April 7, 2012 - Finishing Up (second post today)

I took a short break from the day's chores, but Son John kept working.  After we had our septic tank demolished and got hooked up to the city sewer, there was quite a bit of concrete that had to be replaced.  The tank was under our driveway, and by code a cleanout had to be installed 2 feet from the house.  That would have meant breaking out part of our front porch, but luckily the code enforcement officer let us fudge by a foot and put it in the sidewalk leading from our garage.  Not the best place, as it means we have to step on the cleanout and backflow covers every time we walk in and out or the garage.  Anyway, we hired a man to do the concrete work.  He's the same person who did the slab under our shed a couple of years ago, and we were very satisfied with his work.  He replaced the large area that had been cut from the driveway, and he did a really nice job on it.  I have no idea what happened when he replaced the sidewalk slab.  It was dark by the time he finished, and he had tossed a tarp over it so we didn't even look at it before paying him and telling him "Thank you, goodbye".  You can imagine how shocked I was the next day when I removed the tarp and saw a rough, uneven slab of exposed rocks.   He had poured the concrete and just left it unfinished!  It was also sloped in the wrong direction for proper drainage, and nearly an inch lower than the old slab.

John fixed it for me today, putting on a thick skim coat.  He says it will be OK, I hope so!

While John worked, I came inside and finished up-potting those 36 peppers and a half dozen tomato plants.  I had to bring in two more shop lights to accommodate the larger containers.  I think there are still something like 60 more peppers that need to be potted up, but I'm temporarily out of big cups.  And I have no idea where I'll put them all!


I have a new friend.  Look closely, he's right in the middle of the photo.

I don't even know his name.  I just call him "Big Dog", but he is completely deaf so it doesn't make any difference what I call him.  He's a rescue dog, very old, and my neighbor said he's not only deaf, but also blind.  I beg to differ.  He can definitely see, because he waits at that fence and watches for me every day.  When he sees me in the yard, the tail wags......

And he starts licking his chops.  Because I bake him cookies and give him daily treats.  He's been terribly abused, and he's so thin and crippled he can hardly walk.  He is a love, and he deserves to be loved.  

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits with Molasses
Yields 40-50 biscuits

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk (I use fat free)
3/4 to 1 cup peanut butter (I use 3/4 cup natural peanut butter)
1 tbsp. blackstrap molasses
Additional Flour for Rolling

Preheat oven to 350° F

Whisk the flour, oats and baking powder together in a medium bowl.  Gradually stir in the milk, peanut butter and molasses.
(I just dump evertything into the food processor and turn it on.  It's a very stiff dough, so I have to stop the processor and push the dough around a few times)

Turn out onto a floured surface.

Knead until a soft dough forms.

Roll out to 1/2" thickness and cut with a dog bone cookie cutter.
(I just cut the dough into strips, about 3/4" wide and 2" long)

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn off the oven.

Let cool overnight in the oven.  (I open the oven door just a wee bit to let some of the heat escape, then shut it and leave the cookies in over night).




32 comments:

  1. Awww dog baby....that's sweet he gets treats at the end of his life

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    1. Shannan, it just breaks my heart to think how he has been abused. I do have permission from his owner to feed him as many treats as he wants. LOL, I have to limit him to 3 or 4 a day, or he'd eat them all at once!

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  2. He might be blind. I have two big black blobs blocking my central and some of my periphial (sp?) vision in my left eye but if the light is bright enough I can see between and around them. I'm legally blind in that eye but the closer something is to my face (and I mean, super close) and the brighter the light, the better I can see it. If that makes sense.

    Plus, he's a dog and can probably smell you coming, lol. (I mean no offense by that ... people just smell) Your post about him made me cry. He looks like such a sweet heart! I just want to hug him.

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    1. Teresa, you said I stink! Yes you did! LOL, he is a sweetheart, and I have a hard time ignoring him after he's had his daily treat allotment. I can only make so many trips over to that fence. If he had his way, I'd get nothing else done.

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  3. He looks so sweet. We feed treats sometimes to our neighbor's dog (with permission). They bought a lab but he turned out to be skittish with strangers. So she hopes getting treats from the neighbors will help him get over it.

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    1. Daphne, Big Dog has a thing about having his collar touched, so that's where I have to be careful with him. I think it's because of his deafness and his eyesight being so bad that people can take him by surprise and frighten him. I always put out my hand and let him smell that it's me, then start by petting his face and work my way up to his head and then toward the back of his neck, and he's never shown any sign of being uncomfortable with me. I'm sure he senses my love for him as well.

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  4. What a cute friend you have there. Old dogs definitely deserve to be spoiled and loved. Poor thing. Thanks for sharing your dog biscuit recipe. I bet my two would love these.

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    1. Rachel, I made the first ones with just 1/2 cup of peanut butter, and they shattered into pieces as the dogs bit into them. This batch had 3/4 cup in it, and that seems about right. My dogs aren't as crazy about them as Big Dog, but they never did care for any of the dog treats I've bought for them. Big Dog doesn't care, it leaves more for him to eat!

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  5. Big projects going on at your house (as usual!). Your new neighbor dog friend is just a sweetheart. Bless you for giving him treats. It sounds like he has had a rough life and deserves a little love and affection.

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    1. Kitsap, I think he gets treated very well where he lives now. I don't know how long they've had him. He belongs to the neighbor's recently divorced son, who just moved in with her a few months ago. All I know is that he was rescued and had been abused.

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  6. Workmanship is so shoddy these days... don't get me started!

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    1. Tell me about it, Erin. It still bugs me about how much I paid to have a licensed and bonded professional do our siding replacement, and the horrible job he did. Now the sidewalk, not to mention the (probably inadvertent) damage done by the sewer workers. My daughter is fighting a reputable company over the installation of a new heat pump. It keeps icing up and shutting down, and they are saying it doesn't have proper ventilation. The heat pump it replaced didn't have that problem, and it had the very same ventilation! I have only two companies to which I can really give kudos, the new window/door installers (love my new windows and doors, and they did a really professional job), and our garage doors that have worked beautifully and held up so well for about 15 years now.

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  7. What a sweet looking friend! :-D Good for you for loving him with your homemade treats. He does look like he could use a few extra calories, and hugs!

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    1. Barbie, the photos don't show how terribly thin he is. I think I should replace that milk in the recipe with heavy cream! Hugs I can provide.

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  8. What a wonderfully kind gesture for a lovely old dog x

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    1. He is a sweetie, Linda. I'm happy we are friends.

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  10. What a precious dog! How can you help but love him. Thanks for the dog biscuIt recipe. I want to try it for Coco. What are you going to do with all those peppers! Here I thought I would get a couple plants! Maybe I need more! If I could figure out where to plant them. Glad your son could fix your sidewalk. Perhaps the guy was tired since it was late and didn't realize how bad it was? Nancy

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    1. Nancy, just remember it is a very stiff dough, but it eventually comes together. I'm sure Coco will love them, my daughter's Cocker Spaniel sure does.

      I think I've figured out what happened with the concrete. When we dug out the adjoining flower bed, the concrete had oozed into it. The form he made was too high, and the concrete mix must have been very wet, so after he smoothed it and left, it oozed under the form which made the one side low and exposed the rocks. We had to remove quite a large chunk of concrete from that bed!

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  11. Awww...what a handsome boy he is! The monkeys tell me his name is Ralph or Roger. I can't get a straight answer from them. Go figure!

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    1. Lol, Chick, I think the monkeys got it right with.....Ralph! He does rather look like a Ralph, doesn't he?

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  12. You're a good egg Granny! Love seed starter setup!

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    1. David, it's handy to have the seedlings in the house, but the way they are growing I may have to move to another bedroom, LOL!

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  13. 96 pepper plants!?! What in the world will you do with all those? Crazy woman.:)

    Big Dog looks like he's a sweetheart. All our dogs have been rescue dogs. They are the best. They don't seem to take love for granted. They know when they have it good and love it when they have suckered an old woman into making special treats for them. (Give him some for me)

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    1. I have no idea, Langela. I'm planning on planting about 38 of them (32 sweet, 6 hot), the rest will be given away. I have 3 kids who love peppers, two of them have gardens and the other one could grow a few in pots. I think the most peppers I've ever planted was 16 sweet and maybe 6 hot. I had sooooo many sweet peppers that year, but the hots were not hot. Last year I planted a dozen sweets, and didn't have nearly enough to get me through the winter.

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  14. The seedlings are awesome. That IS a lot of peppers but hey, whatever works best! And I love that you love your neighbor's rescue dog. How about we make some Granny cookies for you?!?!

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  15. You're going to be swimming in peppers, not that that's a bad thing! Very handsome new friend you have.

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    1. Vertical G, I'm only planning on keeping probably 38 pepper plants. All the rest must find homes elsewhere! Those 38 will probably be more than we can use. That's about 3 times what I planted last year, but I didn't have enough to last through the winter.

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  16. hello annie,
    wow,so many peppers,i love peppers,too. sweet dog!!! thanks for sharing the dog bisquits!
    Like your blog!
    Wish you a nice weekend,
    greetings from Germany
    Regina

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    1. Thank you for visiting my blog, Regina. I wish you a nice weekend also!

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