I was the slaughterer of plant life this afternoon. I didn't really get rolling until a little before 15:00, which was the end of Suzy's Red Emma's shift.

Every year I've been living here, it's been summer before I realize that the tree and bushes have grown so tightly against the house that I can't get in to actually trim it down. This year I realized this early and decided to do something about it.

Armed only with a pair of hand clippers, I covered myself in Off and climbed under the plant, clipping everything that came in contact with the house. Once I had got about a foot and a half worth of gap, I brought the ladder up and removed what was wound through the gutters and the side of the house.

Once that was done, I raked out all the debris that the wind blows under the bushes and turned up the soil a little around them, then trimmed all the other round bushes and packed up everything into yard waste bags for pickup next week.

The lawn isn't quite ready for mowing yet, but it will be by mid-week, especially if we get more rain on Monday or Tuesday.

We did our bi-monthly trip to B.J.'s Wholesale Club and picked up lots of frozen stuff and energy bars to match our lifestyle. Suzy's good enough at regularly preparing dinners and portable lunches that I don't have to go with all pre-prepared foods, but we're both so loopy in the mornings that a PowerBar and a cup of coffee are about the best breakfast we can manage.

I was delighted to see BJ's gas was 2.13 a gallon and filled up half a tank just to save a dollar. I'm going to try to time it to our trips there from now on, because it's a much better deal when prices get higher.

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