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Grill - It's a 38 Special. Smokin' black steel... No, it's not a gun. It's a ... a ... Barbecue? Smith & Wesson makes grills?! That's what we said! Not only that, it's a line of grills named after their famous firearms that are what they call "wood pellet smokers". The grill doesn't run on propane or charcoal. It's fueled by wood pellets. Once Michelle heard that, she was half way sold. She thought charcoal was good, but kind of a pain. Propane scared her a bit. But indirect cooking over a wood flame? She sent me to check it out further. I did so after Claire's gymnastics class this afternoon. After telling Michelle what I saw, I was back a few hours later with Claire. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill tonight. Michelle said she liked the smell of the wood fire better than a charcoal grill.

Claire - Claire went with me to pick up the grill because I promised her I'd take her out for a treat afterwards. I wanted to give her a reward for doing well on her piano recital earlier that afternoon. This past week, after over a month of "Coming Soon" style advertising, J. Beaners finally started selling Gelato. Claire, of course, is always interested in trying something fancy. If you ever go there, be forewarned — their 'small' size is plenty! It includes two scoopfuls. Claire had Vanilla and Coconut. I had Peanut Butter and Chocolate. They also had some exotic flavors like Amaretto, Tiramisu, and Key Lime. Following in true Bob "Ice Cream is my middle name" Bilik tradition, I'll have to personally ascertain which flavor is best. Of course, I'll need to keep a stash of lactase pills in the car for all those times the gravitation pull of J. Beaners sucks my car into their parking lot. “I can't pull away... can't pull away!”

Weather - Unlike today's on again, off again clouds and showers, tomorrow is supposed to be a gorgeous day. It looks like it'll be another day marked with lawn mowing. Like last weekend, the grass looks very long again, so it'll probably take extra time to get through it all. Unlike last weekend, we have a new visitor in the lawn: mushrooms! Because of the moisture and sudden drop in temperature, we have hundreds of mushrooms nestled in the grass. Amazing isn't it? You don't plant them and suddenly, bam! they're everywhere! In years past we'd have a few clusters here and there in some of the shadier parts of the lawn, but this past week... wow! Where did they all come from so suddenly? Besides it being cool and damp, there must be something about the soil this year that's encouraging them to thrive like this. pH? Nitrogen? The clover? Who knows?