Today has been a busy day, starting with laundry and a little baking. A new recipe for oatmeal-raisin whole wheat cookies resulted in a tasty ( but too sweet) batch of cookies. I would use the recipe again, but I think the cookies need a little less honey in the mix.
We had a terrible rain storm this morning, which gave me a little inside time to work on and eventually finish the puzzle Chris lent me. This one was fun with all of the different colors and areas of the Zoo.
 |
| The completed puzzle. It was fun, but I will be glad to get my desktop back. |
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, we have been experimenting this whole time in Florida with new ways to bake, using whole wheat instead of white flour, palm sugar, maple syrup or honey instead of refined white sugar; and healthy ingredients like raisins, oatmeal, and nuts. Sometimes we have had success; sometimes we have thrown out our culinary trials.
Rick is continually searching for a whole wheat bread that has a light texture while still being stable and delicious. He put his latest creation in the oven this afternoon after letting it proof this morning. For once, he did not use a loaf pan, just making a round loaf instead. Then he waited...
 |
| Rick settles to watch the bread bake. Ah, the joys of being a retired person! |
Finally, as he settled down to watch it rise, he started to laugh.
 |
| Think of a mad scientist watching the birth of his monstrous creation. |
The monstrous loaf continued to grow in the oven.
 |
| It's alive! Well, no, but it was rising and baking. |
And the result, finally, was a too-flat, tough-crusted, yet light inside loaf. It is edible, but it still is not the winner in the journey to find the perfect loaf of bread. But have faith. We have plenty of flour left, and there is always tomorrow...
 |
| Chewy, but good. Back to the drawing board... |
As I mentioned, this morning Florida was hit with a major line of storms. Don't get me wrong. We needed the rain, but it came down so hard and fast (as only Florida rain storms can do), that the downspouts we still have above ground resembled fire hoses turned on to full capacity. The downspouts that we directed to underground discharge performed well. When the overflow came up through the pipes, they safely discharged out the front of the yard into the street, just as we had intended them to do so.
However, the storms revealed that we have a major flooding problem yet on the north side of the house. While our recently paved garbage-can slab stayed above water, the downspout on the north side of the house flooded the entire yard between our house and the neighbor's house to the north.
 |
| The tiny north yard, after it drained, revels just half-dead weeds and grass. |
After the skies cleared, we ventured out to buy cement to add to our stash of building supplies. Yesterday we bought 7 drainage pipes which we cut in two to transport home in our car. Today we made two trips to bring home 9 bags of cement mix.
Our goal is to run the north downspout into an underground discharge system like we have done with the downspouts on the south and west sides of the house. Thus, the pipe. We also want to feed the HVAC condensation into that system.
 |
| Cement will eventually cover the area from the current cement slabs all the way to the front of the fence. Then we will pave the remainder of the area. |
Once that is complete, we can add cement to the rest of the area around the HVAC pad so water is directed away from the house. Then we can prep the rest of the area for pavers. Hopefully, once we are finished, we will have solid surface on the north side of the house where the current mud patch appears each time it rains. I cannot wait to stop sinking into the mud after each storm.
So in all, today has been a productive day. The inside chores are complete, the baking (for better or worse) is done, and we have been able to gather supplies for the upcoming projects. Another bout of rain is predicted for Sunday, and since the pipe project alone will take at least two days, we do not want to dig any trenches until after the rains have gone. Hopefully, Monday will dawn clear so we can start our latest projects for which we have those great expectations.
No comments:
Post a Comment