Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
20th February 2021
Mutt Mindfulness
After Yogi ruptured her cruciate ligaments two years ago, I took her to hydrotherapy for rehabilitation and we have continued to go monthly as a maintenance measure. She has recently been diagnosed as having osteoarthritis so we are back to hydro once a week and our walks are obviously greatly reduced in both frequency and length. We tend to go out for more of a ‘sniff’ now – or to send and pick up ‘pee-mails’!
Not surprisingly, as she is used to being active and out with me all the time, she was getting a bit depressed at the lack of getting out and about (a bit like the rest of us during lockdown), so I have been looking for other ways to keep her engaged and interested in life.
During her rehabilitation last summer I was putting little treats out in the garden for her to find, like a little treasure hunt, but as it’s just too cold or wet to stand to watch and encourage her, I now do it indoors. It is as simple as putting little training treats under toys, in a small tray of plastic balls (you can use leaves outside) and in her Snuffle Ball. It will only keep her busy for about 10 minutes but it is long enough, as it takes quite a lot of concentration, and she is happy to settle down afterwards. It is great watching her use her nose and paws as nature intended and the level of concentration is definitely the equivalent of chasing squirrels, without the damaging sprints.
These doggy treat treasure hunts are part of Animal Centred Education, or ACE free work, developed by Sarah Fisher and it’s worth looking up if you are keen to keep your dog happy and mentally stimulated, especially indoors. Have a look at www.tilleyfarm.org.uk
Closer to home (or my home), Angela at Contented Pets includes this type of work in her Doggy Day Care and kindly made Yogi a Snuffle Ball last year. It is basically a felt ball with lots of folds and creases, which you can hide treats in and which will keep your dog safely occupied for a while. They have been so popular that Angela has now developed a range of snuffle activities and products which all work on the same principle of keeping your dog engaged and mentally stimulated. These enrichment activities are great for ‘brainwork’ and I suppose is a sort of ‘Mindfulness for Mutts’.
You can see them in action at www.facebook.com/CP-Snuffle-Puzzles-for-Dogs-162456518851434/ or call Angela for more details on 07846 653275.
All the Snuffle Puzzles are absolutely brilliant for indoor work at this time of year and can obviously be used outdoors once the weather improves – which can’t be long now. Surely?
First Flight
I have mentioned before how much I love watching my honey bees collecting the orange pollen from snowdrops as one of their first forages of the year.
Last week I was lucky enough to capture them on my iPhone.
I was working in the garden and could hear that lovely low level drone of busy bees, and it didn’t take long to trace it to a big carpet of snowdrops.
It would almost certainly have been their first time out of the hive this year so lovely to know they have overwintered safely. And so special to witness.
Knead to Try
Bread Week starts today (20th) and it’s the 12th annual, international celebration of local, independent ‘Real Bread’ bakeries and of course, baking your own bread.
During the lockdowns, bread making at home has increased hugely with ‘banana bread’ leading the way. It became the most-searched recipe on the BBC website, and 45,000 photos of banana bread were posted on one social media site in April alone.
As well as going bananas about bread, a Streetbees poll found that 86% made cakes and 56% made biscuits. The UK’s millers doubled their output from two million 1.5kg bags a week to four million – and still didn’t meet demand.
Following the flour frenzy, the great thing is that a percentage of new bakers will become regular bakers, having learned a new skill and acquiring a taste for delicious bread straight from the oven.
Each year Bread Week normally encourages bakeries and baking schools to hold classes, and relevant events and activities around bread. It’ll obviously be a bit different this year, but if you haven’t yet discovered the benefits of baking your own bread, why not try this week?
And if, like me, you try to swerve bread – I love it, but my stomach doesn’t – then try the latest ‘bread on the block’, Cloud Bread.
It’s low in carbohydrates, high in good fats, naturally gluten free, and perhaps the most attractive thing of all, it’s incredibly easy to make in just 40 minutes and with only four ingredients
You’ll need three large eggs, 3 tbsp cream cheese softened at room temperature, ¼ tsp cream of tartar, ¼ tsp salt, parchment paper, and a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 300℉ and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Separate egg whites from the yolks, placing whites in one bowl and yolks in another. In your egg yolk bowl, add cream cheese and mix together with the yolks, preferably with a hand mixer, until well combined. Add cream of tartar and salt to the egg white bowl and mix together until you have stiff peaks.
Slowly add the yolk mixture to the egg whites, carefully folding in until there are no white streaks. Spoon the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, about ½ to ¾ inches tall and about 5 inches apart and bake in the oven on middle rack for 30 minutes, until tops are lightly golden brown.
Resist temptation to try when they come out of the oven as they will be a bit crumbly and are best left to cool before using.
As well as making delicious ‘light’ sandwiches, Cloud Bread can be used for pizza bases, and instead of regular tortillas. There are several different recipes on the Internet, and whilst it’s nothing like the more traditional types of bread, I think it is a great if you ‘knead’ an alternative.
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