saturday ramblings...

saturday is a good day for puttering. A is away until monday night, so i'm hanging out with me. (although the new upstairs tenants and their three small children mean there is no peace to be found - boo.) as mused the other day, i have started building squares for my new quilt. i'm making half square triangles, which are fast but pleasing. i'm thinking of a layout like this one.



a new idea i'm playing with. i actually started constructing this ship months ago, but i'm finally getting back into it. thank (or blame) captain cook and the royal navy. the trick is trying to translate into reality what i have constructed in my head.



i got some beeswax at the farmers market this morning, so i tried out this recipe for homemade moisturizer. i used coconut oil as the oil. it worked out pretty well, although my blender wasn't fully cooperating, so i feel like it could have been a bit more creamy. still, i'm happy with the result, and it's so much better than all the chemical-filled lotions from the store. i also tried to use a bit of my favourite aromatherapy spray, although the lotion mainly smells like beeswax. i'll still give a little plug for my friend Mia who is an amazing artist as well as essential oil mixmaster. my current favourite is her scent of the west coast (are you surprised?), a refreshing mix of cedar, pine and fir, with a hint of clove that i love.



and some bread fresh from the oven. i've been making bread for years, but although i've made lots of good loaves and found many recipes i like, i never seem to find a final loaf for me. i think it has something to do with my tendency to always play with recipes, trying different seedy add-ins and ratios of whole grain flours. i thought it was about time i found a good book that would give me a better understanding of how bread works, so that i could play to my heart's content.

the river cottage bread book is looking very promising so far. i just made the basic loaf (customized with half whole wheat, and some flax, chia & sesame add-ins) but the loaves turned out very well, despite being a little too brown on top. this was also the first time i tried using steam in the oven to build a better crust. the result was pretty tasty, and the writing and pictures in the book are very clear. i'm excited to try further variations, not to mention the other intriguing recipes and options (sourdough starter, anyone?).

guess i should make some dinner as it's now fully dark out. always hard to motivate myself for a real meal when i'm alone. i'm going to curl up on the couch and watch sharkwater. hope you're having a good weekend so far.