Neighborly crocus!

I struggled with what to call this entry. It’s a mishmash of stuff really. I’m sure you are wondering how it all goes together. Truth is; it doesn’t!

Alex continues to improve daily. Tomorrow I don’t think I am even going to give him the same amount of pain medications.  Tonight I will start weaning him off and within a few days he will no longer need them. I don’t think he needs them now but I don’t want to stop him, shall we say, cold turkey.

I won’t be here tomorrow. I have to report to jury duty!*** Blech. I’ve never had to do this before and I am not looking forward to. Especially since I have to drive down to Paterson (not a pleasant place) to do it. I will no doubt spend the day in the selection room with a bunch of other potential jurors waiting around. I hope they see something in me that they don’t want in a juror and sent me packing. I am taking my iPad and a good book.

I am doubly not happy as the weather is truly glorious and will continue so during this week. Not a week I want to spend inside a stuffy courthouse!

Not in my yard but neighbor Luke’s. I love the striping.

My guest room do-over is now on hold until I know about this jury thing. Last week it was Alex; this week jury duty. Excuses, excuses. But really, I can’t move forward unless I am home. Very frustrating but I’m sure it will all sort itself out.

If you live in the U.S. and have been watching the news lately, you are familiar with the term “pink slime.” It’s a by-product of beef that has had the fat spun down out of it and ammonia added in to the whole (rather) digesting mix. This process is widely used (who knew?) in ground beef aka hamburger.

Now, I have to admit that one of my favorite meals is a really good hamburger. I might have to rethink that. When we make our trips back to Colorado/Wyoming for our cabin trips we are always struck by just how good the hamburger we buy at the grocery tastes. Like real beef.

With that in mind we set out to grind our own chuck yesterday. We bought a chuck roast at the Market Basket in Franklin Lakes (stomping grounds of the Real Housewives of New Jersey), unearthed the meat grinder and ground our own “hamburger.”

In the second photo please notice the dog (not in focus) in the background. You can just make out the blaze. It’s Alex.

The whole grinding process got attention. (Bella in front; Alex in back)

No pink slime here — guaranteed! The hamburgers were delicious! None of my photos came out and I think that was because I was so excited to eat it that I didn’t have the patience to get the shot right. You’ll just have to imagine in your mind’s eye how wonderful it looked and how good it tasted.

If you don’t hear from me for a few days you’ll know I’m being held captive at the Passaic County Courthouse!

***Actually as I am typing this entry I don’t know for certain that I will in fact have to report to Jury Duty tomorrow, but since my Juror number is 0004 I am guessing they won’t cut it off at Juror 0003. It’s a given I will have to show up.