Blue February Skies

It must be the blue skies and longer days but I'm feeling really motivated. Of course I forget to do lots of things on my many lists but who goes through the day like it was a list anyway? That's crazy.

But I can't overstate the power of seeing a blue sky after a grey, overcast winter. And if the wind is down, as it was today minus temperatures seem a paltry thing.

Today we went to the beach and took in the frozen wasteland there. Imagine, to the horizon, nothing but a sheet of ice. Pieces pushing up from below, snow piled here and there. For someone who's never seen a frozen winter sea, this was amazing. Unfortunately I can't share because I didn't bring my camera. But I did take some pictures of the rising sun and the bright, white valley when the recent bright days started. So here you go.



So I guess I should get back to creativity and motivation. Good things to embrace of course. This weekend it's been bread and knitting that have been explored. I learned an easy bread recipe from a wonderful woman. Her recipe is flexible in that you can really use anything that's hanging around your fridge too long. Unfortunately (or not if you don't care) it uses yeast but I'm already learning about sourdough bread so that will be the next adventure. What if the yeast factories stop working?


Anyway here's the recipe (for 8 loaves):

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8 cups of warm to hot liquid (which can include blended veggies and leftovers)
1/2 cup of fat
1/2 cup of sweet
3 tbsp yeast
3 tbsp sea salt
Flour to texture

Mix together everything excluding the flour. Add flour and mix to the point you can stir it in. It needs to be good and moist and a little sticky. Knead it out on a floured bread board. Try and be rhythmic with your kneading. Then you can let it rise in loaf pans and then put it in the oven. I baked it, having no frame of reference, at 350 fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes.

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The liquid I chose to use was the juice from the mason jars that had once contained pickled beets. I thought red bread would be fun and the salty juice meant that I put in a little less salt. The results (and smell of the baking bread) were amazing! Next I might use the liquid that I save from cooking beans. Try it, it's fun and so nice to make bread that's almost as good as from a bakery.


And then there's my new scarf. I don't actually need one but it's an easy place to start. When I started I was always bugging mum but now I just soldier on (another militaristic term). Two knit, two pearl. Easy as pie once someone patient shows you. Maybe by the end of the week I'll be finished. I think knitting a pair of socks would be amazing. Maybe that will be my next project.

Of course all this knitting is stupid because I can buy socks and scarves from China for a tiny sum compared with the hours it will take me. Hell even the yarn costs more than a few pairs of socks from China.

But what if those socks stop coming?