First Snow!

We had two inches of rain on Friday! Yahoo…..the little pond by our house was dry as a bone and now it is full. Cooper is a happy dog……the ducks have landed in the pond. It's his "job" to keep them up and flying. And he takes his job very seriously.

It snowed for several hours on Saturday but didn't stick. Our high was 35 degrees….time for turtlenecks and down jackets.

I hope my pansies survive the snow.

Randy's Bread Making Skills

Randy has really been improving his bread making skills! This is rye starter (rye flour, water).

He purchased some floured proving baskets or bannetons. They are made out of cane and came from the Netherlands. The bread goes in these baskets right before baking.

This is the recipe he has been perfecting. It came from weekend bakery.com. It's a website he really enjoys. The recipe takes 4 days from start to finish. It's a sourdough recipe with whole wheat, spelt and bread flour (no yeast added). It spends a lot of time in the refrigerator!

Here he is scoring the bread before baking.

The bannetons give the bread such a nice, "professional" shape.

Two loafs ready for the oven.

The finished product!

This is his newest book. He said if he had read this book first, he never would have baked another loaf of bread……very technical. He read about the techniques for scoring before making the loaves above.

Pansy Time

Our early morning temperatures have ranged from 25 degrees to 35 degrees lately. The marigolds have "bit the dust." It's pansy time!

Pansies supposedly can withstand our winter temperatures. The key, however, is that they need 6 hours of sunlight every day. I tried planting them on our west deck last year and they didn't survive. I am avoiding that deck this year. The south deck is now full of pansies…..three window boxes and two tubs.

I also put some in several pots near the garden area but they may not get enough sun……still checking on them each day and I may have to move them.

Fall color does exist, although it is a tree here and there like this one.