Dear Reader,
Hello, again! This week has been both busy and restful. I’ve spent time in my garden, pulling weeds and checking on the seeds I planted last week. So far, the corn, some green beans, squashes, melons, and lots of carrots have started to poke their leaves up through the soil. My son has also been helping me, and while he isn’t as excited about the plants as I am, he has been pleasant company throughout. For a teenager, I’m going to consider pleasantness a win.
I also tried another round of baking. This time, I used bread flour as much as possible, but ran out before I had enough flour, so while the rise was better, I think I’ll need to make more. I ended up with a ⅔ bread flour to ⅓ all-purpose flour ratio by the end of the kneading cycle. I made half of it into rolls, and half of it into a loaf of bread. It tasted delicious, and my parents picked up more bread flour for me when they went to the store. My dad really enjoys trying all of my baking/cooking experiments.
I also continued to work on getting my house to a cozy, peaceful state for welcoming visitors. I’m expecting company on July 3 and 4, and want them to feel at home in my space. To that end, I’ve been cleaning (dogs included), dusting, and moving furniture. Tomorrow, my dad and I will start working on a legacy project for my guest room together. My mom, when she got her first place, had a full, wooden spindle bed frame. This frame is the one I remember from my childhood as it became theirs when they got married over 40 years ago. One of the bed rails broke, so they replaced the frame with a new one, and we had always assumed the frame was discarded.
However, Dad and I were looking for an old hose to cut apart to support the apricot tree, and we were checking in the annex when I saw it! I asked him if it was the old bed frame, and he said it was. He had been saving it because he knew it was sentimental to my mom. We looked at it together, and the headboard, footboard, and hardware were all in good shape, so I purchased boards to make a new side rail. We get to start the project tomorrow, and hopefully it will be in place in my guest room by Monday. I’m so excited!
This week, I’m including pictures of the bread, new seedlings, and of course, one of the dogs (Percy, since he threw life into a tailspin two weeks ago). I hope you enjoy them and have an amazing week.
Sincerely,
Cyndars
Bread at the end of the first rise.
Bread and rolls at the end of the second rise.
corn and bean sprouts
squash
carrots (line of green spiky leaves)
Percy, all coned up.
Percy, cone free!
