Bread and Potatoes on Wednesday

I set my alarm for 8:00 a.m., today, as I was determined to wake up earlier than usual.  I was tempted to go back to sleep when the alarm went off (I hadn't gone to bed until around 3:00 a.m.), but, I got up, got dressed, fed the cats, unlocked the gate in anticipation of M arriving to water the garden, had a cup of tea, and said my morning prayers.  Then, I spent a little time online, until M arrived.

We chatted a bit, then, he watered the garden, both front and back for me.  We picked more guavas from the pineapple guava (feijoa) tree and harvested the potatoes I had grown in a container (from a supermarket potato that had sprouted).  It might not be a huge potato harvest, but, I was thrilled to bits!

Pineapple Guavas (Feijoa) and Potatoes

I boiled the potatoes and had some for my brunch, along with my salad and turkey.  

Today, I sorted all the Christmas fabric scraps I had collected in the gallon sized bag and separated them by fabric design, putting all the likes together.  They won't stay like that once I open the bundled up pieces of fabric to get pieces out for the next project, but, it satisfied my need to organize!  It reminded me of something my mother had written about me in my baby book, that she would give me her basket of lace trims and ribbons and I would spend hours sorting them and rearranging them; no doubt I tangled them all up, too, but she had written that it would keep me amused for hours!  I remember doing the same with my daughter when she was a baby - give her her own pile of fabric scraps when I sorted out pieces for a quilt top and it kept her happy for long periods of time!

Once that was done, I settled down to sew another hot pad/pot holder,  but doing applique instead of patchwork.  I made a start on it, but, haven't finished sewing it.  I hope to finish it, tomorrow.  

Later in the afternoon, I decided to make some bread.  Regular yeast bread, using all purpose flour and a packet of yeast friend R had given me, last year, when I couldn't find any yeast in any of the stores or on line!  The packet had expired, last year, but, I proofed it and it worked well enough.  But, today has been a relatively cool day (and very windy - so glad I had the eucalyptus tree trimmed!).  I kept the dough to rise in the unheated oven with a bowl of hot water and the oven light on to provide a little extra warmth.  The dough took its own sweet time to rise and didn't rise a lot.  I was afraid I might end up with two bricks of bread instead of two loaves!  But, I eventually baked it and I think it turned out quite well, if I say so myself!

Freshly Baked Bread

Warm From the Oven

With Butter

Today, I am grateful for:

- M tending to the garden, twice a week
- The guava and potatoharvest!
- The dough hook on my stand mixer!
- Fresh bread, hot from the oven
- The eucalyptus tree was trimmed in time

Today's joyful activity was baking (and eating!) fresh bread!

The wind is blowing so hard that the lights went out once and has been flickering on and off!  One of the energy providers had already said that their customers might be without power, tomorrow, as they plan to shut down their power lines to reduce the risk of fires during these strong Santa Ana winds which are dry desert winds.  I hope we won't lose power, tomorrow!  But, if the power does go out, we have cooked turkey leftover in the fridge, a container of salad, and freshly baked bread for our Thanksgiving meal!  Oh, and plenty of candles!  LOL!

I know that not all of my readers will celebrate Thanksgiving, tomorrow.  Some of you live where Thanksgiving is not a holiday to be observed, some have already celebrated their own Thanksgivings, last month, and some are going through some emotionally difficult times keeping vigil by family members who are ill or nearing the end of their lives.  I do, however, wish everyone a day filled with blessings; may you find something for which to be thankful, not just tomorrow, but, every day.