With all the weather, most paths and tracks are wet too muddy for all but the best prepared to venture down, and so it is ever easier to make some excuse not to go out at all.
Tuesday, another day that began and ended with rain, but between there was sunshine. In fact there was a gap in clouds at sunrise allowing a fine view of the angry red sky and clouds.
Once Jools had gone to work, I started work, and soon had caught up, so come ten I thought I could be spared for half an hour.On with the boots, coat and grabbed my camera, then walked along the street to the track and across the fields.
Only new flowers in bloom is the Annual mercury, but not enough to make a shot out of yet. And either side of the path, the two fields of lucerne had nothing in flower and so no butterflies.
I only walked as far as Fleet House, then back along Collingwood and down to home again. Only insect I had seen was a single wasp sheltering in a hedge, which I snapped.
Through the afternoon, I tried a new recipe for focaccia, one that required no kneading, but lots of folding. I followed the recipe, and the resulting dough was too wet to knead anyway, which is what was supposed to happen.Every half an hour, with oiled hands, fold over the dough four or five times, each time, capturing more air, so that o the 5th such folding, bubbles had begun to form.
One last fold and tipped into a well oiled tin, then with oily fingers
Dimple
Dimple
Dimple
Jiggle
Jiggle
Jiggle
create little valleys into which oil and herbs would gather.
And after one final hour-long rise, into the oven for 25 minutes, and the resulting loaf was very light, super crispy on the outside, and very yummy.
I du out the last of the guanciale and made a pan of carbonara, which was perfect, and with the bread made a feast of Italian flavours.And we had wine.
Outside the rain hammered down again, the wind blew, and the cats waited for us to go to bed.
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