May 25, 2021 - Tuesday evening

74 degrees/rain/windy

Pentoga Road

I'm writing tonight as Sargie and I will be leaving bright and early in the morning for Green Bay. It's time for our monthly sojourn south.

My new (to me) camera arrived today. Unwilling to purchase something new, I opted to bid on a used model for about a third the price. I can't find a scratch or any evidence it's ever taken a picture. My guess is that is was an open box item and still has a full two year warrantee.

So, pardon a few of the random pictures that follow. I had to take the new Fuji XP for a test drive.

Tuesday was a scorcher. The thermometer registered nearly 85 degrees before a cold front came marching through. Though we received little rain, the wind howled with gusts that were forecast to blow up to 60 mph.

 I was sweating profusely by the time I arrived home from my early morning walk. The temperature was already over 70 degrees, the humidity even higher.

As mentioned previously, spring has sprung in the UP and it appears the world around us is in blossom.

I spent much of the morning in the garden. I'm afraid my season didn't start on a very good note, especially when I tangled the chicken wire on which the snap peas grow with the tines of the tiller.

In the end, the tiller was freed, the trellis remade, and this year's crop of snap peas planted.

I also hauled eight loads of dirt to fill the holes from where the two large honey berry bushes were removed earlier this spring. Now that the area is level, we'll be covering it with landscape cloth and chips in the near future.

Sargie wanted to empty the storage container of our summer patio furniture and other goodies. It's a job neither of us look forward to, but one that always feels good once we're finished.

I'm not sure how many trips we made from the container to the house, but much of the afternoon was spent going back and forth.

Empty of furniture, it was time to close the doors. 

While Sargie was arranging the patio, front porch, and yard, I made my way to the black berry patch in the garden where I removed all of last year's dead canes.

We brought the spikes, vines, and flowers outside that had overwintered in the basement. They not only survived, most grew and the geraniums are flowering.

We had a pleasant surprise this afternoon when I uncovered several bunches of very healthy vinca vines that were buried last fall under several feet of leaves. We decided rather than throw them out, we'd try burying them. Nothing ventured/nothing gained and it worked.

Pentoga Road has become busier these past few years. Ten years ago, we might have seen a half dozen vehicles drive by in an entire day. It's still the same in the winter, but during the summer months when visitors are rampant, that many or more may drive by in an hour.

 Living in a valley at the very bottom of two steep inclines, cars and trucks have been zooming past at speeds more suitable for a busy highway.

Growing frustrated, I even stepped out onto the road the other day to slow a runaway dump truck that had repeatedly sped past. Believe it or not, it worked. The driver crept by during each pass for the rest of the day. 

To help reinforce a lower speed, Sargie and I put out signs this afternoon. With grandbabies and a pup that visit frequently, it's time to slow things down.

So far, the signs have worked as we noticed what few cars that drove by were going considerably slower than usual. 

We plan to leave Wednesday morning before 8 o'clock. With a shopping list that includes household supplies, groceries, plus yard and gardening supplies, it promises to be a long day.

Time to wrap this up and think about heading upstairs.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

After a lengthy absence, Neighbor Alaska Curt is back for the summer!

May 25, 2021 - Tuesday morning

65 degrees/cloudy/windy

Pentoga Road

It was good to reunite with our friend and part time neighbor, Curt, yesterday. Opting to remain an Alaskan resident, the former warden can only be out of state for so many days a year and still receive Alaskan benefits, so we only see him a few months a year. 

Retired, Curt is also a long distance walker and has developed a love for riding bicycle. I've been after him for several years to hike the AT with me, but his response is that he spent enough years as a warden sleeping in a tent on the ground, that those days are over. 

Welcome back to the neighborhood, Curt. All of us on and around Pentoga Road have missed you.

I left home Monday morning at first light for my walk and dodged deer for most of the way. 

The backhoe was towed to the plant soon after and I  was pleasantly surprised how straight it followed the Blazer. After a quick visit with Yooper Brother Mark, I shoveled a load of wood chips/shavings into barrels before heading home. 

In fact, three trips were made to the plant yesterday for a total of eighteen barrels. These aren't your commercial kiln dried shavings and chips. All are green, wet, and heavy.

It came as little surprise that I could feel my heart beating in my arms and shoulders last night. The mind may be that of an energetic twenty year old, but the body is definitely much older.

 

Sargie and I worked steadily throughout the day. When she wasn't with me in the garden or loading more chips, the girl was carrying yard and patio goodies from the storage container. 

New this year is our Elf Tree. It's where any and all grandbabies, nieces, nephews, and other munchkins, can visit with real Pentoga Road elves.

I've heard that if a little boy or girl are really really really good and remember to always say yes please and no thank you and promise to never hassle the very nice people who live here, the elves will occasionally leave surprises and treats for them to find.

I know that makes me want to mind my manners. Well, there's that and Sargie's long arm of the law.

We weren't the only ones who were busy on Pentoga Road yesterday. The county road crew, mostly female college students on summer break, came through filling cracks in the road with hot tar.

We supplied them with bottles of cold water as they worked past the house, thanking them for keeping Pentoga Road in such good shape.

It was a hot and tired couple who finally quit working late yesterday afternoon. Sargie was ready to lay another load of chips in the garden, but her husband, who'd been up since 4 AM, wasn't nearly as eager to extend the day. 

It's finally daylight and time to head out for a quick four mile walk. Today's agenda looks much like yesterday's. With the temperatures to dip below freezing over the next two to three nights, I'd like to finish the aisles in the garden so we'll be ready to plant next Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day. 

I also promised Sargie I'd help her retrieve the lawn pretties and patio furniture from the storage container. In other words, it's going to be another busy day.

Time to get moving.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Sargie's completing her Sunday afternoon project, constructing the new garden windmill.

May 24, 2021 - Monday morning

50 degrees/cloudy skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

After a high in the low 50's on Sunday, today's forecast calls for temperatures to reach near 80. We had the same conditions last spring that made gardening a real challenge. This year appears no different.

Sunday was a mixed bag. I skipped my morning walk in favor of being lazy. With breezy, cold, misty, conditions outside, it seemed the thing to do.

Sargie and I eventually went for our ride, but not before stopping at the deli to pick up a box of sizzling hot chicken tenders, fresh from the deep fryer, and a couple of pounds of sliced Sunday ham.

We started the Sunday tradition of munching on chicken and ham while chugging around the rural roads of the UP years ago and had gotten out of the habit. Much like a traveling picnic, we enjoyed yesterday's culinary foray into the national forest a great deal.

Back home, I was out the door and pulling the lawn sweeper over the yard. There were piles of heavy clippings everywhere from mowing the day before.

I noticed Sargie had been gathering some tools and when I came inside to take a break, she had nearly completed the garden windmill. Assembling it in the living room, I helped her thread it out back door to its final place near the pond.

I was initially hesitant to leave her next year while hiking the AT. Learning and taking on more and more responsibility, my Sargie has shown that she can do almost anything I'm capable of and in some cases, even better. 

I'm sure proud of her.

Speaking of the Appalachian Trail, I was looking at the extended three month forecast (February, March, and April, 2022) for next February's departure from northern Georgia and initially, it appears the weather will be working in my favor. 

As everyone knows, the weatherman is never wrong, especially eight months in advance.

My AT hiking partner, seventy-three year old Pokealong, is leaving today for the mountains of West Virginia, near his home, to undergo a weeklong series of day hikes and equipment shakedowns. 

Neither of us may be spring chickens, but we're tough old birds.

Macrea and I are doing the same in June, either on the Superior Trail in Minnesota or the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin.

On today's agenda: I'll be towing the backhoe to the shop as soon as I arrive home from my walk. While there, I think I'll get more wood shavings for the garden. There's a leak somewhere in the roof of the storage shed that needs attending and an 8 foot piece of gutter to install. Looks to be a busy day ahead so I'd better get started.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Hambone's 7th birthday party was celebrated ala Harry Potter Saturday afternoon.

May 23, 2021 - Sunday morning

54 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'd forgotten that Bone's birthday party had a Harry Potter theme and all participants were to come in costume.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I've never read a Harry Potter book, never seen a Harry Potter movie, and certainly don't care for the author's political views. In fact, the only contact I've had with Harry Potter was when I was dragged onto a committee to meet with parents who didn't want their children exposed to the Harry Potter genre, saying it was satanic and then, I mentally checked out of the meeting and let my brain take me to a happier place.

So we were met at the door with exclamations of, "WHERE'S YOUR COSTUME?"

Anticipating that we might not be donning the proper attire, the rest of the family was ready and we were soon dressed properly.

Sargie the brunette

... or Sargie the blonde?

I don't know, I kind of agree with Marilyn Monroe when she starred in the movie, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and further reiterated something every married man knows, that Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend.

Even Pawpaw, for all his hard mannered ways, didn't escape having to wear a costume, well, sort of.

The house was filled with aunts and uncles, grandparents and great grandparents, the oldest being Grandpa Glenn.

At 97 years of age and still living alone in his longtime home, Grandpa Glenn (as everyone calls him) hasn't let the age of technology pass him by. He still checks his phone for the occasional message or missed call.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Bashaw were  entertained by Cheeks for well over an hour.

Games were played, one similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

How about drop the clothespin in the bottle?

We sang, we played, and Hambone opened gifts. 

But birthday party aside, it was a family time, one that all sides celebrated.

Two Grandmas

Grandma Sargie with Squirt

Granny Joyce with Cheeks

It was past 9 before we arrived home on Pentoga Road last night, nearly bedtime. 

Today's going to be a somewhat lazy one. The new garden windmill needs to be assembled. I cut the grass Saturday morning before leaving for the party, so the lawn sweeper will be pulled over the yard. 

No doubt Sargie will want to take a ride and I'll need my weekly Sunday afternoon nap.

Yep, looks to be a busy one.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...