Gratuitous Llama Bachelor Posting (TM) - Final Stretch Division

Spent the morning mowing and trimming the yard in anticipation of the return of the Girls tomorrow, as I received peremptory instructions this week to the effect that if I thought I was going to "sneak off to do [my] projects" once everyone was home, I had another thing coming. Did the full monty, too, by which I mean that in addition to the yard itself, I also weedwacked the ditch by the road (gas-powered scything at its most tedious) and dealt with the little clearing behind the back fence, too. Hot work, but I congratulate myself that I got it done early, leaving the afternoon for fun indoor projects like.......changing sheets!

Tomorrow morning I have to deal with the garden. The seven year old, nicely balancing her truthfulness and good nature, said just before they left, "Gee, Daddy, the garden looks like a jungle. It's still beautiful, though." She's right - the garden does look like a jungle, with everything overgrown and going to seed. I don't really mind this, as I both like to encourage my plants to reseed themselves and also find something aesthetically pleasing about the tired, dishevelled look of things - a Dryad spent from the dance of High Summer and resting in anticipation of the relief of early Fall. The weeds, however, are another matter. Fortunately, we got just enough rain last week that the ground is right for pulling 'em, which is what I plan on doing.

Oh, one other thing about the garden. I dunno whether it's the combination of heat and lack of rain we've had of late, but I simply have never seen so many berries coming out on the raspberry canes before. Simply covered with 'em.

So that's that. One more night of bachelorhood and it's back to the usual domestic schedule. By way of wrapping things up, I'm going to cook myself a big ol' steak tonight. As far as I'm concerned, the only real way to do a steak is to get a cut at least three inches thick, build up a corner of the barbeque so that it's extremely hot, and cook the thing for no more than about two minutes tops on either side. That's the way Dad always did it and I remember how it used to horrify young persons that my brother, sister and I would bring home to dinner to see us diving into meat which, as far as our guests were concerned, was practically still kicking. I'll accompany it with some oven-roasted potato slices done over with olive oil and garlic, together with a salad involving lots of romaine. I've also got a bottle of Tio Pepe Fino in the fridge and will pick up a nice Beaujolais, or perhaps a Salice Salentino if I'm feeling more adventerous. After dins, I plan to settle in and watch The Blue Max with George "I Love It When A Plan Comes Together" Peppard. (I've been wanting to do this ever since watching the dud Flyboys put it into my head to go back to a real WWI air war movie.)

All in all, tho, I can't wait for the family to get back.