Oh, dear. A whole week of May gone! Day after tomorrow is
the day C. and I (and my sister and her husband) should have been sailing from
Oban on our “wilderness cruise” to the upper left-hand corner of Scotland. For
most of the last year I have been measuring myself against that day – all I
have to do is stay on my feet until…
Now I’ll have to start again. I fear Helen and Roger have given
up, but C. and I have re-booked for the 1st of May, ’21.
I’ve done no knitting at all. Thanks for that tip about doing
a provisional cast-on by knitting a few rows in a slippery waste yarn, Mary
Lou. If only knitting unravelled upwards, how easy this would be! And also
Karen and Chloe, for your suggestions. I’ll look for Lucy Neatby’s video, if only
because it is always such a pleasure to listen to and watch Lucy Neatby.
Helen came and walked me twice around the garden, so at
least there was exercise if nothing else. Perhaps I’ll try to read some
Boccaccio this evening.
Again today, I fed the sourdough starter in the morning (and
will again this evening). It was delighted, and sprang into life. It has since
subsided. This is all very interesting, and a big change from kimchi-making. I
have a Tesco order booked for Saturday afternoon – this time I have ordered two
bags of flour, one strong bread flour, one wholemeal. I am quite prepared for
disappointment, but if they arrive, I’m going to have to try making a loaf.
We have a bread-maker, which is surprisingly effective, and has come into its own during the lockdown. However it uses dried yeast only and there is none in the local Co-op. The butcher got in a supply of both flour and yeast, so I hurried along to get some: it is fresh yeast and is sitting there smelling evil. I may have to try actually making bread by hand after all.
ReplyDeleteI have been reading all of your posts but wasn't organized to change browsers to leave a comment using Chrome.
ReplyDeleteAlways excellent to read your daily activities! Thanks so much for your posts.
I can report that if I accomplish nothing else in 2020, I managed to get a crochet cast-on to unzip last month.
I think one has to start at the beginning of the provisional cast-on.
If the flour doesn't arrive, would the nearby small shop take a phone order to deliver to your door?
Some new grocery options have sprung up in Toronto (out of necessity) - some restaurants are delivering food plus groceries; an Italian bakery/grocery near me is delivering in the neighbourhood (they offered yeast from Naples); a produce wholesale company created an instant website to deliver to individuals.
I am thinking about spring in Italy. Maybe I can get there in 2021?
Keep very well!
Lisa R-R, Toronto
weird times - you can't get any strong flour at all here right now (but you could fortify plain flour with gluten - available for seitan making online at least), but they offer 10 kg bags of plain flour at tescos! right, what a good size for a max. of three people in the household:( pity none of the neighbours bake or we could share...
ReplyDeletegood luck with your sourdough, mine is bubbling away on the counter:)
That's the spirit, Jean - May 2021 is something to look forward to. And don't we all need that!
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