It's been an age since I made bread. I eat very little so buy a farmhouse loaf or a multigrain loaf from the in-store bakery and get it sliced by them and pop it in the freezer, taking out just 2 or 3 slices at a time.
But the tomato and herb rolls I used to make are rather good eaten with lots of meals and it was about time to make a batch to freeze.
It was only after the dough had been pummeled by the dough hook that I thought to look at the dates on both flour and yeast.....the flour was BBE April 18 and the Doves yeast which is kept in the fridge was Nov16..........Ooops. Luckily I don't worry to much about dates! The yeast still made the dough rise and the rolls taste fine.
This photo, and you will have to believe me as they were too far away to photograph properly, is 5 hares on the field beside the house. I opened the curtains and saw them straight away so went down for the camera hoping the zoom would be good enough.....but just a bit too far. There were two more off to one side as well. I was so pleased to see them because there has been a lot of illegal hare-coursing on the other side of the village. Hoped I would see them doing the boxing thing but they just ran around as if they were playing chase.
At last we had a bit of sunshine and a few degrees of warmth on Wednesday, it was a treat but still too wet for any garden work. After coming home from visiting Youngest and Florence I washed the car which was filthy from all the mud of the sugar-beet lorries and tractors on all the lanes around about. One problem with driving on narrow lanes is you often have to pull over when you meet something, which usually means into a muddy field gateway, full of huge muddy puddles which spread themselves all over the car.
On Thursday I mixed up a batch of pastry and made 5 chicken and leek pasties (one chicken breast plus leeks from the garden in a thick white sauce........one to eat and 4 into the freezer). Also made a pastry case and six mince pies.
Very strong winds on Friday, I think they said it was Storm Eric. I sorted through some books for the charity shop, Ziffit won't take them because they are too old for bar codes or ISBN numbers. Also looked at the craft papers.........I have too many.......filling a tall chest of drawers. I put some in the car boot box but it really needs a huge sort out. As it wasn't too cold I did some more clearing up in the workshop.Also remembered to check what compost I had in the greenhouse and there is still half a bag of ericasious left from the Camellia so I don't need to get any for the blueberries.
This week I have been thankful for
- Warmth, with oil for the boiler and wood for the wood-burner after hearing one of the shop volunteers talking about waiting 3 days for the Housing Association to get her boiler repaired, over the coldest days and with two young children and all they lent her were two fan heaters.
- BBC i player so I could watch the episode of Silent Witness that I missed before watching part two.
- a quiet swimming pool to swim up and down easily
- a really good book
- choosing the right day to do some washing and getting it dry on the washing line
Hope you all have a good weekend
Back Monday
Sue
It was extgremely gust here too yesterday. I didn;t know it was an official storm but am not surprised. Heavy rain too. Today is supposed to be better, fingers crossed.
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Today the sun is lovely but the wind is a tad strong!!
DeleteJust love a loppity hare! x
ReplyDeleteI watched them loppity lopping about for several minutes until the cat moaned because she wanted me to get her breakfast
DeleteGood to see the hares. When I lived on a farm we loved to watch the hares boxing. Trouble was we had a huge top field which aroused the interest of the hare-coursing fraternity. One day walking the fields I saw a man with a dog, I called out that there wasn’t a footpath across our land. He turned and started to run back the way he had come! This was the first indication that our field assessed by a quiet lane was ideal for their illegal activities. We were ever vigilant after that!
ReplyDeletelX
Hare coarsing makes a lot of money for some people - but so cruel. The field beside me isn't easily accessed thankfully
DeleteAll the better to see the hares with the media wanting us to believe they are almost extinct due to myxy jumping the species. I saw two across the field here last week. We had the illegal courses year when the police coursing squad go out across the fields on Police Quad Bikes. There is a special team such is the problem. 100 sheep also rustled from near here two weeks ago. Very windy here and the house has been creaking all night. Sunny and windy. Good post.
ReplyDeleteThe wind is whistling down the chimney again today, a lovely sound and the sun is a nice change
DeleteWindy and sunny here in the Midlands so first of two loads of washing on, will get it outside and hopefully dry it, but if not, at least lighten it so not so long in the tumble dryer. Spring is coming! Savannah.
ReplyDeleteThe sun says spring but the wind says winter today
DeleteI can't say I have ever knowingly seen a hare in real life and feel I'm missing out, lol.
ReplyDeleteWe had very strong winds and torrential rain yesterday and I'm glad it's not me having to take our dog out for a walk.
I always list my 'thankfuls' at the end of every day in my diary. The first one is always 'another day', as I never take them for granted, then it's usually something I'm doing that's on my 'to-do' list and lastly something good that has happened to my family on that day, whether it be a safe journey, good news or an accomplishment etc. Sometimes there is only a few lines and sometimes I could get into double figues.
I'm feeling very lucky to have those close up photos last year and lovely to see them over on the field
DeleteWe get hares here too, but I've only ever seen one, or very occasionally two, at a time. Also terribly windy here, with intermittent heavy showers and sunshine. Our lanes are single track too, with very well used and very muddy passing places, we rarely manage a journey without having to stop for a tractor. The lanes are mostly flooded at the mo, not deep enough to maroon us indoors, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteI'm always very wary when I have to pull over to make way for something as a puddle could be covering a deep hole!
DeleteI can identify with that thankful list - simple pleasures but worthy ones which make life more bearable.
ReplyDeleteHares - my favourite creatures in the world - I have several statues of them and collect mugs etc. with them on. Coming originally from Lincolnshire where hares used to be plentiful I love to see them and now rarely do. So thank you for that photograph.
I just felt so glad to have warmth that I thought I'd start a list - always a list!
DeleteWe love hares, quite often see them on walks, as well as deer.
ReplyDeleteDon't see many deer apart from the odd muntjac, not a lot of woodland around here, all big arable fields
DeleteI think that counts as a very good week, the hares being the most beautiful. What a wonderful sight. The mention of pasties, bread, and mince pies is making my tummy rumble.
ReplyDeleteThe pasties, bread rolls and mince pies are all good and the pastry case got used for a lemon meringue pie which I thought would be a nice treat for my weekend
DeleteStorm Eric battered us good and proper. We had towels and jugs on most of the window sills ... on the inside I hasten to add ... and drips coming in everywhere. And this is all after getting the cottage weatherproofed last Summer, what would it have been like before!!
ReplyDeleteA batch of those rolls in the freezer will be perfect to go with homemade soups until the last of this wild wet Winter passes.
How was the rain getting in?
DeleteWonderful to see the hares Sue. Love the sound of those bread rolls, very tasty.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say the recipe is on the Recipe Page link
DeleteChicken and leek sounds wonderful. I now wish I had picked up a leek when I was grocery shopping. How many people still make their own pastry? I know only one other among my friends.
ReplyDeleteLeeks are the only winter veg I grew so they need using up - often silly prices to buy
DeleteGale wind here today but the sun is nice. I made an artisan bread last week, no kneed. It was wonderful. Never thught to check the yeast use-by date, but as w you, it worked fine. This week a mulit-seed version is planned.
ReplyDeletelizzy
lizzzz.d@gmail.com
I shall carry on using my yeast and hope for the best!
DeleteHow nice to see the hares! We had some more snow yesterday. Last night when husband went to the kitchen for a drink he looked out of the back window and saw the mother and baby deer in the garden again. They were looking for food on the bird table. It was too dark for a photo, but nice to watch them. Hope you have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteIt was a treat to look out and see so many, I hoped they would come closer but they didn't.Hope your bruises are fading and not so painful.
DeleteYou were very busy this week.
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a very good weekend.
God bless.
Thank you
DeleteI am so with you on being thankful for warmth and also the one about choosing the right day to do washing and dry it on the line outside - tricky business at this time of year. But every time I'm able to do that, I feel a little victory : )
ReplyDeleteIt was so blowy the washing dried in just a couple of hours - very handy
DeleteWe seem to have missed the worst of the bad weather here in West Yorkshire but I have had the flood warning calls for the cottage in Scotland so hoping it hasn't been swept away on the storms! I have numerous dust sheets to wash of my daughters so am waiting for a nice dry windy day - just wet here at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI just googled and got some education on hare coursing, which I had never heard of, and the difference between hare and rabbits. We have lots of rabbits here, year-round. They've become almost immune to the dogs barking at them. Love the list of things you're thankful for, Sue. Reminds me to think about all that I'm thankful for, too.
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