Like many mischievous little boys, Spriggy doesn’t go to the barber any more than he has to. He normally doesn’t see the groomer until later in the spring, but they had an opening and the day was warm; who doesn’t believe they’d be better off with less clothing on a fair day?
The weather has since turned chillier. Bad idea.
Still, every haircut reveals a new dog. We see, once again, that he’s no show specimen — his head is too large for his body. His ears seem to get larger every year. (Once upon a time they folded over in cute little triangles; now he’s Yoda Boy.) Sometimes he sprouts new spots that go away during the next Furry Period. This time they cut his eyebrows down, so his eyes look bigger and his face more vulnerable. Needless to say, he is workin’ that for all the cheese nibbles and peanut-butter bread crusts he can.
At least he’ll be suitable to greet this weekend’s company. Any suggestions on what I should make for dinner? I’m stumped.
Bloggage:
Bob Caylor, mentioned in the Jim Barbieri piece below, weighed in today with his own appreciation, shorter than mine and more affectionate. Recommended: As the wide world judges a man, he may have been a relentlessly agitated fish in too small a pond. But Bluffton was better off for his devotion.
brian stouder said on April 4, 2006 at 11:08 am
your picture of your dog seems to capture a soulful look.
As for dinner – I suggest a homage to ‘scalped Spriggy’ –
Scalloped potatoes, hot dogs, hush puppies, shaved ham, corn on the cobb (big ears), fillet of sole…….
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Dorothy said on April 4, 2006 at 1:02 pm
I can suggest one dish that is my husband’s specialty. It’s a green bean dish and mighty tasty. Let me see if I can recite the recipe:
Fill a veggie bag in the produce department with fresh green beans. Also buy garlic, a piece of ginger, and some shallots in the produce department.
Clean and snap the beans, removing the ends. Put olive oil and a wee pat of margarine or butter in a large frying pan. Cut up several cloves of garlic (you decide how much), slice the ginger VERY thin, (shave it like they do the garlic in “Goodfellas”) and cut up the shallots after skinning them. Add these 3 items to the frying pan after you’ve warmed the olive oil and melted the butter. After the garlic, ginger and shallots cook a few minutes, add the green beans. Pepper them well, and a dash or two of salt won’t hurt. Saute well until beans are cooked but still a little crisp.
This is not a complicated dish and always tastes perfect with just about every meal. Smells damn fine when it’s cooking, too.
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Mindy said on April 4, 2006 at 7:14 pm
A geneticist friend once told me that humans’ ears and noses continue to grow throughout their lives, which is why very old people often look comical. Don’t know if this is also true for dogs. Maybe it is if Spriggy’s ears keep getting bigger.
How about a pork roast to go with Dorothy’s green beans? I like to take a frozen boneless pork roast, two to four pounds, salt and pepper it, wrap it tightly in foil, and put it in a baking dish. Slip it into a 300 oven and let it roast all day. If you want it in four or five hours, bump up the heat to 350. Unwrap it an hour before dinner and put it back into the oven to brown. Mmmmm, tender and tasty. And easy.
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basset said on April 4, 2006 at 8:03 pm
meanwhile… we grilled some special 25th-anniversary steaks tonight.
which I burned.
aaaaack.
at this date and time in 1981 our reception was in full progress… probably the only time in my life I will ever find occasion to wear a gray tux in a UAW hall in Kalamazoo.
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nancy said on April 4, 2006 at 9:38 pm
Congratulations. I assume it’s your hair that’s gray now. Fitting, for a silver anniversary.
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basset said on April 4, 2006 at 10:18 pm
well, some of it is anyway… ya never know, this may be the night she finally picks to slit my throat while I sleep
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Dorothy said on April 5, 2006 at 5:15 am
Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Basset!
A nod to Mindy’s pork roast idea. But we like to pour a bottle of beer all over a roast, salt and pepper it first, and slow roast it in the oven. Usuallly it’s thawed, not frozen, when we start. Or partially thawed.
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John said on April 5, 2006 at 6:27 am
My tip of the hat too to the Bassetts! 25 years is a lot of water under the bridge. Here’s to another 25 and may they all be happy ones!
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basset said on April 5, 2006 at 10:40 pm
as they used to say in Terre Haute… thank you muchly.
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basset said on April 5, 2006 at 10:42 pm
and I tried to put a little smiley sign at the end of that… in other words, left-arrow capital G right-arrow… but for some reason I’ve never been able to make that sign show up here. maybe the board thinks it’s HTML or something.
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