Mule, Donkey, Hinney, or Ass??

A donkey foal looking through the fence

Near where I live, a variety of livestock is raised. Within a mile, I can see horses, goats, sheep, American bison, and llamas, to name a few. There is one field where a small group of donkeys typically are feeding as well. Today, there was a lone foal, grazing down by the road. There was not another in sight.

Now I am calling it a donkey, and I suppose it probably is. But to tell the truth, even though I know the technical difference between a mule, hinney, donkey, etc., I am making a half-ass guess that this is a donkey (as well as a little "ass humor" to go with it...a two-fer deal for you).

This little guy was standing there by the fence, so I stopped the car to let my granddaughter take a closer look. She wanted to get out and pet it, which probably would have been fine, but she thought better of it, and so did I, not knowing if this is a friendly beast or not. We do know they are known for their big teeth, so hey, why take the chance?

An Interesting Arachnid

Cat-Face Spider wrapping its lunch in webbing

Underneath the back deck of my son's deck is a bizarre-looking creature, known as the Cat Face Spider, so-called because it has markings resembling to some, the face of a feline. This particular spider is so accustomed to being around my son, that he can toss food into the web and the spider will come down to get it.

Today, he saw a moth had landed on his wife's shoulder, so he grabbed it and tossed it into the web of the spider. Immediately, the spider came down and injected its toxin into the moth, holding it until it gave up the fight. It then began turning the moth as it wrapped the prey in webbing strands (top photo). Once the moth was encapsulated within this silk cocoon, it hoisted the moth onto its back, and ascended back up under the deck to enjoy its meal (photo below).

While this live episode of the food chain in action was interesting, I am also glad this spider wasn't in my house. My wife would be screaming for me to kill it! Such a creature is best left outside, as far as I'm concerned.


Carrying the wrapped meal back home

Scramblin'

The makings of a quick and tasty breakfast

As my few readers know, I occasionally write about one of life's great pleasures here...that being food. I also am not one who typically likes food that is made to pretend that it is other food. Things like artificial meat made from soybeans, for example, are not items that I would find tasty.

I must say, however, that I have found one product containing "vegetable sausage" that is actually delicious. I don't know if it is the mix of flavors, or if this particular "sausage" is just good. However, I saw something at the grocery store that I decided would be a quick way to make a good breakfast, and indeed, my thought about it was correct.

MorningStar Farms (distributed by Kellogg's) has brought out a line of Breakfast Starters, and I purchased the one called Classic Scramble. It is a frozen bag of 11 ounces of goodies that include onion, green and red bell pepper slices, red potato chunks, and the aforementioned veggie sausage. Yes, you could prepare this from scratch fairly easily, but you'd have to precook the potatoes, clean and slice the onion and pepper. This takes time, and when you need something quick, this is definitely the way to go.

All you do is take a 12" skillet, spray it with cooking spray and pre-heat it on medium. You then dump the bag's contents into the pan, cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally (that's the directions, but mine cooked in about 6-7 minutes), push the veggies to the side and scramble 4 beaten eggs in the same pan, mix it all together, season to taste with salt & pepper, and voila! A delicious, nutritious breakfast. A side of fruit works well with this, as does a dollop of your favorite salsa on top of the scramble. For less time than you wait for service at a restaurant, you have a good, hot breakfast ready to eat.

I would have taken a picture of the finished results, but I ate it right down. Oh well! Maybe next time.

Realistically, one bag serves two, which is just right for the lovely spouse and I. For the record, I have no financial interest in MorningStar Farms or Kellogg's. This post is just an unbiased consumer review. If you need a fast, hot, and yummy breakfast, give this a try. I think you'll like it.