Some Little Lessons

My friend Ed was asking about cantaloupes a couple of weeks ago. He's got a lot. Mine appeared to be doing well. Seems to be a great year for cantaloupe. But in the conversation, I happened to mention my small miniature plot of so-called garden. When I said that I had planted both cantaloupe and cucumbers in this tiny patch, Ed's eyebrows went up. He went on to tell me how he'd done the same thing one year, and the flowers of both vines cross-pollinated each other. Once he said it, it made perfect sense: the vines are similar, the seeds are nearly identical, and the flowers look very much alike to me. So a little more time passed. We harvested more cucumbers. We are watching the melons grow and ripen. But the other day I found these:
I guess we did cross-pollinate a few. Fat fat things, they are. And funky tasting. Not terrible, but nothing I want to use in anyplace where I'd normally put either cukes nor melons.


Somebody has been wanting to try beer-butt chicken for a long time. I seldom buy whole chickens, though. This week, leg quarters of Smart Chicken were unavailable, so I bought a whole bird. Here's our opportunity to try that recipe.
I almost think she looks like she's kneeling in prayer, albeit minus her little head... Anyway, the chicken was very good. But not good enough to warrant the mess of the beer can nor the costly amount of butter used in the recipe. Next time I'd just as soon crock-pot the birdie.


Men who build Belegarth swords must know how to sew. Andrew got a lesson today in deciding how much fabric, what order to piece it together in, and how to run the handy-dandy sewing machine. (Maybe we should've looked online before we started to wing it!) His weapons turned out lovely!