.

Initially, I was hoping to finish the fencing project yesterday, but it took much longer to prepare the area than anticipated. In every load of wood I haul from Yooper Brother Mark's plant, there's always some that can't be used. Often, there's a piece or two that are too big or unmanageable and over the years, I've simply pushed those to the back, the old out of sight/out of mind trick. 

Old wood had to be moved, much of it too big to ever cut and split. That being the case, I loaded the mega pieces onto the loader of the tractor and took them to the burn pile.

More manageable ones were split and stacked in one of the wood sheds.

It took the majority of the day to clean the area.

Lake Pentoga is officially dry and what a mess. After six weeks of being under water, what used to be green, lush, grass, is now a mixture of dried mud, bare ground, grass, and weeds.

Hard to believe my sons were kayaking to the back of the property a few short weeks ago.

Finally, I could drive to the burn pile with the tractor and not leave ruts. I'm going to try mowing the meadow tomorrow and at least make it look a bit nicer.

Planting a post was another challenge in this privacy fencing project.

Between the trees roots and rocks, gaining even an inch in depth meant some mighty hard work. Add in the mosquitoes and sweat that insisted on dripping into my eyes and Tommy P wasn't an overly joyful person.

I wanted to mix the cement to pour into the post hole, but remembered at the last minute that there's a hole in the bottom of the wheel barrow. A five-gallon bucket saved the day.

I used the two-wheeled cart to save my back and transfer the very wet cement to where it was needed.

It was late afternoon before the post was set and the area made ready for the new section of fence. At least I'll get to build fence today and not have to root around moving old, wet, rotten, pieces of very heavy wood.

The UPS man arrived with the floating, solar powered, mini fountain. 

One problem, if it floats too closely to the side it throws water onto the ground.

There was nothing to do but scrounge around in Dad's old tackle box and find a sinker. 

Looks like the sinker is floating in mid air, eh? Maybe I should be a magician when I grow up!

Tied to a piece of monofilament fishing line, the fountain is now firmly tethered in place.

Cesar's Palace has nothing on us. We have our own fountains.
Hmm, Pentoga Palace?

Sargie was home early last night and we had a quiet evening. 

With Sargie back to work early this morning, I'm going for my usual walk then start building the privacy fence. With any luck at all, it should be finished by day's end. If there's any time and/or daylight left, I may begin to mow the lawn. It needs it again. Yooper Brother Mark also mentioned there is a huge pile of wood at the plant waiting for me to come load the trailer.

If only you had my life.

Time to fix breakfast, pack Sargie's lunch, and get this day started.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The spaghetti squash are in bloom

Hollyhocks, or as Grady calls them,
"Auntie Hollyhocks" after Sargie's sister, Holly.

July 19, 2017 - Wednesday

53 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Tuesday saw another .7 of an inch of rain fall from the skies. As Dad used to say, "we got a good soaker."

More wildflowers along Pentoga Road

I enjoyed my morning walk and paused long enough to stop by our local lake to watch the fellows from the DNR work on the boat ramp.

I was most impressed with the excavator operator, spinning the boom around and picking up huge buckets full of concrete.

I've decided to trade in my backhoe for an excavator this size. Just think of the holes I could dig with this baby!

Once home, I began work trimming and mowing the front half of the old popple woods.

The equipment was moved, the grass mowed, then everything moved back. Even the old Man Truck cooperated and roared to life.

A quite a bit of time was spent on the backhoe removing a tree stump. I thought it would be an easy task, yet from start to finish it took over an hour.

The storms arrived mid afternoon bringing rain and wind. I moved into the shop and decided to turn a trowel handle on the lathe.

I began by choosing out a piece of maple from the firewood shed. 

It took some figuring, measuring, and a lot of guess work, but in the end, the handle was fashioned and using epoxy, fastened to the trowel.

There was a part of the handle that split at a knot, but a bit of epoxy not only fixed, but made it stronger than before.

After a quick trip through the shower, I drove to Iron Mountain so I could keep Sargie company on her drive home. Strong storms were forecast and I hated for her to drive alone. As it turned out, the storms had dissipated before we left Iron Mountain.

We enjoyed brats on the grill for supper. That, along with Sargie's chicken pasta salad, made a great supper. Thankfully, there were plenty of leftovers to enjoy later this week.

I'll ride back to Iron Mountain this morning to get the Blazer. I think I'll stop at Home Depot and purchase enough material to make another section and a half of privacy fencing. After that is built and installed, I'll be ready to begin hauling wood for this coming winter.

It's time to get this show on the road.

It seems no matter where I look, there are deer. These two greet me in the same place almost every morning while on my walk.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

One of Sargie's favorite flowers, the lowly onion blossom

 July 18, 2017 - Tuesday

64 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Talk about a swing in temperatures. Monday morning began with a low of 38 degrees, a mere six notches above freezing. By mid afternoon the thermometer showed 82, a forty-four degree difference in 9 hours. 

Carl the Weatherman has predicted that over an inch of rain could fall later this afternoon. As long as that's all we get, it could be beneficial.

I was working in the garden shortly after daylight Monday morning. My goal for the day was to weed all the beds.

Early morning dew covering the asparagus fronds

With the feet of water that's fallen this summer, plus the hoards of mosquitoes that have invaded us, the garden has been badly neglected. My goal yesterday was to make up for lost time.

After a quick three-mile walk, the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon was spent on the other side of the deer fence. I was happy to declare the beds free of weeds by mid afternoon.

Now that we've had several days of average temperatures and sunshine, everything is beginning to grow. We're still running a month later than normal and unless we have a warmer than normal fall, the long season vegetables probably won't make it.

I was happiest to see some blossoms on a few of the cucumber plants along with a several baby cucumbers. There's hope.

The Delicata winter squash are beginning to bloom. It's an early squash that can be eaten immediately after the growing season. Most winter varieties need to "season" for at least a month, sometimes longer, to allow the starch to turn to sugar. The large Hubbard squash that we grow aren't ready to eat until well past Christmas.

It was too nice of a day to sit at home. Though fishing was lousy it felt good to simply get out on the water and had I brought another pair of shorts, I'd have gone swimming before coming home.

My favorite fishin' hole was long on looks but short on fish Monday afternoon.

Sargie had to close Monday night and wasn't home until past 9:30. She opens today and is up early this morning which made a short night.

I'm going for my usual walk first thing today then plan to mow the weeds along the north side of the barn and around the equipment in the old popple woods. I really should hook up the bush hog, but the area that needs mowing only takes about four rounds when using the tractor, hardly worth all the effort.

I'll probably spend the rest of the day in shop. First thing will be to turn a new handle for my favorite hand trowel. The old one finally rotted away after years of use. I need to make one more cut/carved name and there's another puzzle to finish cutting on the scroll saw.

It's time to get this uploaded and begin the day.

Rather than grow red radishes with white insides, I grew the opposite, those with red interiors and white exteriors.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Beautiful bright yellow buttercups growing alongside the road