Whooosh!

Dear Mom,
There has been so much going on and it seems like all the time I am thinking of something I should tell you, and then I get side-tracked and I forget or there is no time for blogging and before I know it lots of Not Blogging has been going on. Spring Break officially started when school let out this afternoon, and I feel like I better hurry up and tell you what I can remember, because there may be even less time to talk next week.

Spring is just a way too busy time of year, with all the pressure to 'get that Spring Cleaning done' and all the yard work that needs to be done all at once. This morning I heard the sound of lawns being mowed. I do have to say it was (for me) a happy sound. We are enjoying a beautiful spring and we deserve it. The only bad thing about hearing the lawn mower sound is when you hear it next door or behind you (or both) and realize that lawn mowing is something else to squeeze in. Maybe I can convince the Young Man that driving the tractor is good practice for driving the car. He needs to practice parallel parking. Can he do that on a John Deere?

On Tuesday evening the Young Lady and I stopped in at Lowe's to buy the crabgrass stuff for the lawn. In addition to the fertilizer, we left with a pot of English Daisies to plant, and 2 blueberry bushes. The Young Lady has been wanting blueberries in her garden and we found some that should do well in her semi-sunny spot. Hopefully we will have some fresh blueberries to share. See what I mean about getting side-tracked?  We walked in there on a mission for ONE THING and walked out with a cart filled with plants.

And that fertilizer is gonna kick in and then we really will need to rev up John, Dear.

Easter is practically HERE and all the Easter stuff is still in the attic. Enough said about that.

I spent some time with Daphne Joy, spinning some yarn for a gift. I have had to move Daphne upstairs to the guest/sewing/knitting/now spinning room because Patsy thinks roving and spinning bobbins are fun things to grab and go. The roving I spun came from Inish Knits and the yarn it turned into is beautiful. I took ONE good picture of it yesterday ( actually, I took several pictures and couldn't get one to do justice to the colors), and today I cannot find the photo on my camera, which means I must have hit the little trash can button on my camera when I thought I was saving the shot. I am disgusted with myself. I find that I do these things when I try to do too many things at once. You are just going to have to trust me. That yarn was pretty.

I moved my knitting chair out onto the screened porch. Just saying that makes me smile big and want to do a little happy dance. I have knitting deadlines, (yes, deadlineS! all good, pinch me) and I hope to spend lots of time knitting in my chair on the screened porch in warm air and sunshine.

The warm weather has enticed me to take the dogs back to the path in the field that I found last summer. Things out there are just beginning to wake up, but there is a little creek running along one side of the field and yesterday after school, the Young Lady spent the better part of an hour playing in the water with the dogs.

Also, that English Muffin Bread recipe that Aunt Chris sent us is so easy and good that I think we should share it on the blog. The bread is goood, but not so good that the whole family inhales it the minute it is cool enough to eat. Which means that I have enjoyed it toasted all week. I like that I still have home baked bread to eat days after I made it.

Aunt Chris's English Muffin Bread

6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 packages active baker's yeast
1 T. sugar
2 t. salt
1/4 t baking soda
2 c milk
1/2 c water
coarse sea salt
a little bit of cornmeal

Grease 2 9X5 loaf pans and lightly sprinkle with cornmeal to coat. Combine 3 cups of flout, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda. Heat milk and water until they are very warm ( 120-130 degrees). Add to the dry mixture. Beat until well combined. Stir in remaining 3 cups flour until combined, but do not over mix. Pour dough into prepared pans. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes  or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire rack.

At this point I have gone on long enough and I am surely forgetting to tell you something. If I think of it, I will try to remember it for the next blog.

Happy Easter.
Love,
Kim

p.s. Michele left a comment on a previous post asking about the socks. Sock yarn is pretty thin.  I knit most of my socks on size 1 double pointed needles at a gauge of 8 stitches per inch. A tight dress shoe would not comfortably accomodate hand knit socks, but you probably wouldn't be wearing a thick wool sock with a dress shoe anyway. I mostly wear a clog type shoe, so the sock thickness is not really an issue. I pretty much don't wear any other socks all winter long, and I have worn through a few pairs lately. I need to learn how to darn socks, I guess.