Picture Sunday

Hello, end of weekenders, and welcome to another edition of Picture Sunday. And I'll tell you up front that this edition of Picture Sunday has a distinct lack of pictures in it. The one that's there is something, though.

It was a weekend at home for me. Friday chilling, then Mr M expressed an interest in getting out of town on Saturday, so he came down here. Seems I spent all damn day Saturday on my feet. I went to two groceries, shopped a little for Granny as well, put away groceries, and made dinner. And walked a lot with Milo.

See, the only area in which Milo is not an excellent boy is in the general area of the leash. He's just not a good leash walker. My cousin Jacob came down on Thursday to meet Milo (in love with him), and brought me some treats she's used with her dog, a different leash and an anti-pull harness. So every night we've been having Puppy Practice where we walk with the harness and the leash. Yes, I'm out walking my dog on two different leashes, and I'm sure the few people in town who don't already think I'm a loon are now convinced, but I don't really care, it really helps him get the hang of leash walking to where he's not jumping and lunging and playing and barking. And so now he's doing so well we tend to take much longer walks, all the way down the sidewalk and back, in the heat, and damn, I'm tired.

Anyway, meatloaf and red potatoes and a movie Saturday night, then today I'd planned to spend the day cleaning my hovel of a house. You know it's getting bad when Mr M notices the unbelievable clutter. But the day started with another long dog walk, then when I got back I got a call from my dad.

It's an odd thing, my brother-in-law. He's not odd, but as a person who doesn't own a motorcycle and has no intention of owning one, he decided this weekend to take the certified motorcycle safety course. It's the same motorcycle course Taylor took when he bought his bike, and I think Brine's reasoning was that there might be a time when he'd be called upon to move the bike for some reason and he wanted to know how to ride it.

Anyway, the phone call from my dad was telling me that this morning, as the b-in-law was finishing up his course, there was a slight problem. Well, not really slight, he wrecked and broke his leg.

So I spent some time on the phone calling my sister at the hospital, asking her if she wanted me up there or if I needed to bring her anything, and she said no, but stand by just in case. Which I did, except after all that walking this morning, my standing by included a nice hour-long nap, then I loafed some while doing laundry, then it was time for dinner, and to make a long story short (too late), I didn't clean squat.

I got the word late this afternoon that they'd contacted a friend of theirs who happens to be an orthopedic surgeon - always a good friend to have - and that surgery was needed and this guy would do it, and they were getting ready to transport him to a different hospital to get it going.

I finally heard from the sister again at about 9 pm, and apparently it was worse than suspected, and it was suspected to be pretty bad. Brine had like six different breaks in his leg, in two spots. There are pins and plates and possibly satellite dishes in there, and to be honest, he's pretty lucky to have a leg.

Why do people want to ride motorcycles?

So that brings us to tonight, and I'm sitting here dreading trash duty (I don't know why, since I've already done poo duty today and nothing can be worse than that) and getting ready for tomorrow and the new week.

OK, now, blogees, we have something special for you. A recipe du jour! And this one's special because it was done (from beginning to end, actually) by my boy Sherman. So I'll hand it over to him to introduce. Take it away, Sherman!

Hi, folks! I guess you all know that I have a big garden every year where I grow vegetables for us, then sell the leftovers at my vegetable stand I have at Mr M's. I give the money from the stand to charities. Sometimes I like to experiment. I think Bet has showed you pictures of my Shermanhead Melon, Shermanhead Peach, Shermanhead Carrot, and Shermanhead Squash. (They're really tasty, too!) Then one year I worked really hard at growing a chocolate cake plant, and last year I was really proud (if I say so myself) of my Shermanhead Pickle, an actual dill pickle that grows in the ground.

I've been working for over a year on this summer's new plant. And I think I've hit on something special. I picked the first one today and it tastes really great! So here is my very own Shermanhead Meatloaf.
























This is an all-vegetable meatloaf. The vegetables seeds are fused together so that when the plant grows and is ready to be picked, it's a real live meatloaf. (Minus the meat.) We had ours tonight with some carrots and asparagus, which also come from my garden, which is at Mr M's. If you're in B'burg in the late summer, come by my stand. I'll have all kinds of good natural products. And my new friend Chilly Willy will be selling snow cones!

Now, take it away, Bet!

Thank you, Sherman. You're a wonder, you are.

Happy week.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* I forgot to tell that I spent a good portion of the morning trying to get some live-action film of Milo. Since he's kind of impeding my Comfy Chair Cinema-making, I thought maybe I could make a little film starring him. He's not cooperating, though. He doesn't even pounce and leap when playing fetch when I have the camera turned on him.