Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Not Sure What Happened

I've had and successfully used a bread making machine for years.  I like home made bread.  So the other day I decided to make a loaf of bread.

So I got out all the ingredients and got started.  
I dumped all the right amounts of the right stuff into the pan.  Then I did all the settings, same as usual, and turned it on.
Three hours later I took the loaf out of the pan.  I'm not sure what happened.  Instead of the usual nicely shaped, golden brown loaf of bread, I got a deformed, misshapen little creature.  Fortunately, it still tasted normal, really yummy.  I dunno - maybe my yeast was old.  Anyway, I'll hope it goes better next time.  But I'll still enjoy the taste of this loaf.  I'll just eat it with mhy eyes closed.


Monday, February 19, 2024

Another Birthday, Another Cake

A few weeks ago we celebrated the birthday of one of our grandkids.  That was fun.  He happens to have a brother who's birthday was just the other day; they're close to exactly a year apart in age.  He saw the fun his brother had designing his own birthday cake so he wanted to do the same.  And, lucky for him, he has a grandmother who was more than happy to do that. She likes doing things like that for her grandkids.

This cake also began with a concept drawing.  That's half the fun.  Then grandma did the baking.  This time around, the baking was a little frustrating.  Brombeere made all the cakes the day before the birthday boy was to arrive but for some reason, two of the three cakes failed, they fell.  Actually, they didn't cook so as the outer edges were getting over-done, the center was still gooey batter.  Unacceptable.  We never did figure out why that happened but when she redid the cakes, they worked the second time.  So in the end, we had the cake we needed to finish.  Phew!
On the day before the party, when the birthday boy arrived, the day was full so he didn't get to help as much as his brother had.  But he didn't seem to mind.  He did get to make some critical decisions, like the color scheme.  He was happy with that, it was enough for him.  But pretty much all the assembly and decorating happened after he had gone to bed.  HIs dad, Schwarzbeere, again demonstrated his artistry by making the final decorations to be added. 
And then, again late in the night, we had a finished cake.
And all the decorations.  We were ready for a party!
And the birthday boy was happy with the outcome.  A cake he had designed himself.  Pretty snazzy!
In the end, he was pretty happy with his birthday cake and party  A pretty nice way to advance in age.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

The Birthday Cake

We recently had a birthday that needed celebrating so we asked the birthday boy what kind of cake he wanted.  That can be an exciting question sometimes.  

In this case, he said he wanted to design his own cake.  Then he drew a picture of it.  He actually put quite a bit of effort into drawing out his vision of what he wanted his cake to look like.  This was a week before the day of celebration so Brombeere had a while to think on how she was going to make his idea turn into reality.
The day before the celebration he also said he wanted to help make it.  So they set about making it happen.

Pretty soon they had the basic shape done and ready to do the finish work.
First there was some instruction and then he got to work on the initial application of frosting.
Then came the detail work.  He got  bit frustrated because it was slow, careful business and slow and careful are not always his strong suit.  But he worked at it and did quite well, getting better as he went along.
Alas, baking and decorating a cake can take a while and pretty soon it was bed time.  Grandma was left to finish it off.
But she kept at it and pretty soon it was looking more and more like his drawing.
His Dad even got involved in making some of the decorations that went on the cake.
After a while it was pronounced "done" and, in comparison, it actually looked quite a bit like his concept drawing.  
Success!!
We put out some decorations and then the grown-ups went to bed.  The next morning, when he saw the finished product, he was very pleased.
We asked him how he wanted to arrange his candles on the cake and he told us where to put them.  That worked to his disadvantage.  First he blew out one side ...
... then he had to go around and do the other side.  Took him two breaths to get them all out, spaced out like that.
Then there was cake, ice cream, and presents.  He was quite happy with how it all turned out.  
And then it was done - nothing left but the after party.  It was a lot of cake, but he was happy with how it all turned out.  Brombeere might even be willing to give it another shot when the next birthday rolls around.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

His Burden is Light

Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 


Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 


Monday, December 11, 2023

A Season of Fun on the Bike

This year's biking season got an early start, in early February, to be exact.  

There was still plenty of snow on the ground but the paved trails and roads were open enough to get out.  I ran into ice on occassion but on a recumbent it's not the problem it can be on an upright.
Of course, it was still getting dark pretty early so I had to make sure my lights were in good working order.  And it was a little cool.  But all in all, it was a good start. I got out a couple of times. Then it snowed some more and I had to wait to be able to get out again.  I had to wait a whole month to get out again.
But I had gotten me a nice, bright colored jacket so I could get out when it was a little cooler.
So I did, even though there was more snow now than when I had taken my first couple of rides a month before. The roads and paved trails were open again so I got out again.
Brombeere even came out with me a couple of times, that was very nice.
She braved the cold and snow and we had a couple of very nice rides.
The time passed and I got out as I could, gradually the snow melted away.  Because of the snow I had to limited myself to the paved trails and roads, the snow kept the other trails impassable for me, I don't have a fat tire bike.  Nor would I really want one.  
But I still managed to make the important stops without the unpaved trails. It is, after all, never too cold for ice cream. The season was off to a great start.
By early April all the trails were clear and dry, even though there was still a little snow around.  But that's good enough, the season was now in full swing! In mid-April we got a light snow again but it melted off right away and wasn't a problem at all.  Alas, in early May we took off on vacation and the bike rides had to wait again, until we got back.
We were gone over two weeks but it didn't take long once we got back to be out on the bikes again.  I'd drag Brombeere along as often as I could.  It was good times!
Riding all over town ...
Seeing the occasional wildlife ...
Takin' in the beauty of the area.  Summer was on in full bloom.
We try to take one or two excursions each year, where we take our bikes and go some place away for a fun ride.  This year we took a trip to Mackinac Island, a trip we had actually been planning for a while.
The trip also included a run up to Canada, just to be able to say we'd been there.  So we found a place in Sault Saint Marie to go for a ride as well.  It was a fun trip.
A short time later we had a family reunion and some of the families brought their bikes.  That was fun.
We got in two rides during the reunion, one just around the neighborhood and the other to a local park for an afternoon of play.  
I even let one of the grandkids try my bike out but he decided it was a little beyond him.  Maybe he just needs to grow a little more.
The reunion was only a few days but some of the kids made a full vacation of it, some coming in early and some staying afterwards.  It was a couple of weeks before all the company cleared out and it was just the two of us again - the reunion was a nice thing.  But when it was quiet again, I was out on the bike again.
Bike riding is a sport they sometimes call a "quiet sport", that's one of the things I like about it.  The quiet.
My favorite places to ride are out on the trails, away from everybody and everything.  Out by the river, out in the woods.
Just me and the occasional wildlife.
We made it out to one other excursion ride this season, as well.  I have long wanted to ride the Bearskin Trail.  Partly because it has a unique name but also because it has lots of bridges on it.  So this year we made the trek and rode part of the trail.  
This was a fun ride.  I'm glad we finally made it.
This photo was taken near the end of the ride.  It is a familiar sight to me because, even though I often encourage Brombeere lead, she prefers to have me in front.  Some crazy notion abut me knowing where we're going.
Back home, summer continued to wear on, we both got out when we could.
Or I'd get out when Brombeere couldn't go with.
The geese began gathering, getting ready to migrate.
Color began creeping into the leaves.  Fall was coming.  Then we left on another vacation.  Once again, bike riding had to wait.  That was okay, though.  Vacations to visit family are good. I had thought that the end of the season would pretty much be here once we got back from vacation but the weather cooperated and I was able to get out some more.
But it was definitely winding down.  We had missed most of the fall colors while we were gone but it was still nice to be out.
On those good riding days that were left, I began to do some exploring, getting to places I hadn't been before.
I had been looking on the map and found a new little park so, of course, I had to check it out.
I also began checking out some of the back roads, out of town a little farther than I normally had gone before.  
I learned the hard way that many of the roads out of town a ways are not paved.  Dirt roads are not fun, I have had a number of misadventures on dirt roads so I generally try to avoid them.  Paved and crushed granite trails are okay; dirt, bark, and grass trails not so much. And, yes, this trip down a dirt road ended up being a misadventure but I was committed before I realized what was happening.  That's a story for another time.
So on into November and even into December I continued to ride, getting out whenever our schedule and the weather permitted, wondering how late into the year I was going to be able to keep going.  Because of our two vacations I had kind of figured I was not going to match the number of miles I had made last season.  But, gradually, as the weather held and I kept getting out, I began to creep closer and closer to the number of miles I had ridden last year.
However, it was snowing more often and the time between warm days was getting longer and longer.
I did make it to more miles this year than last year, by only 19 miles.  And I got to within 24 miles of reaching 600 miles for the season.  Who knows, the long range forecast currently says there's some potential biking days coming next week, maybe I'll get out a couple more times.  But even if I don't it's still been a good season.  Lots of good, fun time on the bike.