Smoothie recipe and Pa goes a canoodlin'

When you get stitches removed, are they supposed to leave two bumps at either end from pulling the skin together, as if there is a mini-barbell buried in the skin? Does the nurse say "This looks really good," every time she removes stitches, or just when the actually look good?

Current obsession: Banana Smoothie
Puree 1 cup milk (soy or otherwise), 1/2 cup soft tofu, 1 banana. Add berries, honey, or vanilla if desired. Add 5 cubes of ice, blend until smooth.
Mmm.

Read: The Jane Austen Book Club . Still stunned that the book made absolutely no attempt at having a plot. There was no progression; nothing happened.

Watched: Season 2, volume 5 of Little House on the Prairie, where Pa appears to be canoodling with the Widow Thurman but really is repairing her wood trimming in order to buy a set of china from her for Ma; and where the county levies taxes against everyone and the Russian family we've never seen before loses their farm, but all is OK because America is better than Russia and they raise the U.S. flag that Mary made to celebrate the centennial.

Ode to my husband

He walks in, looking all cute and skinny
carrying bags of groceries
and a plan for dinner

He doctors my poor throbbing toe
Wanting to help
but not wanting to cause me pain

He calls me monster-face,
tolerates my snuggling,
and remembers to pill the cat.

I tell him that he's already won
the husband of the year award
But he rolls his eyes

Banana cream pie, ticks, and Chronology.

Snapshots from the weekend:

Farm:
Row after row after row of vegetables, all coming up in perfect lines and some flowering prettily

Sauna, smelling of cedar and salt, lit by the glow of the fire

Banana cream pie and coffee made in a mason jar for breakfast, ate outside

Prairie:
Hiking and camping in beautiful knobby green prairie hills sloping down to small lakes and kettles. The absence of trees making me feel as if I were in another state.

Ticks, scampering across a back, climbing up legs, being pulled out of hair.

City:
A long shower, scrubbing every toe.

Faces of friends I haven't seen in awhile, gathering around a table, playing Chronology with unabashed affection for history and learning.


Farm

Seasonal self improvement

Goals for summer:
1. Complete one good home improvement project (retaining wall, here I come)
2. Learn new skills (possibilities include refinishing furniture, baking bread, and developing a stupid human trick, which I lack)
3. Wear sunscreen (so long tans of yesteryear, I'll miss you)
4. Have spontaneous adventures (detailing what they are would ruin the "spontaneous" part)
5. Explore the nighttime (Olympic-worthy sleeping skills preclude 3 p.m. moon bathing sessions).