Baking Bread

So a little over a year ago I was gifted a bread machine by friends who were combining households and didnt want it anymore.  It sat in it's box in my trunk for a really long time until the Alero died in January and it was brought home when I cleaned out said car before selling her for scrap. Then it proceeded to sit on the floor until a couple weeks ago when I decided to do a deep clean of the house.  The conversation with Walley then began about actually USING it. He had forgotten we had it as well. Walley loves bread and decided to start reading the manual and took it upon himself to get ingredients to make bread.  Today he decided he was going to attempt the Parmesan Pepper loaf recipe and set it on the timer to be done when he got home.  So while I puttered around the house recovering from a particularly wicked migraine he got it all set up. 

Walley adding yeast to the mix

What the whole mix looks like. Bread machines are picky about what exact order they are put in.

So the time was set so that it would start it's yummy magic at 7p I waited in anticipation and then suddenly it kicked on and started to sound like a Gatling gun...not good. I go to check on it and its having a seizure on the counter and as I look through the view window I can see that it's not mixing. So I called, facebooked and texted around and got the general consensus that I need to stop it and open the lid and try pushing the pan farther down. I did as I was bade and it locked in properly. I restarted the mixer to the blissful sound of normal kneading and texted Walley to let him know all that happened....now there are just 2 hours left to go. I will update with pictures soon!

HELP!!

So I was given an Oster bread machine. Walley is trying to do his first batch and the entire thing sounds like its going to explode now, its in the mixing mode. Is this normal?

***UPDATE**** Found out the problem was the pan wasn't pushed down all the way. Crisis averted! I will do a proper post on Walley's and my bread adventure shortly after I get the photos uploaded

I Fell Off the Face of the Earth

Well let's see.....long time no speak.  I'm thinking that I need to pick this writing thing back up.  The depression has been kicking my butt since my last post.  I'm trying to get out of the funk but things have been suffering since it got worse.  I do have a working car now. It's working out pretty good. While I'm writing a small storm is rolling over, just thunder so far not any extra rain.  We got plenty yesterday here in De Soto and oh gods did we need it! Southern Illinois, like most of the rest of the midwest, is dealing with being in the drought.  The fields here are the worst that I can remember. I tried to garden but my yard flooded again at one point and it was a major loss, then I let the whole thing go to weeds.  I had sectioned a spot out to do a fall garden but they are saying the drought may last til Halloween!!  So what I've decided to do is make the plot smaller, work on getting the rain barrels functional again and plant late Aug.  If I do that then I can start stuff indoors to have ready by then.

Let's see what else is new? I had to find a new home for Tater, which was sad but for the best.  He is very happy with his new home and owners and he has another dog to play with.  Jodie is off to basic and I am looking for a new roommate. Walley is still here and still a gods-send with helping me around the house.  Sister Zim and I are getting ready to delve into making soaps of all kinds and house cleaners. She is looking to get into selling things, I like to make stuff but I am not good at the business part of things so we'll just see.

Outside of that not much doing.  I have a LOT of catching up to do with other peoples' blogs

Works in progress

Well the end of January kinda sucked. My Alero died, the engine was shot. It was going to cost me $1350 to get a newer engine put in. The car wasn't even worth 1/4 of that. So I am currently without a car. The money I got scrapping her has gone into my savings account as I start saving for a down payment on a new car. I went to the banks but my credit took quite a hit and they won't finance me unless I have a co-signer. The dealerships were the same. I am lucky that the roommates and friends don't mind taking me into town for work and shopping etc.

In good news I was offered a workshare position over at Frontwards Farm.  I'm very honored to be thought well enough of to be offered this opportunity to work with something on this scale. Me, working in a hoop house and a high tunnel...and they have chickens!! Another reason to get the car thing taken care of asap.

Im grabbing my seeds and starting inventory for this year's garden. I have decided I will set up garden space for other people in my backyard. I have 2 people already on board. I will have to get the areas measured and twined off for them. I think I may rent a big tiller to work the beds this time. My front tine tiller needs some maintenance done. Im looking forward to the growing season.

Plagues and names and such

I'm still here! I've been recovering from a bout of "plague" which basically caused me to be off almost a week from work and almost threatened to go to pneumonia but it was a bluff. Though my doctor was poised to through my butt on antibiotics I managed to avoid it. I'm feeling much better. Unfortunately the rest of Sister Zim (excluding her and Baby) are now in various stages of sick (but they are presenting different so it might not have been me).

We (Sister Zim and I) went over the entries for the naming contest. We really liked them but none seemed to really set to us, instead they set us off on tangents and fused with other names. In the end it ended up being a mash up of a couple entries and several of you had the same word used in your entries so 4 people are getting seeds.

So my garden is now called......."The Arkham Acres Funny Farm" and I would have to remember all the tangents, make a flow chart, explain how Bedlam and Anachronistic turned into Arkham but yeah I'm lazy and not going to.  So Judy, Catherine, Lamb and Annie M....send me an email (link is on my profile) with the address for me to send your seeds :)

Reminder!

Tomorrow is the last day to get in on the naming contest!

Naming Contest

Ok I need a new name for my homestead. Rules are simple you have til January 1st to submit names. Then I will gather them up and we will sort them out choosing the one we deem best fitting. The winner gets highlighted on my website and they also will get a packet of my heirloom "black cherry" cherry tomatoe seeds as well as a suprise gift. And yes, you may submit more than one name.