Day Seventeen: Banana Bread and a Bird Nest
I woke up feeling much better than yesterday. The clouds of irritability and grouchiness seem to have lifted.
The puppy woke us up at 5:30 a.m. needing to get out of her crate. I got up with Jeremy and while he was dealing with Daisy I made a loaf of banana bread. I had promised Taiya and William I would makes some and I didn't want to disappoint them. If anyone is looking for a banana bread recipe that doesn't use way too much sugar, the Laurel's Kitchen cookbook has a good one. I left out the wheat germ and added chocolate chips, and that made it a little extra delicious, albeit slightly less healthy, but I think Laurel would understand. These are trying times.
I was able to get some work done on my computer, munching on a warm slice of banana bread, before the children descended. William first, as usual. He asked to watch a show, and I let him. Then Taiya joined him and they snuggled up on the couch covered in blankets, eating banana bread and watching True.
At around nine we switched to some educational programming that the Arkansas PBS station has put together for students staying at home, but our slow internet made it stall out. The kids abandoned the show and got up to play. Jeremy was doing chores and making an egg delivery, and when he returned it was with a giant bag of buttons gifted to the kids by our friend Queen Pee, the egg recipient. I had mentioned to her that they were sorting buttons one morning a few days ago and she said "Do they need more??" Taiya and William happily sorted through them, finding matching buttons and dividing them up between them, saying, "We're matchies!" What is it about buttons that make them such enjoyable objects? I've always loved a good button stash.
I spent some more time today with my plant starts. The tomatoes are growing quickly, the parsley, sorrel, and hibiscus slowly. The basils are somewhere in the middle. I moved a shelf out onto the porch and got all my starts organized, up-potted, and watered. I also fed my sourdough starter, which is starting to bubble! The New York Times Cooking newsletter quoted someone's Tweet that said something to the effect of: Would someone please do a sport so my husband will stop telling me about his sourdough starter? With that sentiment in mind I will not detail the process of my first sourdough starter venture. I had the realization today, though, that once it's ready to go I don't actually know what to do with it. I've never made sourdough bread or maintained a starter or anything. So I guess I'll be reading up on sourdough recipes. Thank goodness I have so many cookbooks. I prefer getting my recipes there instead of on-line, because they don't come with a whole bunch of conflicting reviews that just confuse matters.
I had a phone call with my supervisor, and as I paced up and down the driveway chatting, I spotted a
bird nest on a dried out stalk of native thistle. It was clearly unoccupied since it was tilted half way to the ground, so when I was done my call I got the kids out to see it. We snapped it off the stem, and they started gathering dandelions, may apple leaves, daffodils, and they used some nice big buttons to decorate the nest to make it suitable for fairies. Have I mentioned yet how much in awe of their creativity and imaginations I am? They are wonders.
In the afternoon, Jeremy spent some time in the garden planting a whole bunch of different veggies. We may actually have time this year to take care of a garden. In years past we planted far more than we could actually do anything with and it either gets weed-choked or eaten by deer or bugs, or we don't even find the time to harvest. This year is a different story.
Our baby chicks continue to grow. One of the breeds Jeremy got have feather-covered feet, and those feathers are presenting themselves now. It's going to be hilarious. I'm just sorry we don't have any of the Silkies with the floofy heads to go with them.
Jeremy took the kids to go do afternoon chores and I made a dinner of roasted cabbage, butternut squash, rice, and tofu with a peanut sauce. I also got some much-needed cleaning done without anyone underfoot re-messing everything up immediately. We ate our dinner on the porch while Taiya and William played a game where one was the prisoner and one was the boss, and Jeremy and I were guards. We had to speak in harsh British accents and lock the prisoner into the puppy's crate. I always enjoy doing my terrible British accent, so I was entertained (I got to do my Scottish accent earlier in the day when helping Taiya with a worksheet on Alexander Graham Bell, who was born in Scotland). The best part, though, was William's British accent. Whenever he shouted "Guards!" it sounded like he was saying "Gods!" and made the whole game even funnier.
Story time is getting good--Danny and his father are about to pull off the greatest poaching event of all time in Taiya's book. I am reminded how much I love Roald Dahl, and I love sharing his quirky, beautiful stories with Taiya. Thank goodness for good children's book authors! They will get us through this.
The puppy woke us up at 5:30 a.m. needing to get out of her crate. I got up with Jeremy and while he was dealing with Daisy I made a loaf of banana bread. I had promised Taiya and William I would makes some and I didn't want to disappoint them. If anyone is looking for a banana bread recipe that doesn't use way too much sugar, the Laurel's Kitchen cookbook has a good one. I left out the wheat germ and added chocolate chips, and that made it a little extra delicious, albeit slightly less healthy, but I think Laurel would understand. These are trying times.
At around nine we switched to some educational programming that the Arkansas PBS station has put together for students staying at home, but our slow internet made it stall out. The kids abandoned the show and got up to play. Jeremy was doing chores and making an egg delivery, and when he returned it was with a giant bag of buttons gifted to the kids by our friend Queen Pee, the egg recipient. I had mentioned to her that they were sorting buttons one morning a few days ago and she said "Do they need more??" Taiya and William happily sorted through them, finding matching buttons and dividing them up between them, saying, "We're matchies!" What is it about buttons that make them such enjoyable objects? I've always loved a good button stash.
I spent some more time today with my plant starts. The tomatoes are growing quickly, the parsley, sorrel, and hibiscus slowly. The basils are somewhere in the middle. I moved a shelf out onto the porch and got all my starts organized, up-potted, and watered. I also fed my sourdough starter, which is starting to bubble! The New York Times Cooking newsletter quoted someone's Tweet that said something to the effect of: Would someone please do a sport so my husband will stop telling me about his sourdough starter? With that sentiment in mind I will not detail the process of my first sourdough starter venture. I had the realization today, though, that once it's ready to go I don't actually know what to do with it. I've never made sourdough bread or maintained a starter or anything. So I guess I'll be reading up on sourdough recipes. Thank goodness I have so many cookbooks. I prefer getting my recipes there instead of on-line, because they don't come with a whole bunch of conflicting reviews that just confuse matters.
I had a phone call with my supervisor, and as I paced up and down the driveway chatting, I spotted a
In the afternoon, Jeremy spent some time in the garden planting a whole bunch of different veggies. We may actually have time this year to take care of a garden. In years past we planted far more than we could actually do anything with and it either gets weed-choked or eaten by deer or bugs, or we don't even find the time to harvest. This year is a different story.
Our baby chicks continue to grow. One of the breeds Jeremy got have feather-covered feet, and those feathers are presenting themselves now. It's going to be hilarious. I'm just sorry we don't have any of the Silkies with the floofy heads to go with them.
Jeremy took the kids to go do afternoon chores and I made a dinner of roasted cabbage, butternut squash, rice, and tofu with a peanut sauce. I also got some much-needed cleaning done without anyone underfoot re-messing everything up immediately. We ate our dinner on the porch while Taiya and William played a game where one was the prisoner and one was the boss, and Jeremy and I were guards. We had to speak in harsh British accents and lock the prisoner into the puppy's crate. I always enjoy doing my terrible British accent, so I was entertained (I got to do my Scottish accent earlier in the day when helping Taiya with a worksheet on Alexander Graham Bell, who was born in Scotland). The best part, though, was William's British accent. Whenever he shouted "Guards!" it sounded like he was saying "Gods!" and made the whole game even funnier.
Story time is getting good--Danny and his father are about to pull off the greatest poaching event of all time in Taiya's book. I am reminded how much I love Roald Dahl, and I love sharing his quirky, beautiful stories with Taiya. Thank goodness for good children's book authors! They will get us through this.
Comments
Post a Comment