The Weekend and An End of The Summer Meal

The youngest KidAdult and I tackled some much needed household chores this weekend.

On Saturday we tackled the garage. Or the garage tackled us?

When TBHITW died his family thought they would help me by cleaning out his work truck. They took everything out, tools, rain gear, hats, gloves, music and highly sensitive technological equipment and stacked it all in the garage. Ug.

I had the geologist I hired inventory all the high tech stuff and contacted an environmental supply house to have it appraised. I was worried about all that expensive equipment sitting in the garage over the winter. Enter the good guys. The geologist / friend / employee offered me double the appraisal and came on Saturday to pick everything up. I didn't know how I would feel about that but handled it well. It's just equipment, right?

On Sunday, a beautiful autumn day, the kidadult and I spent the entire day doing yard work. He mowed the grass while I ripped out the last vestige of the summer gardens. We mowed, raked, and yanked for hours. It felt good to have the sun on my back and my hands busy with hard, manuel labor.

By late afternoon we were both tired (a good tired!) and hungry.

I marinated a small flat iron steak, some wild caught NJ sea scallops and freshly picked sweet corn in grapeseed oil, fresh chopped parsley, thyme and garlic and set everything on low on the grill.



After dinner, as the sun began to set, the kidadult made us a fire in the outdoor fireplace.


As teenagers are apt to do, after about 30 minutes he wandered inside.

I poured myself a glass wine and sat under a clear sky, stars twinkling over head and stared into the flames for hours.

It was a good day.