I began this February 13, Wednesday.

Up at 4 AM,  took Sugar out for a short meander.....it was just around freezing  then.  We got a very light snow it was already beginning to melt.  It will  all be gone by this evening.  Our high is supposed to hit 50°.

We do like this pattern of fronts rolling in every few days with some moisture. It all counts up.

Good news! My tiller is ready to be picked up.  I am sure the ground is too wet to work but I will be checking it closely until I find a good day.

Bad news!  the truck that was supposed to be fixed and we would never have that problem again (just not starting once in a while....then starting a few hours later), we had that problem yesterday.....DH took it back;  he said a loose wire but he didn't really know the answer....bring it back if it fails again.  I think we are about ready to take it to be dealer.  We are hearing stories about 2005 model Chevrolets having this problem.  Surely,  the dealer will know what to do.  The truck just has about 65,000 miles one it and has lots of wonderful features like leather seats, club cab, heated seats.....I priced a new one for $45,000.....that means lots of repairs can be put into this one.....it will be the first that I can remember of anything needing attention.

Cooking

I haven't made anything special but got some comments about the bread  so I thought I would share some things I have learned along the way.

I keep my yeast (SAF l lb) in an airtight container in the freezer.  I use directly from it.  I don't keep any in the fridge.

Flours:  Once I began using KA, I know longer have to add any enhancers to  the dough, no gluten,rarely ascorbic acid (crushed V-C), no dough enhancer mixes.  I without fail get great rise from both white and whole wheat (half white; half whole wheat) breads.

I keep the white whole wheat flour in the freezer, but not the white bread flour.  I do use KA bread flour, if not I would use the enhancers,

I use whatever sweetener at hand no matter what the recipe calls for, honey, sugar, brown sugar, or even molasses  in whole wheat.

I use butter or lard for the shortening; usually butter.

I almost always make it from the beginning using my large Kitchen Aid mixer.....sometimes I get it out at the last and knead a few times just to keep my hand in....and to smooth the dough, but the major kneading is done  by the machine.   That may be cheating but I hope it will keep me making bread into my ripe old (older) age.

I use any of my bread doughs for hamburger or hot dog buns, but I do have a special dough (refrigerator) that I use for rolls or coffee cake or other sweet rolls.  I have a special recipe I now use for cinnamon rolls.

Thursday,

Nothing special.   I milked.  She was down just a little.  I got brave and  let Sugar run free for a while.  She  finally came to me and was rewarded with a bit of raw hamburger.  I am going to do that again today.

We picked up the tiller, it started and ran smoothly.  There was a loose wire on the truck; I doubt that was the problem but it goes to the dealer the next time.

Friday

The next two days are going to be  too cold for me to do anything outside!  I will set my box of lettuce seedlings out in the sun when it warms up.  It is hovering near freezing right now.

Photo

This is a garden idea:  tuck edibles here and there in flower beds; this is right by the back door where I have now started an herb bed.  I will do lettuce here again and maybe a few green onions and spinach.  It can be a salad and herb bed.