I grew a pickle!

I went out tonight to water the garden, grumbling at the futility of it since only the herbs have been harvested.  My one tomato is still green on the vine--with no apparent need to hurry to ripen.  Well, we've had some rain the last few days, so I haven't had to water.  Still no tomatoes.  When I hit the Regal cucumbers with the water, a couple of leaves moved and I saw, no, it couldn't be!  A cucumber.  Somewhat like papa in his search for the cause of the clatter on  the rooftop, I threw down the nozzle, tore over to the plants and pulled back my vine, and what to my wondering eyes did appear?  One giant pickle, and a half dozen more little babies on vine!  My other vines on the other side of the patio (Marketmore and Picklebush) also have some babies--and those are the ones I grew from seeds. 

It's Herman the Pickle, after his first bath.  He's about 7 inches

long, and I don't know his weight.  Isn't he just adorable? 

And look at that healthy fingernail.  Lovely crescent at the bottom with a slight growth of white at the top.  No, I do not have a French manicure, that is the way my nails look every day.  I do have to trim them once a week so I can type and text, due to the iron supplement I take.  Usually it makes my hair grow, too, but I got it cut a month ago, and I think she buzzed me.  Four weeks later and it still sticks straight up.  It's too short to even try to style, so I just hit it with some mousse and I'm out the door!

I'll have to make sure the nails stay looking nice for my trip to Sioux Falls on Thursday.  I get to meet with the head of the Milwaukee transplant surgery team (Aurora St. Luke's).  Dr. Steers will be in Sioux Falls for the week to provide coverage while the two surgeons there are gone.  I guess I'm not a common diagnosis for the liver disease center in Sioux Falls, and I've just been hanging out on the wait list for over a year now.  So I'm one of the patients he asked to meet.  Wonder if he likes cucumbers?