April!

This week is National Library Week. My town library is expanding its hours so we can now browse and use the computers (usage is by appointment). The grab and go option will continue. This was wonderful as one could request a book and then when it bacame available you could pick it up. The Easter weekend was pretty quiet for me. As our church is still doing the services via Zoom but husband and I headed to RI for the long weekend. The weather was beautiful although a bit cool. I participated in a neighborhood cleanup Saturday morning. In the afternoon I baked an orange flavored Easter braided bread. Smelled great, tasted delicious.

My husband cut some daffodils and found some pussywillow that we brought inside. Hoping the pussywillow will root.

I finished The Vanishing Half- really good. So interesting. Held my attention right to the last page.

Just started To Ride A White Horse.... our book club seems to have three themes this year- horses, pandemics and racism.....

March

Book club met last week. I am not sure about the others in the group but I find having a Zoom meeting, better than not gathering, is very frustrating and an unsatisfying experience. The discussion can be fragmented with people interrupting, background noise (dogs barking, spouses talking etc). And, unlike some in the group, I don't Zoom very often but am tired of not gathering in person. I miss the comraderie. Our book was Heavy and it was. I found it interesting but so depressing. Our next book is Pale Rider, a history of the Spanish influenza. Another depressing subject. Seems to be a theme this year. I think at our September planning meeting I will push encourage more diversity in our selections. I am hoping we can meet in Rhode Island and continue our annual meeting. Everyone seems to have gotten or is scheduled to get the Covid vaccine. YAY! I have been reading Say Nothing (again, another depressing but very interesting read) about The Troubles in Ireland. I know nothing about this part of Irish history but whoa, so disturbing. I also started Allie Bosh's Hyperbole and a Half as a more light read. Love the bits of Simple dog and Helper dog. Some good laughs. I have been baking quite a bit- trying different bread recipes mostly from King Arthur flour. The recipes are well written and often have pictures and videos to assist. Today's recipe is the Lemon Braided bread. Not having lemon curd I used apricot jam.

Looks like the picture! Finished braid

I also made pizza for dinner the other night. Again a KAF recipe using a cast iron skillet. The only thing you have to remember is to start the day before you want to make it because it requires an overnight rise in the refrigerator.

. So good!!

A couple of pictures

Top picture is cinnamon rolls (from King Arthur Flour) and a sunset view in RI

New post!

One would think I would be able to keep up with this little blog due to the pandemic and not going anywhere, or socializing. But for some reason it has been hard. My reading has been slow but steady. I try to exercise every day either by taking a Zoom class and or taking a long walk, even in the cold. Our book club zoomed in January to discuss Wild Horses in the Summer Sun, a memoir set in Iceland. We were able to have the author zoom with us. A local person who is also friends with three of the members. It was a really good discussion and interesting to learn how Tory wrote her story of riding Icelandic horses (who knew they had 5 gaits?) and her love of Iceland. Our next book is Heavy, another memoir. I started this yesterday and it is indeed heavy. It deals with growing up in a dysfuntional family unit and dealing with racism, drugs, violence, abuse. Not a long book. It will be interesting to see how many read it and how the discussion unfolds. January is my month for all things healthy- doctor appointments, medical tests (blood work, mammogram, colonscopy this year - ugh etc). Despite the pandemic we have continued to go to RI. As we go house to house we are in our own little bubble. It is cold and wintry and quite lovely this time of year. The sunsets have been spectacular. I have been baking although my doctor told me to not do quite so much. I enjoy the process. Sadly it is my husband and I that eat almost all that I bake. I have a couple of pictures to post but will need to figure how to do it as Google tells me it can't find that page (I have them on my desktop). Sigh. Technology. Not my friend.

It's been a long, long time

Wow, I can't believe my last post was in April. My family has been very careful about quarantining and staying safe while the pandemic continues. So much has happened, but then again not much because we are self isolating. I have been baking a lot- different breads, donuts, quick breads- I try to limit myself to one or two every couple of weeks. Have read many books- quite a few very light reads (rom-coms), and trying to keep up with my book club selections. Sadly we could not do our annual get together in Rhode Island. We did meet and sit outside on my deck. My husband served pizza and salad and I packaged cookies and chocolates for dessert. We picked our books for the coming year. Our meetings have been Zoomed which is interesting. We may be a little more efficient in our discussion. I think that is because so many are working from home and on the computer all the time. Our October book was How to be an Antiracist which was so interesting and generated a really good discussion. Our November book was Murmur of Bees,and again the discussion was very good. I did not read it because I was on the wait list from the library. Have now borrowed it from a friend and will add it to the top of the TBR pile. Our December book is Red at the Bone, again I am waiting for a copy from the library. Our yearly Yankee Swap will have to wait until the spring or summer (Christmas in July?). The big news is of course the pandemic and the election. I was again the moderator for mail in ballots for my town. I had a a crew of 12 and I believe it went smoothly. I did work more days than anticipated because of the huge volume of ballots and the precautions taken to ensure there was no fraud (there wasn't). Still going back and forth to RI where it is quite peaceful and we keep to ourselves in a little bubble. I take a Zoom exercise class about 5 days a week and try to walk 3-5 miles every day if possible. Our Thanksgiving will be small. My daughters are unable to join us (Covid again) and my brother and his family are not gathering with us as in the past. Next year it will be better. And with three companies having promising results in vaccine trials maybe in the spring things will ease up.... maybe.

Just a couple of picturs taken on one of my morning walks.

Crazy times

It's been a long, long time since I wrote anything. December was a crazy month for me dealing with family stuff. I ended up taking care of my mother's dog when home.

January and February we went to Maui. We had a great time in Maui. Read a lot, did some hiking

and basically relaxed. Had a fabulous meal at Mama's Fish House.

This was our dessert! Amazing. Right before the Covid-19 explosion. In fact when we came home in March, we were not sure we would get home. Our trip home was uneventful and the plane was pretty empty. So glad we got home. We have been self-isolating since March 16th (when we got home). I have jokingly mentioned that I am being dragged into the 21st century with Zooming, online banking and ordering. I have plenty to keep busy- lots of sewing, some reading, some little projects (scrapbooking) that have been waiting for completion for a long time and baking. At first flour was a real issue to find like toilet paper. Now apparently it is yeast! I am trying to limit a new baking project to once a week because I am eating most of it!

Made this Lisbon chocolate cake for Easter dinner. Such a crazy and scary time. I have ventured to the grocery store a couple of times. My son has also helped with groceries. My husband has to be extremely careful because of his health issues. The office closed March 16th. Everyone is working from home. Not sure what will happen with our summer rentals. I have had one cancellation so far. Basically a wait and see. Our book group has had two Zoom meetings which have gone pretty well.

Our book in March was The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Our book in April was Pachinko. Our next book is Circe. I hope to get an "ebook" to read.

Welcome 2020!

Welcome 2020! Hoping this year is BORING! So many health issues in 2019 looking forward to routine doctor visits. Met my Goodreads reading challenge- actually surpassed it! Read 79 books. I will continue the challenge with another 75 for 2020. I did a lot of bread baking. I decided a year ago to try to make sourdough bread with homemade starter. Amazingly enough I actually created the starter (following #bakerbettie on Instagram) and successfully created bread using my starter! I have made banana sourdough bread, sourdough chocolate cupcakes too. There have been some great recipes on King Arthur flour to try. I really like the Holiday Star loaf. It looks so complicated but is actually very easy.So some pictures to document my success with bread making.

I also baked apple pie for the holidays.

Making our favorite pinwheel cookies for Christmas. I have been making these since 2004! Think I finally got it down.

My book group had its annual Christmas potluck dinner and Yankee Swap. The highlight was posing with Santa! My friend had a pretty big Santa Claus that could "dance" and sing.

And our 3 grand- dogs visited, plus my mother's little dog for the holidays.

Feeling thankful

Wonderful Thanksgiving today. While many in the family couldn't gather our small group was just right. My son offered to host which I appreciated. My mom provide the turkey, stuffing and gravy. My sister-in-law made her delicious mashed potatoes, orange and plain rolls and two desserts. I made new green bean casserole (voted "just okay", sweet potatoes, three different cheeses and crackers. It was all in all very relaxing. Busy days. I have been baking different breads- sour dough, braided cinnamon. Made an apple pie with ginger gold apples are our favorite.

Had the opportunity to see Hillary and Chelsea Clinton on their book tour for Gutsy Women. Fascinating.

Book group met last week to discuss Fleishman is in Trouble. I guess you either liked it or didn't. I was in the didn't like group. I can not fathom why this is on so many must read lists. I found the characters to be whiny, self -absorbed, superficial. And not much of a plot. But maybe that was the point. Anyway, we had a really good discussion. We meet in December for our annual potluck dinner and Yankee swap. The book is Little Fires Everywhere. Happy Thanksgiving!

October

Still luckily enough to be able to get to RI these past few weekends and enjoy the beautiful fall weather. It was warm enough to go swimming the past two weekends. Another plus- few people on the beach. Perfect for reading and relaxing. Experimented yesterday with another sourdough bread recipe using beer. I think it came out pretty good- good crumb, good taste, good crust.

. This is the first rise. There are three and it basically took most of the day which was fine.

. Out of the oven to cool.

. Ready to eat. Trouble is the recipe makes such a big loaf. Definitely worth doing again. Maybe I will split the dough and bake two smaller loaves. Recipe is from King Arthur Flour and I almost never have a fail using their recipes. Finished The Scent Keeper. It was slow to start but I finally got into it. Fantasy. Our book group is reading Parable of the Sower(Butler) which is futuristic. To me, it was disturbing and a bit depressing because there are so many parallels to today's society and lifestyle. But a good story. Should be a good discussion when we meet. The past few weekends have had spectacular sunsets. This was the one last night.

. No filter. Simply beautiful.

September planning meeting

Last weekend my book group met for our get-together to select our books for the upcoming year. The weather cooperated! I wasn't sure it would and was prepared for a cold or rainy day with a women's authors jigsaw puzzle. But it was nice enough that we could walk on the beach and take the obligatory beach photo.

. Had a nice lunch of two types of quiche, fruit salad, quinoa salad and cookies. We selected our meeting dates and then got to work on the book selection. Our first book (October)is Parable of the Sower (Butler). I checked and it appears that our library, or the consortium that the library belongs to, has every book in just about any format. Our dinner was great- grilled salmon, rainbow chard, homemade sourdough bread, carrot cake- we always eat well. When it started to get dark we turned on the fairy lights (in wine bottles from past weekends!).

Beautiful sunset

Beautiful sunset

Morning walk

Walked early today, before the rain started. Sun was pretty on the water.

. Last night I finished A Land of Permanent Goodbyes. A story of a Syrian refugee family. Compelling, disturbing, beautifully written. It is a YA book. I learned so much about the conditions, risks and reasons that many consider before leaving their country.

Summer

Summer is whizzing by. There have been lots of sunny and very hot days. Luckily we installed AC units last year. While not a big fan of AC so appreciative that we have it to help with sleeping and staying cool. Too hot to even sit on the beach under an umbrella! Have been reading, and doing some sewing. Walking early in the morning before it gets too hot and humid.

Starting to think about my book group’s annual gathering in September. I always try to think of something to do that is a bit different from the previous year. I found a literary jigsaw puzzle which I purchased in case it is a rainy day. I usually have some kind of a favor for everyone. I have done book marks and thinking this year maybe a handmade soap or something that isn’t book themed. For our last get together in June, I made cupcakes with edible toppers of titles from books we had read. You can find anything on Etsy!!

Gathering a list of potential reads for the upcoming year. Always tough to find a book that will generate a good discussion. Calendar (tentative) has already been sent out. Have been experiencing beautiful sunsets.

I didn't realize that my "grand-dog Nellie is in the picture doing her thing!