This week has been just as hectic as predicted! With one eye constantly on the business of Day Camps- Church Feedback Forms, Final Receipts, Calendar Planning etc. the other “half” of life revolved around the “Changing of the Decorations.”
Certain of the seasonal changes are pure joy (well not the physical work, but the sense of anticipation), such as the feeling of getting out the summer decorations or preparing for Advent. Although I truly love the season of Harvest Thanksgiving, the inevitable end of summer and the approach of winter, add a dab of sorrow to this time of change.
The whole process (by God’s Grace!!) ran quite smoothly. I had done some small “behind the scenes” jobs over last weekend and by working for about 12 hours straight Monday, was able to leave Tuesday for a few last tweaks and then all was complete. Whew!
Late Wednesday afternoon I took my time, walking slowly through every room praying and sprinkling a little Holy Water after which a real cloak of peace fell over the house. Despite the mounting calendar list of obligations the last few days have continued to contain a modicum of peace, long may the feeling last!
Thursday I cycled down to church to look over a possible rearrangement of room spaces for Children @ St. Stephen’s and then came home to mow the lawns. The weather is still hot and dry, but sadly, the Holiday Weekend forecast is predicting thundershowers. Today is just sort of muggy and overcast so I am hoping to get some sewing done and baking too.I am also pleased to have completed the first pair of Hostsocken, and am happy with the results!
It is hard to know if I’ll be sharing a Bible story time with any children tomorrow, as I know some people are off for a last “summer” weekend in the country. Actually, the Prophet Malachi is pretty hard going for the average small child but I have a few ideas packed up in my backpack and waiting to go!
As I write there are two loves of caraway rye bread baking the in oven and once they come out I just need to pop Sue’s gluten-free loves in and then will dash out for the third walk of the day with Wil. The rain is now not predicted until tomorrow so I’ve been able to put in a
bit of gardening and shall save the sewing work for a rainy Labour Day Monday.
bit of gardening and shall save the sewing work for a rainy Labour Day Monday.
The rye bread is designed to be eaten with the Hearty Cabbage Soup for which I included the recipe a couple of weeks ago, so it seemed appropriate to include it here. Happy Baking!
Sourdough Rye Bread
Biga-
1½-cups warm water
1tsp. yeast
11/2 cups unbleached flour
½ cup rye flour
Dissolve the yeast in the water and stir in the flour until smooth. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave at room temp. overnight.
Dough:-
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm water
1 ½Tbsps. yeast
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup rye flour
2.Tbsps. Molasses
2 tsps. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1Tbsp. caraway seeds
In a large bowl combine the dough ingredients and the biga. Beat well, by hand untilthe dough comes together. Grease your hands with a little of the olive oil and form the dough into a rough ball, in the bowl, coating it with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.Next day, remove the dough from the fridge 2 hours before ready to shape it. Grease a large cast iron skillet or a baguette pan. Pour the dough into the pan or divide in half and gently pour into the baguette pan grooves. Try and keep the dough as inflated as possible. Brush the loaves with the remaining oil and sprinkle with salt and caraway seeds. Allow to rise for 45 mins. Preheat the oven to 500F. Reduce temp. to 450F and place loaves in oven. Bake for approx. 30minutes, or until the top is browned. Cool on a rack.
Love those huge sunflowers Valerie! 😀 xo
Also, very cool hostsockens 😉 love all those colors!