This and That

Winter typically consists of two seasons... ice...

or mud.  

For some reason, we get the bulk of our precipitation during the winter months and it seems that the ground never dries out.  It freezes occasionally - giving us a break from the mud.  We are currently in the mud... as the temperatures have been up in the 50's these past few days.

The only real downside to the mud is the horses' propensity for rolling in it... especially Moonie!  I have no idea why he does this... but he does it all of the time.  Perhaps he rolls all of the time and I just don't realize it until he's covered in mud.

Luckily, he dries out and the mud brushes off with a little elbow grease.

Luckily, the donkey girls have enough sense to stay out of the mud.  They do their rolling in the wood shavings inside their house... clean rolling!

Lyme disease treatment continues for Red.  He is doing much better than he was in the beginning, but is still not moving normally.  We are going to continue his antibiotics until his progress plateaus.  I am hoping for a full recovery... time will tell.

He's been very good about his syringe of crushed doxycycline in molasses.

"Nom, nom, nom!"

He's a very patient patient.

For those of you interested in my autumn knitting projects - now that Christmas is over, I can show them to you.... pillows.  I made three of this first pattern in different color ways...

It looks as though this New Year's holiday will be a quiet one.  We were going to spend some time with family, however, everyone is sick right now... including Jack, who is over the flu, but now has an upper respiratory infection.  I'll be taking down the Christmas decor, baking bread, and finishing my mushroom puzzle.

In the coming New Year... may your heart be filled with love, your spirit lifted with hope,  your days warmed by the sunshine of fond memories, and your nights soothed by the peace of a life well-lived.

See you in 2025!!

As requested... here is the basic sourdough recipe that I use when I bake bread for family.  The bread that I bake weekly for our own use is from this recipe (it's wonderful!)   However, the following recipe is a great basic bread recipe to which I sometimes add things like rosemary, or cheddar cheese, etc.

200 g. active and bubbly sourdough starter

650 g. water

650 g. bread flour

200 g. rye flour

100 g. whole wheat flour

20 g. sea salt.

Mix ingredients and allow to rest for 30 minute to hydrate flour.  Begin a series of stretch and folds 30 minutes apart X3.

Allow to rise on countertop (covered) overnight

shape boules and score with razorblade (makes 2) and allow to proof for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 475 with cast iron dutch oven inside.

With rack in lower third of oven, bake covered for 30 minutes.  Then uncover bread and allow to bake for another 20 minutes at 425.

This recipe makes two large boules.

PS:

Out of curiosity, Jack asked me how many blogs I have written over the years.  I looked back at Blogger's records to find that this blog is number 4,092!  That little fact truly amazed me.