directions

MAKING BREAD

April 2, the day after Fools Day, the second day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It is well into the evening. I’m almost ready to call it a day but I have not put down many words. I have not made a great beginning at all. The desire is in me. I’m lacking in get up and go but I’m pecking away on my keyboard.

I haven’t been resting on my laurels at all. I’ve been busy as a bee all morning,  making bread and soup for lunch. Bread is something I’m good at now. I make 6 loaves at a time. I have the recipe and measurements etched on my brain. I have all the steps down pat. No need to look up anything.

  1. In large bowl – 6 cups of warm water, 2/3 cup honey, 8 teaspoon yeast. Stir to dissolve.
  2. Stir in 8 cups unbleached flour. Let sit and rise for 30 minutes.
  3. Stir into mixture 2/3 cup honey, 2 tablespoon salt, 6 tablespoon butter. Gradually add and mix in 9 cups of whole wheat flour. Place dough on lightly floured table and knead till well mixed and feels slightly sticky.
  4. Shape dough into a ball and placed in greased bowl, rolling it around bowl until dough is greased. Covered and poof for an hour in oven.
  5. Take dough out and place on table surface. Punch it down and divide into 6 loaves. Put into greased pans. Covered in oven and poof for 40 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.
  7. Lightly butter each loaf on top. Take loaves out of pans. Cool on rack.

I have failed only once. The water was too hot and killed the yeast. It was not really a failure. The dough made many doggy biscuits for Sheba and delicious flat bread for us. Nothing was wasted. Failure of one thing morphed into a success of another kind. Not a great post but it’s a good practice for writing up steps and directions for making bread. Another day, another post.

DIRECTIONS – Day 41 in a year of …

Day 41 – September 1, 2017 @5:45

imageOh, it’s that mellow time of day when the beer comes out. It’s too warm to light a fire. I’m feeling pretty mellow but I can still tap, tap on my phone. I can still follow directions and knit.

I’m into the more completed part of the sweater now. I’m taking care to jot down on my Notes what row I’m on, how many stitches I’ve increased, etc. When you read and follow directions, miracles happen. You can find Nirvana. In the past I’ve relied on by guess, gosh, maybe it will work and maybe I will find the place. I’ve given that up – mostly. Sometimes I slip. That happens.

What direction are you taking? Are you looking for Nirvana? Tell me tomorrow.

LIFE IN ALL DIRECTIONS

I like to start the morning with a cup of Tetley’s Chai, strong and sweet.  Its spiciness warms and stimulates me from the inside out.  One sip and I’m ready at the keyboard.

IMG_5896I am not good at directions.  Anyone who knows me knows that.  My mother says I got that from my father.  Funny how all my ‘bad’ traits came from that direction.  Never mind!  It’s a common dance between mothers and fathers.  If the children are wise, they would stay out of their way and not get their toes stepped on.

Back to directions.  I don’t have any.  I get lost a lot, especially in a new place.  My friends know that if I’m late meeting them, I’m probably lost.  But I am learning – after all these years – to get written directions before hand.  I go to google map and print it out.  Life can be that simple if you stay calm and use your brain.

My brain IS my problem.  I am more right than left brain.  I am not at all analytical and logical.  I think with my feelings.  I head out in the approximate direction I thought the address is, thinking I would get there somehow.  No wonder it takes me hours (I’m embarrassed to say) to find a place.  How stupid of me!

I have learned my lesson though.  Even if I have a handicap, there are tools – maps, GPS, google, etc.  I could slow down, think it out and not get overwhelmed before rushing off. That is my problem, you see.  My brain gets schmucked with the WHOLE picture, with whatever I’m dealing with at the time.  And I’m like a deer in headlights.  I don’t know what to do.  I freeze, then I run off in all directions.

IMG_5553You’ll be relieved and happy to know that I was not like that as a nurse.  On the contrary, I was the opposite.  In emergencies, something would click inside me. Things slow down and I see with much more clarity.  Sometimes I see in black and white, like a Kodak moment.

I worried that others would think I was not doing my best. I felt slower but with more purpose.  It was a relief to be told by ones that mattered that I was calm and competent.  You would be safe in my hands.  Flapping only created more chaos, slowing things.

IMG_2961I am changing directions now,  taking time, trying to be more analytical and not to rush pell mell, like a bat out of hell.  I can be more focused with purpose.  I don’t have to wait for an emergency.  I don’t have to save someone else’s life.  I will do it to save mine.

Funny what happens when you live life in 15-minute segments and do the best you can.  I can map out where I want to go AND get there – most of the time. There are no absolutes.  I am sure I will still get lost a time or two.  But now I have better tools to find my way.