Bagels

Hmm, I feel like having a snack. A nice toasted everything bagel with lox on it would be perfect.

But... there are no bagels left in the fridge! (I noted the chocolate bar and will be eating that later, however).

Ah well, this stinks! What am I gonna do? UGH! I was really looking forward to having a bagel.  *pouting* Maybe I'll just order something from UberEats...

Hey, what are you doing? What are you putting on my ---

*POOF!*

Excusez-moi, mon ami!

It is I, your friend and le boulanger Ajdin. It has been far too long since we last met in zee kitchen, non? Please forgive that slight hunger tantrum just now. It happens to the best of us, non?

Not to worry, my friends. We will be making fresh bagels from a recipe today. More delicious than the ones you buy from the store, that's for sure!

Today, we will have the help of this wonderful bread machine. How lovely it is to make fresh baked goods at home!

My assistant baker has measured out the ingredients and put them in the mixing container. It is a bit of flour, water, yeast, salt, and butter.

I will select the dough setting and then press zee magic button.

Yes, it is getting mixed very well!

We will let the dough rise and then shape it into bagels. Then we will let it rise some more. Isn't this exciting? Passionnant!

After 50 minutes, we will boil the bagels for 1 minutes per side. This pot is full of hot water - be careful!

The bagels are finished boiling and we have fished them out of the water. They are looking a little bigger and fluffier.

Now, we will sprinkle everything bagel seasoning on the bagels. Oui, it smells so good! And we will be generous with the seasoning on zee bagels.

Then we will bake the bagels until they are golden brown. Oui oui! Yes, there you are, you delicious and scrumptious bagels.

Well, there we have it, my friends! Some delicious and freshly made bagels. Please take one to enjoy and put your favorite topping on it.

Merci beaucoup for joining me in the kitchen today! Remember, when life tastes a bit sour, just sprinkle a little sugar on it! You - yes, you - can create something delicious! *chef's kiss*

Bon appétit!

Mail from Sandy

Yo yo yo, what is up everyone? Today, I'll be showing you all the fun mail I received from Sandy over these past few weeks. So I need to check my mailbox more often...

First up is a plain typed letter congratulating me on medaling in the Winter Stuffie Olympics.

There was a prize enclosed also - a NASA pin! Cool! I can't wait to wear this on my astrobear suit.

Next is an envelope with shamrock stickers. And some very cool postage stamps also!

It's a St. Patrick's Day card from Sandy!

The card has a maze inside and a nice note from Sandy. I love mazes. I can't wait to do the maze.

And then there is an envelope decorated with flowers, Easter eggs, and butterflies. Sandy has quite the sticker collection going on!

An Easter card! Sandy tells me they have been up to lots of geocaching lately. I'll have to try that out here sometime.

Thank you for all the beary cool mail, Sandy! I love the pin!

Bluebonnets

HEY Y'ALL!

Today, we are going on a trip to view some wild Texas bluebonnets. These are the state flowers of Texas.

I tried to grow some from seeds, but none of them made it this year. Fortunately, I have found a nice patch of wildflowers today!

Yep, these are bluebonnets alright! They really do look like a bonnet when you take a look up close. There are also some red flowers in this patch. They are called Indian Paintbrush or prairie-fire flowers.

I wonder what this yellow flower is.

Viewing wildflowers is such a popular springtime activity here that many tourists will do anything to get the perfect photo. Sometimes this trespassing annoys the property owners so that they have to mow down the beautiful flowers to stop them from coming. But today, we have found a very generous and kind owner who opened their family farm to everyone for free.

The weather also worked out today!

"HEY YOU!" said a familiar voice behind me.

"Let me guess," I said, without turning around. "Droopy?"

"Yeah, it's me! Funny seeing you here. Again."

If you have been following my blog, you'll know that Droopy and I seem to have the same travel agent.

This tractor is awesome! I think I need one of these for my farm.

And these bales of hay are huge!

The bluebonnets have a light, sweet smell to them. I see bees buzzing around too!

It was such a beautiful day looking for wildflowers!

Armadillo

CRIKEY!

I heard there's been a mysterious creature running afoot in our backyard. Let's take a look! I'm all ready to investigate in my Crocodile Dundee-inspired outfit.

We've noticed some small holes in our garden bed and around the yard. Interestingly, these don't show up until the next morning, so it must have been the work of something during the night but what could it be?

We noticed a hole under the shrubs over here, so perhaps whatever it is has a home here. Let's set out some humane traps with bait. That's cat food and chopped fruit in the dish, both meat and vegetarian options for our mystery guest.

THE NEXT DAY...

Look! We caught something in the trap! I have never seen anything like it before. Do you know what it is?

No, it's not the Loch Ness monster... it's a nine-banded armadillo!

Their body is protected by hard armored plates and they have strong claws for digging. Their eyesight is not very good, so they look for insects to eat using their very sensitive and long tongue. Their tongue can detect worms and other bugs up to a foot underground.

We checked this armadillo, and it's a boy. If it was female, then we'd be concerned about baby armadillos still in the nest. But armadillos are pretty much solitary animals so we think this guy was just chilling out in his little armadillo cave.

I know you want to get out, little guy. We'll set you free soon.

We brought him - we named him Tank - to a nice forested area where he can dig for even more insects. He back had a small scrape on it but it was sprayed with antibiotic before he was set free.

Good luck, Tank!

Plant update

 Hi everyone, today I'm going to give you an update on the succulent plant I repotted last month. I can't wait to see how it's doing!

I wonder how it likes the new pot I put it in - hey, WHAAA?

It's not here! I swear that this is the right pot. Where did it go? Plants don't just grow legs and walk out.

Hey Mom, have you seen my succulent plant? Huh... what do you mean?

I'll be right back, folks.

(Off camera)

YOU WHAT?!?! I have a show to run here, what am I gonna do?

Well, I have some bad news to report. My mom said that all of the leaves rotted and fell off, perhaps due to overwatering because there is only one drainage hole in this pot. It was attracting flies so she threw it away!

I am beary disappointed. I tried to be a good plant parent...

...huh? What's this? My mom got me a new succulent plant so I can try again! I'll look for a pot with better drainage this time.

There are no mistakes in gardening, just lessons that you can learn for next time! I hope this succulent does better than my first one. Happy gardening!