That is a Rose of Sharon. Again, a very hardy shrub. Cutting the flowers is fine.

flea knows everything about All the Flowers! Thank you, ma'am. Also, go you on not killing all the children. I know very well how hard that can be some days.

Excellent news about the new connections, msbelle. My neighbor just brought us ribs and I feel blessed!

I'm trying to figure out what to make for Rosh Hashanah dinner. I'm going to be alone, but I want to make something somewhat festive. I think I've decided that sufficiently festive will be some soup, a main course with sides, and a dessert. Now I just need to figure out what all those things should be. It doesn't really help that I'll have to make pretty much everything a few days in advance, and I want stuff that won't leave a ton of leftovers.

I got my tattoo last night!!! [link]

Beauty! Nice one, tiggy.

Today I have trained all the dogs. Okay, just two, but it went really well.

I knocked on the neighbor's door three times in an attempt to clear up last night's brouhaha, but no answer. I suspect out of town guests are in the mix.

Now, I really should be cleaning all the things, but I'm whipped.

Perhaps a couple more episodes of Grow your own drugs courtesy of the BBC. Loving it!

eta: Oh, and I bought some turkey ribs and am told they cook just like beef or pork ribs, but I have no reliable recipe. Anyone have a simple oven-based suggestion?

Cous Cous with black beans? (Or black eyed peas if (unlike me) you don't hate the taste of black eyed peas) onions, garlic, sweet peppers,salt pepper for spice. Maybe curry powder. Baked apples sweetened with honey for desert. Leek soup? Green beans with almonds as a side dish?

The Jewish Vegetarian Year Cookbook recommends: Mushroom and Barley Soup, Lentils and Rice with Carmelized Onions or Zucchini Baked with Rice and Tomatoes; Glazed Carrots, Green beans Provencale, marinated tomatoes, and/or Sweet Potato Apple Bake (that last one sounds good to me); and baklava or cookies for dessert. Also, starting the meal with melon. That book usually has very specific reasons for its menu choices, so maybe some of that will resonate with you.

I'll just be having apples and honey because I don't feel like going to any trouble at all. Need to remember to buy some apples, though.

-t recommend is probably right, but cous-cous is one of the easiest vegan main dishes, and very flexible in what you add.

Hmm. That Sweet Potato Apple Bake sounds good. I'm pretty sure I've got a copy of that cookbook, so I'll take a look. Maybe I'll try some kind of crock pot cholent for the main dish. Traditional for lunch, not dinner, but still good.

The cable modem and the new router are my BITCH. I made them go without the usual rending of clothes and gnashing of teeth.

I've been super busy today. Went to see a friend before 8:00. Then Grace had a haircut. I forgot that we need to change her trach ties immediately after due to itchy hair. Which meant no yoga for me. Instead we took K to Krav and then twins and I went to Toys R Us so I could buy mashed veg and fruit to sneak to Noah against his knowledge. I had enough time to replace our 10 year old Airport Base station that was acting wonky and get an iced tea. Back to pick up K at Krav. Then lunch with Polgara. Then home to install the new Airport.

YAY. It worked!

I'm not sure about couscous. I like couscous, but it just doesn't feel right for Rosh Hashanah.