Look at this beautiful dough!

Y’all…I couldn’t believe how my bread turned out yesterday. Instead of that light, fluffy loaf like last week, it was the dense brick of the week before. Same recipe…in general. Week before last, I added a tablespoon of Vital Wheat Gluten. I read somewhere that it helped with the rise. Last week, I hit the ball out of the park with perfect loaves and realized afterward that I forgot the VWG. I made bread yesterday with three changes. I added the VWG, I used oil instead of butter, and I used White Lily all purpose flour instead of my usual King Arthur. I honestly think it was the extra gluten, so I’ll try eliminating that next week. I made a pan of Cinnamon Rolls yesterday and Mr. FixIt and I had a small one with a cup of tea before bed last night. They were disappointing, too. They tasted good, but just not the way I wanted them.

The dough was light and puffy, but the loaf was dense and didn’t rise much. Maybe I overproofed the dough?

I did as much as I could with the taxes yesterday. I can’t find the receipt for the real estate taxes last year so I need to call today and get the amounts. I know I could let someone else do our taxes but, even though I complain about it every year…I actually don’t mind doing them. And I don’t want to pay someone else to do them. As long as I can keep doing it, I will.

I FaceTimed with Daughter #1 yesterday. Saturday was the one year Angelversary of her half-brother’s passing. I cannot imagine what that has been like for his parents. Even though her father and I have been divorced for 46 years, I still care for him and his wife. Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children. There’s a word for losing a parent or a spouse, but there isn’t a word for a parent who has lost their child. Some use “orphaned parent” but that’s convoluted. The word vilomah is perhaps the closest I’ve found. In Sanskrit, it means “against the natural order.” Losing a child is definitely against the natural order of things.

I’m heading to knitting group this morning. I’ll take cinnamon rolls with me and see if these gals can give me any feedback on what they think went wrong. The weather will steadily get warmer all week. I need to get out in the hedgerow and cut through some big wild grape vines before they choke out the tops of some trees. Outdoor work is looming!

💚

“The Sovereign Lord will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.”   ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬

***Gratitude Journal***   
Today I am grateful we can still take care of ourselves. We have good health, strong-ish bodies and sound minds.