Considering the snow

Baking bread seemed like a good idea. I had a new recipe, from an expert at work. It looked like the whole wheat bread recipe that mother and Martha used to make, a lot, and perfectly every time.

We made one stop at a grocery store on the way home in the snow and bought King Arthur whole wheat flour. According to my experts, fresh whole wheat flour is a must.

The yeast was active, the dough rose....but what I didn't pay enough attention to was the warning about the moistness of this recipe, about how well GREASED the pan needed to be.

It almost took a chisel to separate it from the pan.

I should have built a snowman, done another load of wash, brushed my teeth. 

Martha, I need your recipe.

Spring is in the air

That article of clothing is a biker shorts/sleeveless tunic stretchy piece of clothing that Cullen passed on to Tom last weekend. The kind of outfit that Lance Armstrong wears.

If spring will only come, the neighbors will get a treat.

But the real news this week is on the birthday front. Happy birthday, Bridget!

There were more embarrassing photos, but I couldn't pass up the pink hair bobbles. Aren't you glad I figured out how to use the scanner?

laundry room makeover

The objective was to gain an indoor clothesline, in a spot that was handy, and to do it without blocking access to the door or to the cat's supply of canned pumpkin in the laundry room refrigerator. That's extra-heavy-duty plywood that Tom is installing.

It's the pulley system that makes this a superior setup. I can, if I choose, stand in one spot and pull the line to me.  Just like those lines installed between two apartment buildings in old black and white movies! And the hook that the pulley sits on will make it possible to take the line down easily.

 

Here's the other end of the laundry room. Another board intstallation, with a matching hook and pulley.

All hardware and clothesline in place, one load of laundry hung. Notice another advantage of the pulley and spacer system. Instead of one line, it gives me two. Small things on the top line, longer on the bottom.

I feel green. Al Gore, this one's for you.