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!

Attacked by a Butterfly

My Hooman was attacked by this butterfly. It stalked her through the yard, landed on her shoulder and stayed there while she went inside to talk to the other Hoomans. One of them took the butterfly off of her shoulder and put it on her finger. It just sat there for a while so my Hooman got her camera and took this picture of the butterfly on her finger for you.

Surrender to the Bobcat

 

My yard surrendered to a Bobcat after the Hoomans surrendered to the water lines.

The yard had little flags all over it after our plumbing problems. Then one day my Hooman said we were going to have a Bobcat in the yard. Well I waited for a bobcat all day because cats are NOT allowed in my yard. It turns out that my idea of a bobcat & my Hoomans idea of a bobcat are two different things.

 

This is what the Hoomans brought into my yard. It was just as scary as a real bobcat!

 

So all the old cast iron pipes were replaced with new PVC ones and that made my Hoomans happy. Now all of the outside work has been completed, we just need inside work finished and the plumbing problems will be over!

Too Tired

I was too tired to blog last night before I went to bed. There was a loud fireworks display that my Hooman made me watch. It was pretty but too much excitement for me. I took my turtle and went to bed. I will blog for you today!

Skeleton Key

Look at what I found! My Hoomans were removing trim and other things and I found a real live skeleton key! It even fits the doors in the house.....hhmmm.....Cyclops Spiders, Vampire Coffins and now a Skeleton Key.......creepy.

Wild Strawberries

Oh wow! I found wild strawberries in my yard. Y'know the best part? My Hooman doesn't care if I eat them!

Field of Flowers

Here is a picture of my Hooman refers to as "a mess of pretty". She loves the Sweet Pea and Lilies just growing free out there in the field. There is a creek, one of the 2 we have, down there and the Hoomans decided that they are going to selectively harvest the area to keep the flowers, get rid of the weeds and plant things like Corkscrew Willow, Red Twig Dogwood & Paw Paw Trees! My Hooman owned a flower shop once. I think she's trying to create her own wild flower shop!

Bramble Berries

We have an abundance of berries that I get to eat! My neighbor called them Bramble Berries. So I looked that up. It turns out that Bramble Berries include blackberries, raspberries and logan berries. Finally, I am starting to discover some edibles!

Ginormous Spider Tree

 

This is our Spider Tree. It's HUGE like a monster sized Oak Tree and it has these funny Spider-like growths on it. My Hooman has no idea what it is but told me to ask my friends. Do any of you know what kind of tree this is?

Mimosa Tree

This is a Mimosa Tree. We have them on our land. Apparently it is from China but has been here in the states since 1745. I think it is a pretty tree. I bet now my Hooman will be searching for Margarita Trees and Daiquiri Trees. We already have strawberries growing......next I suppose will be the limes.

Sweet Pea

This is Sweet Pea. It grows all over our land. My Hooman is in love with it. Thanks to her genius wino friend wine loving friend in the big state, now she knows what it is! I like it too, although I am only allowed to smell it not eat it. Sounds familiar huh?

Cyclops Fishing Spider

This is not just a Fishing Spider. It's a Cyclops Fishing Spider, seriously...click on it & see. It is a pretty big spider as you can tell by the 1inch garden hose next to it. Cyclops lives in our well and comes out every night to stare at me. Gross. Did you know that they can walk on water to catch their prey?

I think my Hooman picked this house on purpose. Think about it. It was owned by Freddie Mac from Nightmare on Elm Street. There is a Potato box Vampire Coffin in the basement and now a Fishing Cyclops Spider lives in my well.

Lightning Bugs not Ginger Bugs

I have been calling this bug a Ginger Bug for days now because of its red head. Come to find out it is a lightning bug. Who knew?

I have them all over the yard. So many in fact that every night looks like the Sydney New Years Eve fireworks celebration! Ok, maybe not as cool as Australian Fireworks displays, but very cool. I will say it is very hard to photograph them. Here are a couple with my Elusive Bunny!

Sea Shell

So the other day when I was in the basement I found this sea shell. Surely it's positive proof that my house must have been at the bottom of the sea 14.6 billion years ago.

My Friend the Fly

This is my friend, the fly. We had a long conversation today while my Hooman was drinking her coffee. My Hooman got mad at this little fly because he wouldn't leave her water alone. She has this thing about water having to be filtered. He wasn't trying to be a pest, he simply needed to stop and rest. He was a well traveled fly and like me, quite the adventurer.

Slate Walkway

This is the slate walkway to my front door. It is original to the house from 1942. My Hooman is in love with it. She sat today for an hour sketching out different landscape designs for it. She could design around a statue of me. I would make a great focal point.

Vampire Lair in the Basement

Being the adventurer that I am, I thought I would explore the unknown that is the basement. Until I found the Vampire Lair. I'm not really a fan of any creature who wants to bite me. My Hooman told me not to be afraid because it was only a potato box. I'm not afraid. But seriously, who needs a 6ft long potato box? I know a Vampire Coffin when I see one. I watched from the safety of the stairs. I bravely watched it for a moment but couldn't see any sparkling, so it must not be a teenage-heart-throb-vampire. Means it must be a scary vampire and that explains the stake on top! Exploration complete.....Little Dog has no further reason to go into the basement.

Yep.......definitely an alien.

Aliens or False Parasol Mushrooms

It rained today. I was wandering around in my yard when I stumbled upon these. I was so excited that my Hooman decided to grow roasted marshmallows for me to eat! As I got closer I realized that these aren't marshmallows. I was about to run back to the house to save my Hooman from the alien buried in the yard up to it's antennae when my Hooman told me to stay away from the mushrooms. She says they are called Chlorophyllum molybdites and they are poisonous so I cannot eat them. I still think it's an alien so I am going to watch the yard very carefully to make sure it doesn't steal my toys.