A tip for when you are baking bread, and also generally in life when things don't go your way.

Okay, this is a quick one.

Almost every weekend (Friday night/Saturday morning), I make a couple loaves of bread. Brian eats it throughout the weekend as sandwiches and toast whenever he's hungry between meals.

So this has become a tradition for me. I've done it so often that I don't use a recipe anymore. Flour, grains, sugar, salt, yeast - dump it all in. Add some butter or oil. Mix it up in the mixer and slowly add water. Mix until blended, separate into loaves, let rise for a bit, then bake. Every time, it's a success. I have made it more times than I can remember.

UNTIL a couple weeks ago when I decided to fidget with the loaf size. I did almost everything the same, except maybe adding a little less flour - and suddenly, I wound up with two squatty, dense loaves. Surprise! So this is just to say that if you are foraging into the world of baking your own bread, don't give up if you run into a bump in the road. This might sound haughty but I thought I had baking bread down PAT. I guess I was wrong! Anyway, this morning I made bread again, and it was perfect.

In other news, I think this is going to be a great weekend. Right now Brian and Bo are running around some public hunting land, scouting for new spots and tiring themselves out like crazy. I'm about to leave to sing at the nursing home with our church choir and on the way home I'm stopping at the store to buy MUSSELS, baby! Whole Foods is getting 20 pounds in this morning - I called. Then tomorrow I'm heading off to the library booksale, because as a matter of fact I am still on a book-buying bender for children that don't exist yet.

More on that later, but you should see how big the stack in the empty room has gotten. : )

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, too! (Bake some bread, if you're up to it!)

Forecast calls for more sunshine and several imminent purchases

Seems to me that spring is here. It's been in the sixties all week and the Weather.com predictions don't show the temperature dipping much lower. We're heading for a short trip to Florida soon and I reckon when we get back, winter will be gone. History. Poof!

Too bad.

Oh, well. I feel like all I do on this blog is complain about the weather, so I'll stop right here. All I'll say is that, this year, I'm investing in one of these:

No, not a family of vacationing Norwegians - a pool! Maybe a little smaller than this. Maybe even a small footbath. Something I can set up on the deck, fill with water, and utilize to avoid collapse in between watering the garden and the wilting landscaping. Somehow, I will battle, and win.

So I suppose that's an awkward segue into what I want to say. I'm hoping the hot, humid summer will pass quickly because we're looking WAY ahead... to the fall. Guess what's happening then? I'll give you a hint: it's going to be a completely new experience. Lots of people have done this, but we never have. And surprisingly, Brian is looking forward to it LOT more than I thought he would. I'm a little nervous, I'll admit, but I have enough faith in myself that I think I'm up to it!

Want to know what I'm talking about?

Have you guessed yet?

Well, I'll tell you!

We're going on our very first hunting trip together!

We're going elk hunting! YIPPEE!

If we're lucky enough to draw a tag, Brian and I are trekking into the foothills of Montana with our supplies on our backs and a WHOLE lot of walking to do. I can't believe Brian wants to take me - and I can't believe he thinks I'll like it! - but I figure if he can do it, then so can I. Last night he was so excited, telling me what the trip will entail. "We'll have to get you a good backpack," he said, "and some good hiking boots."

Guess when he started shopping for those things? Yup. This morning, I got two links in my email - "want to buy these?" He's not the only one that likes spending money! We are quite a pair.

We'll be out in the wilderness for about ten days, maybe more. I hope we see lots of wildlife and have some good weather, and I wouldn't even mind running into a bear. We'll both be packing, so I'm not too worried!

I can't believe I'm excited about this!