a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: Happiness

  • Life Is a River

    birdtracksinthesnow

    Life is a river endlessly changing. You barely have time to enjoy something before you are swept away to the next viewpoint. Yesterday’s bird footprints in the snow vanish in today’s steady rain. Will I remember them tomorrow?

    mtblanchardintherainandfog

    Mount Blanchard is shrouded in mist today. From moment to moment it changes, at times hiding behind a veil of mist, at other times staring back with big, green eyes.

    youngchicks170204a

    Life’s quickly flowing river nearly comes to a stop when little chicks look at you with wonder. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? A not-anything-to-worry-about thing? You can see them wonder as they tilt their heads from side to side and gaze at you. Life’s river barely ripples at times like these.

    youngchicks170204b

  • When Dogs Climb Trees

    auspiciousdaya

    Fiery clouds at dawn portend an auspicious day ahead. Something remarkable is sure to occur.

    auspiciousdayb
    auspiciousdayc

    The dogs have discovered that a Douglas squirrel lives in an old stump. It’s dug tunnels through the rotting stump, and the dogs are adamant to find it.

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    auspiciousdaye

    Sadly for the dogs, even climbing up the stump and digging into it, fail to lead to success. The Douglas squirrel eludes them, escaping unharmed. Watching dogs climb a tree makes for a remarkable day.

    auspiciousdayf

  • The Joys of Having a Personal Roaster

    maebmarket

    A pleasant five mile bicycle ride north live Bill and Gilda Gorr, coffee roasters who roast coffee one pound at a time. When it became no longer practical to keep ordering our favorite coffee from Seattle, I took them some of the coffee beans we like, and asked, “Can you roast something similar?” They came up with a Sidamo bean roasted to our liking. Now, whenever we get low on coffee beans, all I have to do is call Gilda and say, “We’d like more beans.”

    Do you have a coffee roaster you could take beans to and ask them to roast something similar? This is what is so nice about this special community. Instead of having the same Starbucks on every corner, I think people would be much happier having a local coffee roaster or two in their neighborhood who would roast coffee beans a pound or two at at time, and with whom they could have a nice chat when they went to pick up their beans.

    hazelonnest

    While gathering eggs this morning, I heard a sing-songy cackle, and found Hazel sitting on a nest. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Hazel sitting on a nest. Not too far away, I spotted Niji-hime 虹姫 and Betty in deep conversation. Hmm, they shut up when I approached. They aren’t discussing how to join the Women’s March on Washington next week, are they? Whatever it was, it seemed serious.

    conspiracy

  • Close to Perfect

    closetoperfect

    I had a feeling this loaf was going to be good. Relaxation is the main ingredient for making bread. After mixing flour from Skagit grown wheat with water and salt, I let the dough relax for twelve hours, folding it a few times as the wheat flour relaxed. After adding my levain, I let it relax another twelve hours, again folding it a few times to see how the dough was rising.

    There’s not a lot to making good bread. Most of the time the dough is just relaxing, and I am off doing my own thing. After relaxing for so long, the dough pretty much shapes itself. There is no need to knead, no need to fuss. When it feels like a soft, baby’s butt, the dough is ready to bake. A light coating of olive oil once it comes out of the oven keeps the crust soft enough to cut easily, and yet still crisp and flaky.

    I baked a close to perfect loaf of bread today. Our cat, Rusty, had a close to perfect nap.

    rusty

  • New Year’s Dawn

    Last night, I didn’t think we’d see the sunrise this morning. What a surprise to wake up this morning and see a pink sky. As I made this morning’s coffee, the sun lit up the tops of the trees. Forty-five minutes after the official sunrise of 8:01, the sun shone brilliantly through the trees. 2017 is off to a glorious start.