45 Second Egg in a Bowl Breakfast Sandwich

I thought I would share a neat little breakfast trick I saw my Hooman do this morning.

How to make a breakfast sandwich;

1.) Put your bread, bagel or muffin in the toaster. My Hooman sliced a loaf of french bread from the sale rack at the grocery store. The whole loaf was only $1.18!

2.) Grab your remaining ingredients. My Hooman used 1teaspoon of olive oil, a slice of cheese, a slice of ham an egg and a cereal bowl.

3.) Pour the teaspoon of oil (or cooking spray for a lighter alternative) into the bottom of your bowl.

4.) Crack your egg into the bowl and stir slightly, enough to break the yolk.

5.) Put the bowl into your microwave. It will splatter, so make sure it is covered. Our microwave is 1000 watts, so we cooked our egg for 45 seconds. You may have to adjust your cooking time if the wattage on your microwave varies.

This is what your egg will look like when it is cooked. Our egg was square because the bottom of our bowl was square. If you want a round egg, use a coffee cup. Your egg will take on the shape of your container.

6.) Build your sandwich, season it with salt & pepper & eat it!

Home remodel - Floor Progress

This is what the floor in the office looked like before the Hoomans sanded it. I know it is hard to tell, but the stain wasn't even and the sealer was poured on without being spread well. So you could see globs of it. My Hooman rented a big belt sander and set off to tackle the floor.

 

This is what the floor looked like after it was sanded. It was sanded with 25 grit, all the way up to 80 grit. A new level of grit was used each time the room was complete. You can see it's not perfect, but these are the original 1940's oak floors, so my Hooman wants to save them if possible. I watched the Hoomans work. It's definitely not easy.

Magic Wood Scratch Remover

I am feeling better. So I thought I would share with you something I watched my Hooman do today. Maybe you can use this recipe and save some of your furniture too.

 This is Magic juice. Well, actually it is an 8oz Tupperware container filled with 6 oz (3/4 cup) of oil and 2 oz (1/4 cup) of Distilled White Vinegar. you can use any oil, canola, olive etc. You can also use any vinegar, like cider vinegar.

 

 My Hooman mixed up her Magic Scratch mix, grabbed a white cleaning rag & headed into the bedroom to her footboard. You can see the scratches in the Cherry wood in this picture. I did not scratch the bed, one of the dogs my Hooman fostered for a while did. Anyway, my Hooman put some mix on the rag and rubbed it over the scratch (Click on the pictures to see it up close).

 This is what the footboard looked like after she rubbed on the mix. Now the mix won't fill in the scratch, but you can see that it makes it much less visible. I think it's amazing! Below is the picture of the rag after she rubbed the mix on the wood. My Hooman was worried that the finish was being removed or smeared around, but as you can see there is no finish on the rag.

Sick Little Dog

I will be resting for the next few days, so I won't be sharing much with you.  That's me and my crock-a-gator sleeping in the blanket. I had to go to see my doctor today, the veterinarian, because my tummy hurt. It turns out that I have pancreatitis, some problems with my liver function and I have a fever. But mainly I just feel awful. The Dr. told my Hooman to starve me only give me special liquids for the next couple days. But she is going to make me popsicles out of the special stuff. That makes me happy. The look on my Hoomans face when the lady told her how much the bill was, well, that did not make me happy. Oh yeah, the Dr. also told me to quit eating things I'm not supposed to.....like bugs. Lesson Learned.

CVS Bargain Shopping

So, my Hooman likes to get a good deal. She won't spend a lot of time searching for the best thing. She said 10 minutes per shopping trip makes the savings worth it. She thinks her time is valuable too. I suppose it is, I mean she could spend that time taking me for walks! Here was her shopping trip to CVS today.

 

 She bought 3 bottles of Wisk, a roll of paper towels, 3 tubes of Colgate toothpaste, a pack of highlighters and an Almond Joy Wrapper Candy Bar she ate on the way home. She didn't even share, how rude. Anyway, her total was $57.01 with tax. Then she gave the cashier her CVS card to get the sale prices, and then her coupons. Her total was $8.00 but she got $8.00 worth of extra bucks for her next trip. So basically she got all of this for free!

 

I think she should use the money she saved to get me a new toy, and my nails done, and a bath at Pet Smart and......

Big Helper

 

I am a big helper, when it comes to painting that is. I hardly got any paint on me while the Hoomans were working! I didn't ask for anything in exchange for offering my services.

 

The Hoomans that came from the big state kept drinking this...they call it copious amounts of caffeine and say they needed it to sustain their ability to work. They spilled shared one with me. It was yummy!

Tired Dog Tongue

I am tired. We have been painting for two weeks. The Hoomans who came to visit from the big state and my Hooman have painted and painted and painted. I helped. I have a picture to show you tomorrow for proof. But sheesh, I was trying to rest from all the work and my Hooman decided it was photo op time. Seriously? I stuck my tongue out at her to ruin her picture. Ha!

Fig Tree

Look! I found a fig tree in my yard and it has fruit! My skills as an adventurer helped me discover this new edible in my yard. I showed my Hooman and it made her happy. I am a good dog.

Gnarly, Brain Fruit - Osage Orange Tree

 

This is our Osage Orange Tree, in Latin it’s the Maclura pomifera. It’s also called the bois-d'arc, bodark, bowwood, hedge apple or mockorange. That’s a lot of names for one tree! My Hooman loves this tree. It is actually her favorite tree on our land.

The local extension service employees took a field trip to come see it because they haven’t seen one this big. It turns out that our Osage tree is a bit smaller, though not by much, than the Grand National Champion Osage. The Champion is 54 feet tall and has a spread of about 90 feet. If the utility company hadn’t cut part of our tree, it would be bigger than a 90 feet spread. It is taller than 54 feet though. The extension service people said that it was here before the Civil war. That means our tree is over 150 years old!

 

Osage trees are pretty great from root to tip! The bark furnishes a yellow pigment that was used to dye khaki uniforms, it also produces tannin for making leather. The wood was sought after by the Native Americans to make bows, which is why the tree is also known as a bowwood tree. The wood is so resistant to insects and deterioration that it has been known to last over 100 years when used as fence posts or ship masts!

 

The branches are thorny. In fact, the thorns have been known to cause flat tires, even piercing thick tractor tires!

 Before the invention of barbed wire in the 1800’s, Osage hedges were woven together to keep livestock contained. An Osage orange hedge was considered "horse-high, bull-strong, and pig-tight," according to historian Paul Landacre in "A Natural History of Western Pennsylvania." The trees originated in Texas, Oklahoma & Kansas.

The branches have pretty leaves and little flowers. But the best part of the Osage tree? The fruit! It’s large like a grapefruit, green in color and looks like a brain. You can google it to see pictures. Rumor says that placing the fruit in the basement corners keeps the spiders out of your house. I’ve also heard that children use them for street bowling! The trees are either male or female. The male trees do not fruit. I do not know yet if my Hoomans tree is male or female, I won’t know until I’ve watched it throughout the season.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that we have a brain fruit tree. It goes well with the vampire coffin in the basement, the Cyclops spider in our well and the skeleton key I found when the Hoomans started renovating.

Puffy Dove

I was sitting on the porch watching the  doves in the front yard when I saw the male dove, trying to strut his stuff. He puffed up like the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man. It was funny to watch him try over and over to get the attention of the little female dove in front of him. She seemed disinterested even though he put on quite a show!

Little Baby Bunny

Today I made a new friend.

 

I went out for a walk in my yard and came across this sweet little bunny.

 

You can see how small he is by the size of the blades of grass he is sitting in.

 

My Hooman wouldn't let me get too close in case the little bunny got scared. I am just happy to have a new friend who is also little.

Monkey in My Yard

I found a monkey in my yard. I think this must be solid proof that my home used to be a nature preserve.

Fields of Clover

My Hooman is boring. She has been painting......the whole house. So have the Hoomans who came to visit. I am so bored I went outside in my yard and started looking for 4 leaf clovers. I didn't find any. Maybe tomorrow I will help my Hooman paint. I think she likes it when I help.

Magnolia Tree

Our Magnolia Tree has blooms. The tree is huge, more than 2 stories high & my Hooman loves it!

Bunny BFF's

Look! My elusive bunny has a new BFF! They spent the night hopping together all over the yard!