Bread

I finally managed to make some regular white bread yesterday.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did try making this bread earlier in the week (twice) and never got to the baking stage.  The first time, I forgot to add the cold water to the yeast/sugar/water mixture and so I just added it in later...and things got messy and so I just dumped it in the garbage.  Then, I went to mix again...and my yeast wouldn't foam...had to run to the store for more.  Next attempt, the dough was too sticky and I had put my flour away (and had dough all over my hands) and kept hollering for my husband but he was doing something else and apparently did not hear the urgency in my voice.  I finally gave up and threw it in the garbage, again.

I think in both instances I must have not counted my cups of flour correctly.  Yesterday, I did everything the same, just making sure to mark down the cups of flour as I dumped them.  The bread turned out perfectly!  Go figure.

On my last post, Tea Mouse left me a message to check out a bread recipe on her blog (or a link to a bread recipe.... Multiseed Bread.  It sounds delicious, but I'm not eating nuts right now so I can't try it.  I am a bit bummed about that.

Also, Deborah at Antiquity Oaks has a couple bread recipes up on her blog, too. 

The recipe I used just came from the book that was with my food processor.  The bread tastes great!  I made a couple slices into toast this morning and put some jelly on it.  Yummm!

I think that I will try a wheat bread next.  My grandfather always said, "The whiter the bread, the quicker you're dead."  A bid morbid, but there might be some general truth lurking behind that statement. 

French Bread

I have been thinking for a while that I would like to learn how to, or at least try, to make bread.  This week, I was inspired/reminded about this ambition by several posts by other bloggers:  Skippy at I Make Soap, and Deborah at Antiquity Oaks

I remembered that my new fancy pants food processor came with a dough blade and some recipes in the instruction manual.  I was going to the grocery store, anyway, so I just made sure I added on the missing ingredients to my list.

This is what I ended up with...it is supposed to be French bread.  I would have gone with regular bread, but I don't think that I have two loaf pans.

I guess I could have let it bake a bit longer so that it was a tiny bit more brown on top, but I don't think that will affect the taste at all.  I haven't tasted it yet because it is still cooling.  I'm thinking that the only reason I haven't had to shoo my husband away is because he is watching some wrestling program on pay-per-view.  I did have to chase the dog outside, though, so that is always a good sign.

Partly Sunny

This is my "Partly Sunny" quilt:

I just finished sewing the binding on and it is in the wash getting all softened and crinkled up.  Of course, I had to tug it out of my husband's hands in order to put it in the wash.  He wanted to throw it on his lap right away...never mind that it is still over 80ºF in the house.  Then when he saw my photos as I pulled them up on the computer he said, "But my hands don't even show!"  He's being a little silly tonight. 

I wanted to wait and take better outside photos, but I figured that it would rain or something in the morning.  I did stitch the binding on with my machine, mainly because I am super slow at hand stitching and couldn't face the five hours it would take.  I am planning to keep this quilt for us and I don't mind if the binding has been stitched by machine. 

I think that I ended up using not quite three yards of the print fabrics for this quilt and between a 1 1/2 -2 yards of the Kona white.  I still have a few pieces left that I might try to use to make some pillows or something. 

Before I threw it in the wash, the quilt was approximately 42 in. wide by 45 in. long.  I'll have to measure it again after it comes through the washer and the dryer.  Plus, I'm hoping that the wash process will help to conceal some of the tiny flaws that I can see.  It's not that easy for me to do the stitch in the ditch....and all of those straight-ish lines take a lot longer than stipple quilting.

All-in-all, I'm pleased with this finish.

A Sneak Peek and a Diet Coke Addict

I spent between 4 1/2 and 5 hours today working on this quilt:

It's not quite done yet, but as soon as it is I will give you full quilt shots.  I have even decided on a name for this quilt, but again you have to wait.  Hopefully tomorrow. 

We also have a Diet Coke addict in the house:

                            

Yes, this is one of our cats (Benni).  I save the caps from the bottles of Diet Coke (I'm trying to wean myself off just because of the artificial sweetener, but my husband still buys it...) so that I can save up the Coke reward points.  I usually save the points until I can get coupons for free 12 packs and such.  Anyway, Benni steals the caps, bats them around just a tiny bit and then licks and licks them.  What can I say?  She's an odd little cat.  She won't eat chicken or fish, but she will eat gyro meat, popcorn and cheez-its....  She's never tried to actually get any Diet Coke when we have it in a glass, though.

A Pile of Fuzz

This pile of fuzz is pretty much the extent of my craftiness for the week.  How is this crafty, you ask?  This is the fuzz that was generated when I was felting a load of sweaters in the washer.  I'm going to use the sweaters to make some pin cushions and maybe some other things from the Warm Fuzzies book or maybe some other patterns that I have purchased from Betz White.

One sweater in particular shrunk by comic book proportions, making me wish I had taken a before photo.  Alas, I did not. 

I have gotten a start on one of the pincushions, using some sweaters that I had already felted, but I can't find my felted balls to finish up the top of the cupcake.  I hope I find them today as I spend the day being crafty and also organizing my craft room.

Feeling a Bit....

failure-ish?  Selfish? I don't really know if that is the way to describe it.... 

I decided that I was going to sign up for a Master's cohort program to earn my Master's degree in Reading Education.  I figured it would be a great complement to my degree in Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. 

Admittedly, I tend to just jump into things.  For instance, when I purchased my first real car....I didn't really do any research.  My family had already had a Ford Escort for many years and I decided that I would buy a new one.  So, I went to the dealership that had one in the color I wanted (because that IS the important part after all...) and said, "I want to buy this car."  The salesman asked if I wanted to drive the car?  Me, "nope.  This is the one I want."  I didn't try to negotiate a better price or anything else.

Another example....  I started thinking I wanted a new sewing machine....  I did let that one go for several months, but then it came back up in my mind.  I went to one of the local quilt shops...there are two that I consider really local for me.  Anyway,  I briefly talked to the clerk and discussed (very quickly!) the qualities of the various machines and she gave me some brochures with some prices.  I went home and stared at the brochures for a week, I think....  Went to the store with my mind set on one machine...called my husband on the way there and said I didn't think I was going to buy one after all, and then came home with a more expensive machine than what I originally set out to buy.  It wasn't because there was any coercion on the part of the quilt shop staff.... just me, making a quick decision. 

I was always happy with my decision to buy that car and so far, I have been very happy with my sewing machine.  I don't think that I ever questioned either of those decisions after the fact.

Back to graduate school....  The reason I heard about the cohort program was because there was a flier up in one of my schools and I decided to go to the meeting.  The meeting just basically told about the enrollment process.  I filled out a couple of initial papers and then didn't really think too much more about it, except that I should be following up.  Well, they ended up calling me all summer to ask if I still wanted to participate, I kept saying yes, but never really finished all of the paperwork.  Class started last week.... they let you take one class as a "guest student" in case you haven't finished turning in your paperwork.

I really thought that cohort programs were supposed to be geared for people who are already working full-time.  When I left the class, I was wondering how I and others would be able to fit it all in.

I don't want to spend all of my spare time during the week and on the weekends reading dry textbooks and writing reader responses, preparing projects and worrying about the fact that I can only loose 35 points out of 700 in order to maintain an 95% (A) or better in the class.  I know that there is work involved, but maybe I'm just not ready for it or this is not the correct cohort program for me.

I want to have to have time to continue to make things....quilting, sewing, re-purposing, knitting, crocheting....  I want to be able to give handmade gifts to the people that I love.

I also want to have time to focus on exercise and eating healthy, and just spend time with my loving husband.

Am I just scared?  Am I being selfish?  I don't know.  I do know that I have to make a decision very soon.  There is homework due on Wednesday, which I haven't finished yet...but I have to withdraw by the end of the week in order to get a (100%) refund  [even though I haven't actually paid them a cent, yet].  Am I a failure?  Do I need to just find a different cohort?

Oh, and I'm not going to read back thru this post so I don't even know if it makes a bit of sense...if it doesn't, I apologize.