barney servitude varnish

Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, 

whereas I am merely in disguise. (Margaret Atwood)

More details knocked off the to-do list thins morning, among them another pile of poop in the house!  Today I hit my limit because I was assuming it was Molly but Molly pooped every time I took her outside.  The thing I was most upset about was the blood-  I had again assumed it was a bright red multi vitamin for Molly's eyes.  But I got a sample and called the vet and took it right over for analysis.  Sure enough we have our third case of hookworms in Pepper.  So now we are on yet more meds-  it's like a rehab ward around here with everybody's doses lined up.  At any rate I finally got to the studio and got some stuff cleaned up, will do the final sweep next week.  

So, grossed out by my exciting events?  Me too.  

I sure would like some wine and a dinner out.

What a cool way to treat a fence!

Peruvian embroiderer and artist Ana Teresa Barboza creates embroidered natural landscapes that spill out of of their wooden frames, using threads of various size, color and length to invade our world.Barboza tends to focus on the human body in her artwork, but this Suspension series explores our relationship with nature; “Both embroidery and crocheting are techniques that require time. I use these techniques in order to make a connection between manual work and the processes of nature; creating thread structures similar to the structures that make a plant for example,“ she told Le Fil Conducteur.

Feeling peckish?  Here's a hunk of chocolate made from a mold of an actual skull.  I think this could cure a chocoholic, or at least slow 'em down.  No thanks.

And while we're talking of food, but before we get to the squirrel project today, I found this:

The Chinese terra cotta warriors made from PIZZA DOUGH.  Brava!!!  To mark the opening of the 500th Pizza Express restaurant, which was launched in Beijing, food artist Annabel de Vetten of Conjurer’s Kitchen , painstakingly recreated China’s iconic Terracotta Warriors out of pizza dough. Annabel, who specializes in creepy horror cakes, but can fashion almost anything out of edible ingredients, used the brand’s pizza dough to sculpt the meticulously detailed terracotta army figures.

And a bit more specialty baking:

Breath-Freshening Dog Treats

Makes 2 cookie sheets worth of biscuits (number will depend on the size of your cookie cutter)

1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) high-protein whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups (8 ounces) brown rice flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) ground flax seeds
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sunflower or canola oil
1/4 cup water
4 drops eucalyptus oil, optional (See Recipe Note)
7 sprigs parsley leaves, chopped fine (1/2 ounce)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, and ground flax seeds. In another large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs, canola oil, water, eucalyptus oil, and parsley.

If you are mixing by hand, switch to a dough whisk or wooden spoon; if you are using a stand mixer, switch from a whisk to a dough hook. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients, one third at a time, until fully incorporated. When finished, the dough will come together into a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough into desired shapes, then gently transfer to the lined baking sheets with a thin spatula. The biscuits will not spread out much during baking — you can lay them down about 1/3-inch apart.

Gather together the leftover dough, knead it back into a ball, then roll it out again to cut out more cookies — it will continue to remain malleable with repeated rollings due to its fairly low gluten content. Continue to do this until you’ve used up the dough and filled two cookie sheets with biscuits.

Bake the treats for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and while still warm, transfer the treats to wire cooling racks.

Return the racks of cookies to the oven and turn the heat down to its lowest setting (if your oven has a "keep warm" function, use this; otherwise, 180-200ºF is ideal). After one hour, turn the oven off and leave the cookies in the oven for another hour or so, or overnight.

Let the treats cool to room temperature, then store in a cookie jar or other lidded container for up to two months, or freeze for up to three months.

Recipe Notes

• If you are unable to locate food-grade eucalyptus oil, you may leave it out or substitute 1/4 cup of chopped basil. Also just just a few drops of eucalyptus oil since large quantities of essential oils can be harmful.
• If your dog prefers or requires a softer biscuit, skip the second baking step and store the biscuits in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months.

Good doggie, eat that squirrel!