Maggie Turner: Page by Page

Well, here it is at last, the final day of March, 2019 has arrived. The first thing I saw when I looked out the window early this morning, was snow. Not a lot of snow, but enough to cover every surface with a blanket of white. Later in the morning, it was snowing again, but by this time the early covering had already melted in the rain. It has been above freezing since yesterday, all night long, and into today. March is leaving, and reminding me that it has winter-like potency right to the very end. March was certainly windy. The roar of moving air seemed almost constant through March, and I commented to Attila, on several occasions, that some sort of wind mill would do well here in the month of March. In primary school the we learned this rhyme, accompanied by pictures of gusty winds blowing children’s clothing about in March, and children with umbrellas in April: MARCH winds and April showers Bring forth May flowers. In 1610 this concept was recorded as:“Sweet April showers/Do spring May flowers”Source: Northall, G. F. English Folk-Rhymes: A collection of traditional verses relating to places and persons, customs, superstitions, etc. 1892. p. … Continue reading →

Here is what I’ve been up to for the last little while, learning, experimenting, and having a grand old time! Worldly Weather 4°C Date: 12:00 PM EDT Friday 22 March 2019 Condition: Mostly Cloudy Pressure: 100.0 kPa Tendency: Falling Temperature: 3.8°C Dew point: 1.7°C Humidity: 86% Wind: NNW 23 km/h Visibility: 24 km BOO! HISS! Snow is expected this afternoon. Oh well, it will soon melt away again. Quote “The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.” James Oppenheim

A few weeks ago, on a visit to the city, we purchased hard white wheat berries. The Bulk Barn sells hard white wheat berries, I haven’t found any other supplier as yet, so I thought we should give them a try. While there we picked up a small bag of sprouted spelt berries as well. After struggling to consume about 3 gallons of whole wheat flour that was past being pleasant, I decided that i wanted to mill my own whole wheat, on demand, when needed. Wheat berries keep for a long time, and they will keep even longer in the freezer. To that end we recently purchased a flour mill, the WonderMill, for grinding our own flour. My expectations have been low for this project, as I’ve not had stellar results baking 100% whole wheat bread. My 100% whole wheat bread is acceptable, but nothing to write home about, particularly of late, baking with older-than-desirable flour. The adventure began this morning. The wheat and spelt berries were taken out of the freezer early in the morning, to give them a chance to thaw before it was time to mill them. Hydro becomes much less expensive after 11:00 a.m., so … Continue reading →

Our Wedding Anniversary has come and gone. It is interesting how it played out. I had been thinking about it a week or so before the event. Attila says he was too. But on the actual day, we both forgot about it completely, until a few hours before bedtime, when we suddenly realized that it was our anniversary. I don’t know if it means anything at all, forgetting the anniversary, but since we both forgot there was nothing to get upset about, we laughed, then we ate popcorn. This morning’s breakfast saw the last of the sugarless cookies consumed. It was surprising how enjoyable they were. They are more enjoyable with the inclusion of the scant amount of sugar called for in the recipe, so the next batch will find me following the recipe with great care. Last week the garden seeds were ordered. Attila is expanding the main garden, and I am going to create two small raised gardens in giant totes. At first Attila had little interest in raised bed gardening, but the concept has grown on him, and now he wants to build a small wood raised bed to see how that works. The wood raised bed … Continue reading →