Brush Work

Rained during the night, but B was over at nine this morning for us to clear brush on the edges of the driveway. He carried his chainsaw and I carried long-handled loppers, and we took out anything that might slap Scott in the face. We're at the top of his list, so he should be out with his smaller bulldozer any day. B and I were both drenched by the time we finished as everything we were cutting was full of water. I'm thrilled we're getting this done, as the big rains of July had trashed the already tattered remains of the drive and I'd like for the Jeep to last a couple of years. Back at the top of the hill we chatted for a few minutes, and it seems the bear has visited B's place a couple of times. Big piles of distinctive scat (filled with blackberry), and a bird-feeder, on a three-quarter inch pipe, bent down to the ground. It'll be nice to be able to park closer to the house. TR had asked me to cook a rabbit, and now he and Megan will be able to drive in. When I got back to the house I got out some wild-game cookbooks and read rabbit recipes, and in one of them "The Wild Palate" found numerous recipes using acorn meal. I've had this cookbook for decades, and never noticed. The leaching instructions are quite good too. Makes me wish I'd collected more last fall. I was starved, from the physical work, walking up and down the hill, so I fixed a cheese omelet, baked beans on toast, and a sliced tomato. With a second double-espresso, this was a great meal. Ronnie's tomatoes are perfect right now and I'm eating one every day, usually just sliced on toast (butter, dressed with white balsamic), and a goodly sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper. I make a note to pick up lobster at Kroger (there are two-packs of small ones, from Canada) and I was listening to a show on NPR today that said they were at a ten-year low in price. I love lobster salad, Boston Lettuce, sliced sweet onions, sliced radishes, and thin slices of red pepper, lobster and aioli. Any monarch, with his head screwed on straight, would eat this several times a week. Lobster in cream sauce on toast is a treat, but that whole 'on toast' thing, I see, could become a problem. Almost anything is good on toast. Marmalade, for instance, which is bitter and awful, or a single malt that tastes like railroad ties. Say what you want, say what you will, I only do what I do because I can't do anything else.