Spring is Coming!

 A dry day at last and I went for a wander around the garden and what a lot of plants are in flower. A welcome site after all the snow, ice and rain!

The weather is due to be good for February over the next few days so hopefully there will be more flowers soon.

Bread

 I like making bread as there is something almost magical about it and during lockdown it seemed a positive thing to do.

Using strong flour and dried yeast I mixed the ingredients in a bowl with warm water to make the dough.

The dough was kneaded for about 10 mins. and then put in a bowl and covered for the 1st proving in the warm airing cupboard.

After about 1 1/2 hours the dough had expanded to twice its size.

It was taken from the bowl and the air knocked out of it and kneaded again and then shaped into a cob loaf. It was then put back into the airing cupboard for the 2nd proving.

After about 1/2 hour the dough was cut across the top and put into a very hot oven to bake.

The loaf was then removed from the oven and allowed to cool. When cut it had a good texture and tasted good with some butter.

It was fun making bread but I had forgotten what hard work kneading was!!!

Snowy Weather

 We have had a lot of snowy weather this year often accompanied by ice. However none of it has lasted long but the temperature has been very up and down with heavy rain in between the cold weather.

The first two photos were taken while it was snowing!

The next four photos were taken after a hoar frost,

Everywhere looks beautiful after the ice and snow but it can be very dangerous for everyday living.