Special Bread - - - - - - -

Wow!  I have a personal baker

His name is Alex. He's young, smart, has his own real business - well

 actually two - and makes time for a fabulous hobby. . . . . . . . . .baking 

excellent sourdough bread to order. He doesn't use the somewhat strong 

flavor of straight lactic acid as in many store-bought loaves, his bread has a 

much more subtle flavor produced by many days of starter prep apparently.

In other words, the good, old fashioned way.

This is the loaf he baked for me - see the M - this week. We picked it up

 at his little apartment kitchen, while it was cooling fresh from the oven.

It was delicious the day baked (I couldn't wait to get home and cut

a slice), and makes wonderful crunchy toast for Irish butter and my

 favorite thick-cut Scottish marmalade breakfast.

I won't be ordering weekly as it's a large 1kg boule (he can make two smaller

ones though), but will definitely want more after Thanksgiving if I cut back

 on the pecan, pumpkin and apple pies. . . . . . but I really prefer just

good bread, and Alex's is great!!!

The Mess. . . . . . . and the last meal!

The big heating and cooling home project was started this morning and

 will continue until completed, probably Wednesday morning.  

It's a mess . . . . . . everywhere.  Today anything required from upstairs was

no longer available.  Fortunately the very cold night warmed up quickly this 

morning and the sun has been shining all day. I took a break from the mess

and had my hair cut and color done, enjoying the time away from clanging

 metal, drilling, hammering etc. Fat garlands by the yard of old, dusty silvered

 ducts snake about the grass, piles of pink and yellow insulation look like

 cotton candy, numerous rusty metal boxes, sheets of plywood, tool boxes

 and other questionable paraphernalia cover the driveway. New equipment

and parts stand shiny and clean in the sunshine.

We sneeze, the workmen sneeze - dust from the old equipment or pollen

from the blooming shrubs and trees?  

Not to change the subject (but know you're not interested in seeing photos of the piles

 of trash outside) do you ever think what you would request as your last meal - like

 the movie characters on their way to the 'chair'?  

Today, though hopefully not my last by any means, I needed my favorite
 breakfast to stand me in good stead for facing the mess in the house.

This easy meal I would also actually request if ever heading to the gallows

 or electric chair!  Just a slice or two of good crusty farm bread toasted,

 salted Irish butter, and my favorite English thick cut orange marmalade.

I perhaps inherited this from my mother. I recall it was her go to favorite

 when she was not up to cooking a big meal just for herself. Her familiar voice
 would cross the pond through the long distance cable, and when I asked what she
 was having for supper, she would say with a laugh, "I really just fancy some toast
 and marmalade." 

Bob read me my horoscope from the morning paper and we had to laugh -

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

"Take the plunge. Home improvements, reconnecting with old friends and romance are favored."

The home improvements are underway : I bumped into an old friend at the salon : now just awaiting the romance which could be snuggling to stay warm tonight, yet another cold one forecast.

Crisp Sunday morning. . . . . . .

Yesterday I cleaned house, well just downstairs, as friends stopped by for tea which actually became just a glass of champagne and my almond cookies as they were heading to dinner with other friends. Later I was at the theatre for a stage production I'd rather not discuss - I so dislike these modern plays full of cursing, swearing and worse! My season ticket may not be renewed. Later, arriving home in really lovely weather, a low half moon clear in the sky, I prepared myself for what I hoped would be more than the predicted dusting of snow, one to two inches on awakening today was hoped for.

Yes we did have heavy snow falling for a couple of hours early today. No it didn't accumulate as hoped for. There was no wandering about in a backyard winter wonderland. Zero crisp, fresh snow changed the green and brown landscape to pristine white. Armed with my camera aimed at hungry birds and squirrels on the feeders, perched brightly on snowy branches, scuffling about on the  snow-covered ground, never happened. 
Instead, I stayed in the kitchen and crunched down on a rather delicious toasted English muffin, smothered in butter and Scottish (the best) marmalade. It was crisp, it was comfort food. . . . . and I needed comforting.

Note - today I'm using CREATE from my set of favorite coffee mugs. I hoped it would get my personal creative juices flowing. Other than take these few photos of eating something perhaps not the healthiest, but definitely tasty and at the top of my favorites list, and writing this little post, that hasn't happened yet either. But later I will bake a cake with healthy apples, make felafel and a good green salad, continue sorting through a big stack of old magazines to share with a friend, and be creative by coloring a new page in my 'adult coloring book' prior to hunkering down by the fire. Tonight is Downton Abbey. . . . . . . and you never know, there just may be snow falling there in tonight's episode, and definitely no bad language!