While I was ill with the first phase of this bug, which has sinced become bronchitis, Son No. 2 came to visit me with his girlfriend, the lovely B. It was a visit which had been arranged for a while, but since OH and I were both suffering, we let them know so they had a chance to duck out if they didn’t want to risk catching it. They came anyway, bless them, and they cooked dinner for us, too!  I have such nice kids.

That picture up there? That was my first sight of him. He knocked on the door like that, wearing a genuine (borrowed) HazMat mask, which I thought made a rather good Face of the Week – but you’ll be glad to know that he did take it of before he cooked the toad in the hole. He said he couldn’t breathe and he’d rather risk the bugs.

Anyway, while they were here, I was looking through a most wonderful collection of beads they’d brought, sent to me by a lovely lady from the Blogosphere, and it went something like this:

Me (picking up a box of bright orange plastic beads): Oooh, look at these ones!

Son No. 2: They remind me of the sixties!

OH: I’m always surprised at the things you know.

Son No. 2: (in tones of wounded pride): Really?

OH: Yes, I mean … like music, or people, or stuff from my youth. The sixties were before you were even born!

Son. No. 2: Well.. I like history. I pick things up …

Me: We taught you a lot of it.

Son No. 2: You did?

Me: Yes. I used to tell you about it all while you were going to sleep.

Son. No. 2: What? Like … ‘The sixties were round, and orange. Remember it!‘?

And he wonders why we keep telling him he should go into stand-up comedy.

Give in, Son No. 2 – Resistance is futile!

And also, Billy Connolly is rich!

Hmm. ABC Wednesday with the greyhounds proved a tad difficult this week, with the letter ‘K‘, but I found you a few pictures which I hope you’ll find fun and interesting! And I thought I’d start off with this handsome stranger. His name is Bill, and he’s a rather unusual colour for a greyhound – a silver brindle. Not only that, but he has those luminous light eyes, instead of the usual soulful brown. Isn’t he pretty?

But why is he here, posing for the letter ‘K‘? Well, if you look carefully, you’ll see that poor Bill has hurt his stifle, which is the equivalent of our knee. He is holding his left back leg very awkwardly indeed, and can’t put much weight on it. He’s only a pup, born in the summer last year, and he separated a growth plate. It appeared to heal, but he re-injured it, so poor Bill has been to the vet’s yet again today to find out if anything can be done, or if he will end up a tripod like Sid – who you can see lurking in the background.

He and Sid appeared to like each other!

It’s such an unusual colour that I was surprised to find I had another silver brindle in my picture folders – this one is called Skittle, and at the time this picture was taken, she was up for adoption through Kama’s Cave Greyhound Sanctuary.

Kama’s Cave is the East Anglian branch of the Retired Greyhound Trust, and does Meet’n'Greets all over the place to raise awareness – and funds – and find homes for the dogs. Skittle looks a bit bewildered in that picture, doesn’t she? She was very shy, but she was learning how to cope in company by coming out with the others and was doing very well. The people at the sanctuary are very kind, and take things slowly for dogs like this.

Here they are at another Meet’n'Greet with different dogs!

You’ll notice my lovely Sid in the centre there! And here he is again -

This time, with a doppelganger greyhound called Peaky! He’s a little darker, but apart from that and the missing leg, these two are SO similar! And also, they are both quite kid-safe. You’ll notice that neither are taking much notice of the little girl; however, her fluffy rabbit is definitely under threat!

Talking of kindness, greyhounds have such kind eyes, don’t you think?

Well, Sid does, anyway.

They also have knobbly knuckles!

That’s a picture I took of Renie’s hind foot to illustrate the correct length of toenail. I personally don’t like to see greyhound’s nails too short, because they do provide a little extra traction on soft ground when they’re running. But on the other hand, if you let them get too long, they are more likely to slip on hard floors inside the house.

Sid is quite happy to pose for photos, and in this one, he’s showing off his new tag necklace.

He’s helpful like that. It’s made of plaited and knotted suede thong, with silver fittings, and I think it suits him.

He helps in the kitchen too – see?

Who needs a dishwasher? Give the empties to Sid and he’ll clean them right out! But don’t worry, this was just an ice cream tub, destined for the bin. Lots of knobs in that picture, too!

Lastly, a picture taken after the Kama’s Cave dog show last autumn. Sid won himself a rosette for the ‘Dog with the most appealing eyes’ and I was trying to get him to ‘stay!’ while OH took a picture. Needless to say, I hadn’t actually taught him this trick yet, so kudos to him for doing his best to interpret the gestures and sounds coming from the mad monkey. He didn’t actually manage a stay for more than a few seconds, but he tried, bless him!

OK, I admit it! This picture puzzle for Macro Monday is fiendish. Ha! In fact, I shall be very surprised if anyone guesses this correctly. Now, don’t all run away, you had it easy last week, did you not? Come back and play!

This object is pretty common, and comes in a huge, enormous, mind-boggling array of shapes, styles and colours, but with a single purpose. You will see it inside, outside, at work, at home, on holiday … well, not this particular one, of course. The reason I snapped this one, was that I had never seen one quite like it.

What else can I tell you? Hmm. This does not belong to me. It belongs to a ninety-year-old woman, and it’s not the only one she has. It’s new, and she’s extremely happy with her purchase.

As usual, the answer can be found here on Tuesday evening, UK time, in the form of a picture link, and more information will be given in the comments. And as usual, I don’t plan to answer the comments until then, to avoid giving the answer away – although if I see the need, I may add one.

Now, come along – see if you can prove me wrong! Can you get this one?

I’m waiting … *Taps fingers*

Okay, I’ve been waiting with baited breath since Sunday evening (no wonder my chest hurts, huh?) and I can now confirm that after most of you guessed right last week, not ONE of you has guessed this one correctly! Congratulations, we’ve made history! Well, I told you it was fiendish!

So now you want to know what it was that stumped you all, don’t you? OK, here it is! I believe it was the one to the left of the picture that I photographed!

I will say that most of you were partly right, with guessing about fabric, so you can give yourselves half a point for that. More information in the comments, as usual! See you next week?

Oh, go on. I’ll make it another easy (ish) one?

Yes, we’ve been catching up on Boston Legal, and what a very fine show it is, too. So politically incorrect and hilariously funny – how could you not love it? And how, particularly, could you not love Alan Shore*, who a friend of mine describes as ‘such a teddy bear!’ Although I have to say, if he’s a teddy bear, it certainly puts those fluffy little things in a new light for me. I had no idea they were so … predatory! And none of the ones I had as a child had such a sexy voice, either. But I digress.

While I was eating lunch today, I broke one of my personal eating rules and made myself a couple of ham rolls. Yeast and I are not best buddies, but, well, you know how it is. I just wanted them, and I decided to give myself a treat. But after eating those delicious lunchtime morsels, one of my teeth was feeling decidedly sore.

I said to OH: ‘I’ve got a sore tooth!’

OH: ‘Why? What have you done?’

Me: ‘I ate lunch! It was those crusty rolls! They’ve hurt my tooth! I shall sue!’

OH: ‘I told you not to eat them. You can’t sue me, I specifically warned you of the dangers of eating yeast. You know you’re not supposed to.’

Me: ‘It’s not the yeast, it’s the crust. And I’m not going to sue you, I’m going to sue, um .. ‘

OH: ‘Waitrose.’

Me: ‘Yes. Waitrose. I shall sue Waitrose.’

There was a pause, during which we were both clearly thinking of Boston Legal.

OH (sternly): ‘Just don’t let that lawyer get you in a room alone.’

Later, we went into town and split up while he went to buy toxic substances (cigarettes and tobacco) and I went in search of party clothes. When we met up again, he leaned in towards me furtively, and said:

‘Something odd happened to me in Asda.’

I was alarmed. Not least because he is prone to dizziness and funny spells due to his low blood pressure.

‘What happened?’ I cried, clutching his arm protectively.

OH: ‘Well, I was standing in front of the sweets, looking for those Tunes for you, and I suddenly noticed I was doing this …’

And he stretched himself to his full height, poked his head forward a little, chin up and tilted a little to one side. He assumed a slightly supercilious expression, and elegantly placed his right hand where his middle button would have been if he’d been wearing a suit.

Alan Shore to the life. This is the man he warned me about being alone in a room with, and he’s letting him loose in Asda! I so wish I’d been there.

So tell me. Do you find yourself randomly impersonating your favourite TV stars in public? I know I do.

Ooops. You didn’t hear me say that!

*Alan Shore, played by James Spader, is a highly intelligent, extremely witty opportunist who is inclined to make long and eloquent closing speeches with random asides such as ‘ … and here’s where I think of maple syrup’.  Sexual predator is actually unfair, he’s just very open about wanting sex – a lot of it.  He’ll ask anyone he fancies within a few seconds of meeting them, if he feels like it, or alternatively indulge in some hugely entertaining innuendo.   And yes, make bets with fellow lawyers involving maple syrup.