This post is going to catch us up on the week, since I have been too busy to blog as things have happened.
Well, all of Bubby's refusals to sit have finally paid off. Wednesday, Precious had lunch out with New Daddy, which gave me a lot of Bubby-time. He took a couple of steps (not consecutive) while he held onto my arms! After starting with the dishwasher, he's found more things to pull up on from his potty, like the bathroom mirror. When he succeeds, he triumphantly bellows, "Hah! Heh! Hah!" while he gapes at his smiling reflection.
New Daddy is taking a few days off between jobs to go fishing with all of his fishing buddies in two states. However, he has promised to be back home in the early afternoon tomorrow, and I'll have him for the rest of the weekend! One of our plans is to visit a raw dairy within in an hour of the house to see what they have to offer (and to taste what they offer???).
Meanwhile, Poppy's transformation of our backyard has provided us with a much-needed break from the indoors. Beautiful, spring weather, minus the pollen count, doesn't hurt at all, either! Poppy and New Daddy hung a porch swing under the deck, which gives us a great view of the yard. The kids' play-fort is nestled up in the leaves, and hopefully immune from the sound of the neighbors' pool pump. We'll find out about that one in a month or so. For now, our backyard has gone from a place that I would avoid to a place that we all can enjoy. Having somewhere to sit really helps!
I have finally made my first successful batch of soaked whole wheat bread. "Successful" doesn't necessarily mean "huge." Last week's batch rose all the way to the heating element in the oven, thanks to the cup and a half of unbleached white flour I had added. It was as high over the top as it was deep! It also went dry very quickly and had a taste that was slightly "flat" from all of the white flour. Today's batch was a lot wetter, on purpose; I find that I prefer the more moist, chewier texture over a loaf that rises to high heaven.
Well, all of Bubby's refusals to sit have finally paid off. Wednesday, Precious had lunch out with New Daddy, which gave me a lot of Bubby-time. He took a couple of steps (not consecutive) while he held onto my arms! After starting with the dishwasher, he's found more things to pull up on from his potty, like the bathroom mirror. When he succeeds, he triumphantly bellows, "Hah! Heh! Hah!" while he gapes at his smiling reflection.
New Daddy is taking a few days off between jobs to go fishing with all of his fishing buddies in two states. However, he has promised to be back home in the early afternoon tomorrow, and I'll have him for the rest of the weekend! One of our plans is to visit a raw dairy within in an hour of the house to see what they have to offer (and to taste what they offer???).
Meanwhile, Poppy's transformation of our backyard has provided us with a much-needed break from the indoors. Beautiful, spring weather, minus the pollen count, doesn't hurt at all, either! Poppy and New Daddy hung a porch swing under the deck, which gives us a great view of the yard. The kids' play-fort is nestled up in the leaves, and hopefully immune from the sound of the neighbors' pool pump. We'll find out about that one in a month or so. For now, our backyard has gone from a place that I would avoid to a place that we all can enjoy. Having somewhere to sit really helps!
I have finally made my first successful batch of soaked whole wheat bread. "Successful" doesn't necessarily mean "huge." Last week's batch rose all the way to the heating element in the oven, thanks to the cup and a half of unbleached white flour I had added. It was as high over the top as it was deep! It also went dry very quickly and had a taste that was slightly "flat" from all of the white flour. Today's batch was a lot wetter, on purpose; I find that I prefer the more moist, chewier texture over a loaf that rises to high heaven.
Other amendments:
- ~I made the two teaspoons of salt more like rounded teaspoons, because the first batch didn't seem quite salty enough to me.
- ~Added the full 1/3 cup honey and oil, instead of only 1/4 each last time. I think this really helped in the moisture content.
- ~Added less unbleached flour, closer to 1 or 1 1/4 cups. I eyeballed it in the bread machine and got the consistency to a slight sheen while it was kneading. My first batch was not shiny at all and pulled away from the pan easily.
P.S. Aunt Ma has finally posted her few pics from the Easter trip on her Picasa site. I think her photo of Bro. Branham's grave closely resembles the All-Seeing Eye on the US dollar bill. Very Interesting.
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