Crabby Jacknophobia

Up near 730am. Woke to light rain. something I wasn't expecting. Reminded me of the Saturday prior. Warm, too - 67 degrees. Drank coffee, fooled around online for a couple hours before heading out for a run where I ran three miles.

Mindy slept until almost 11am. By then the skies were clearing.

I asked Mindy what she wanted to do, offering a bike ride as an option. She wasn't interested in a bike ride.

While enjoying more coffee from the deck, I cleaned, sharpened, and oiled all of our clippers and hedge trimmers.
We soon decided to simply stay home and clear out more of the bank along the stream. We'd already invested two days but still have as much or more to yet to do. We planned on picking up where we left off the Sunday before we left for S.C., which would involve clearing out the few remain branches still sipping into the pond between the stairs I built into the earth for access to the pond and the front bridge.

Into my hip waders and into the pond. Mindy worked bankside pulling up whatever I cut down and then managing the mess into large piles. As usual, turned out being far more than we anticipated. By the time we finished cutting and hauling out of the water we had four or five enormous piles in the side yard needing pared down and ultimately carried to the compost pile.

Spent only an hour or so in the water this time. I exited the water covered in mucky mud and couldn't wait to get out of the hip waders. It took probably twice that to cut up and carry all the debris to the compost pile. That might be the most grueling part. Then, after all that there was tool clean-up. Sprayed out my hip waders then hung them from the pergola to dry.

By the time we finished up it was warm and sunny. Worked up on heck of a sweat despite it not being hot, though it did reach 82 degrees. In all, we invested another 3 hours to pond clean-up. We were both tuckered. While Mindy headed in for a shower, I watered all the flowers before heading in.

Mindy & I agreed to do dinner at Mitchell's Fish Market. Haven't been there for a couple years and I was craving crab legs. We both were showered, dressed and ready for dinner before 6pm. We headed out early hoping we might beat the crowd. Drove the Pilot.

We beat the crowd. Not only was there ample parking available, but we were taken to a table right away and that was without a reservation. A lot of people may not realize it, but Mitchell's Fish Market is no longer owned and operated by Cameron Mitchell. Instead, it's owned by Ruth's Chris, just like Mitchell's Steak House downtown. As such, our expectations are somewhat diminished despite Ruth's Chris desire to be thought of as a upper echelon
restaurateur.

I considered a draught beer, but in the end opted for a Jack & Coke instead. Mindy went with a glass of wine. We ordered their crab and artichoke dip as an appetizer. That was delicious. I ordered King Crab legs while Mindy ordered scallops and shrimp. Again, I was craving crab legs. I ordered a 2nd Jack & Coke. I also enjoyed a Caesar salad. It was just OK. Our servers timing was goo. Our entrees arrived right on queue. Visually, I was a little disappointed with my King crab legs. Not only did they look rather small, but I also didn't get a claw. Instead, just three medium sized legs. They were tasty, though, and must also admit that I was full when finished. I didn't eat but a bite or two of the accompanying mashed potatoes and veggies. They weren't very good. A dessert came with my entree. I let Mindy choose which one. She selected strawberry short cake.

Mindy agreed to get the tab - her turn. Tried using a Mitchell' gift card but it wasn't one they accept. No biggie. We'll use it soon at a Cameron Mitchell restaurant. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'll give Fish Market a '6'. I offered that we stop at Barley's on our way home. I knew Mindy would say no, and I was half kidding anyway. We took 670 home.

At home we sat on the deck listening to more Pandora from my smart phone and Bose dock. I lit our Tiki torches too, and drank Jack & Cokes. Later, we turned the music down in favor of the sounds of the season, crickets, tree frogs, and bullfrogs. Can't recall having tree frogs in Columbus before. We do now, and we love it. Sat outside until sometime after 10pm. Mindy headed in before me, irritated when I started lighting expired wasp nest on fire. She didn't want to take any chances of there being any wasps still living in them. I knew better. I joined her in bed about 30 minutes later where we watched a little NFL Network before I drifted off to sleep.