These trees at the bottom of the slope of the property caught my eye the other day.
Not because there was that much to see, although I think they make a pretty picture with that oak in the middle,  but I realized they are willows and will probably be among the first to start leafing.
I  looked a little closer but no, nothing yet .. oh well, it's only February of course.

The weather is much better at the moment, warmer (45-50F) and with a lot less rain!
I couldn't help picking up a little pot of Daffodils while grocery-shopping the other day. For $1.98 the cheery yellow lifts your spirits instantly, doesn't it?
Spring is coming!

                                                                

I also 'stole' (with permission from the landlord) some daffodil bulbs from the oak grove that were coming up in the wild and planted them in pots.
Some seem to be 'duds', as in not showing any flowers but I think I have a few that will.
                                                                                               

There's also a patch near the fence where there used to be a mobile home where there's a whole bunch of Daylillies coming up.
Apparently they're the tall, orange ones, which I happen to like, so I dug some up as well (in the front, left pot ). Fingers crossed they're going to flower!

Still, we have a lot of cloudy days as well when we barely see the sun and everything is just wet and grey ...

                   

We have ducks visiting us almost every day now. I wonder if they're checking out safe places to make a nest and raise a brood this Spring.
Usually there are a couple of Mallards, a Merganser couple (or two) and one lonely Buffelhead:

Isn't he gorgeous?

Work is a little slow at the moment and James is using this down-time to check off some items on the 'to-do' list.
Here he's working on remodeling the computer-stand which he uses when he works on the computer while sitting in his chair.

We changed chairs recently, funny how you always sit in the same chair, and now it didn't quite 'fit'.
Fortunately he's rather handy ... yeah, that's an understatement.
He was also seen like this .. 'in the hole':

Fixing a pull-out drawer ...

I've renewed my interest in baking bread and more specifically baking 'healthier' bread.
Since gluten are not very good for you I'm trying out some different flours, there are so many different ones to choose from now!

This one's made from oat-flower:

                                             

It doesn't rise as well as wheat-flower (since it has no gluten) and it is a little more crumbly, but it came out pretty good and it tastes great!

                                              

Next I made a Beer-bread from a recipe Serena gave me. It does have normal flour in it so it's not better than any other bread, but it doesn't use normal yeast, it uses the beer's yeast instead, which is kinda fun!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The main problem I have with baking bread is that my oven, which is a convection oven, doesn't want to heat up higher than 375F and even on that setting it doesn't even reach 350 in most cases.
I don't know why and we tried to find out but so far we haven't so it's something I have to deal with. It's fine for cookies, cakes, oven-dishes and all that but bread does much better with higher heat.

So ... a new (actually old) appliance made it's way (back) into our household.
Drum-roll please .. may I present .. the Bread-maker:

                

I used to have one but when we moved into the RV it had to go, it just took up too much space.
This one is a much older model but I scored it for $10 on Marketplace and picked it up right here, just outside of town which was very convenient!
I've done some research on this particular brand and it appears to be 'an oldie, but a goodie' as they say.
People describe it as a very reliable workhorse, able to handle the toughest dough and pretty much indestructible. Some people have them already for 25 or 35 years!

 

I gave it a good cleaning and proceeded to make a cinnamon-raisin bread that same afternoon. It did a perfect job and it is delicious!
Now to get used to those round slices!
(By the way, doesn't this model remind you of something/someone? Hint: Star-Wars.
Yes .. R2D2! I never knew that robot could make bread as well!) 😂

Next up: Sourdough! Off course! Which is a little more complicated.

First line of action .. 'growing' a starter:

         

This is Day 5. It's alive and bubbling and starting to double in size in about 4 to 6 hours.
It smells slightly sour and a little fruity which is all perfect and just what it should do. So far so good!
Probably another 5 days or so to go before I can use it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Other than that it's been a quiet week. Between researching all things 'bread-y' I finished another one of Serena's puzzles. Those of the 'bits-and-pieces' puzzle pieces.

This one was a lot easier so I'm hopeful that I can do a few more like this.
We'll see ..