Sir Elton John!
The glasses were requested as soon as she got up, and I couldn’t refuse. When her canines grow in it’ll close up the gap in her front teeth but for now I get a huge kick out of it.
This weekend was SOCIAL FRENZY for Baby Harbat. Saturday was the weekly movie night at the Stately English Manor. Amalia got to run around with her friend S and giggle and scream while we tried to watch Dazed and Confused. In that movie I finally realized that Matthew McConaughey is the same character in every movie: sexy, sleazy, and stoned. Except U-571, where he was yelling.
On Sunday we hosted a BBQ for some neighbors who have two cute little girls, one is BH’s age and the other is around 2 ½ . By the end of the afternoon, the girls had found three pairs of tinted glasses (see above for an example) and were running around the pool and laughing. BH was worn out to exhaustion and fell into bed like a sack of flour. This morning she was all sunshine and happiness. Maybe it was the glasses.
The fenceposts are in! Cristina and I finally cranked out the last two fenceposts on Saturday. Now we have to buy the 10’ entry gate posts and set them in concrete, and the vertical members of the fence will be done. I expect we’ll have just attached the final plank, and will be standing up and tipping back our hats to view the finished fence, when someone from the city rolls up and tells us to move the fence back five feet so they can widen the street. I would post a picture, but just imagine 4×4 redwood posts rising from the dirt like modern standing stones. When I put it like that it actually sounds intriguing so maybe I will post a pic.
May Gray officially struck last week, leaving SoCal in overcast cool since Wednesday. The sun hasn’t once come out except on Sunday for about a half hour, and it actually misted rain on Saturday and Sunday. Rain. In Southern California. It’s not as weird as snow in space, but close.
Finally, I grew an ear.
This is good news. I made a rustic bread with a cold pre-ferment and poolish and backed it in a pre-heated crockpot. It was a total success except: I forgot to take the lid off halfway through so the crust was perfectly formed but not crusty or brown, and I formed a boule which was too wide for the pot so the sides got a little wonky. I’m glad to have made these mistakes, though, because it lets me learn how to do it right. And I see how close I’m getting to the right flavor and crust WITH a nicely formed ear. Mistakes are good.
I borrowed two Peter Reinhart books from a friend and already read one: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I should have read this first, but Crust and Crumb was written first. Now I’m completely jazzed to make some new breads this week. I’ve also got Reinhart’s multigrain bread book, and hope to make the first of many whole grain breads this week, which I’ll be sending out for sampling. I dreamed about bread and dough last night.
Writer, architect, father, husband.
Well you know what they say about rose colored glasses. She needs to wear those every day 😉