Bread Making and a Table

I hit the gym early this morning, immensely grateful I could do squats again with a strong knee. I've never had knee problems, but last week during my squat routine I felt something pull…or tweak…or (gasp) rip in there and I thought, "Oh no, what was THAT?" The next several days I really favored it and cringed when the pain would come back, worried I might have an injury. However, I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I've been praying lots of healing over my knee. Today it worked great, and I give Him the glory for that.

I've been saying for, oh, 6 years now that I wanted to be a bread maker. The kind of bread maker who makes her family wholesome, nutrient-laden breads that nourish both the body and the soul. I've read books on it, taken a bread-making class, subscribed to a bread-making newsletter…yet have never fully embraced the consistent production of bread in my kitchen as I've imagined.

One of my goals this summer is to do just that.

I did some reading up last night and selected a couple recipes. I ended up combining a whole wheat bread recipe with one full of nuts. Although I'm using store-bought whole flour, I've learned it loses most of its nutritional value by the time it reaches the store shelf, so I'm looking into grinding my own. My sister already embraces this method; the price of a home grinder has me lagging a bit behind her J I used my Kitchen Aid mixer to knead two loaves today, and the bread is currently rising and looking quite healthy, nutty and nutritious. I'll keep you updated on my progress in this area.

While waiting for the bread dough to "sponge", I went down to sand this Ethan Allen table in my garage to prepare it to sell:

I started it the other night, very late, and my sanding belt broke on the belt sander my husband got me for Christmas. I put the new one on today, only to find it's a 3" x 21" belt instead of the required 3" x 18". (I tell you, the things we DIYers learn as we tackle new tools and projects. Until yesterday, I didn't even know you could purchase belts for belt sanders at Fred Meyer. Now I know they don't have 18" long ones, only 21". ) So I resorted to my trusty mouse sander, but realized right away this would take WAY too long. By this time, my bread was ready for the next addition of flour and dough enhancer, so I left my project without much progress made.

I'm working hard on finishing pieces this summer and have recently sold two.

I have a blue dresser and coffee table currently for sale and hope to finish the table and a dresser by the end of this week.

After a busy year working at my kids' school, I'm beyond delighted to be back in my garage sanding and painting furniture. I've also THOROUGHLY enjoyed the wonderful ladies I've met via phone, email and text these last several days who saw my pieces on craigslist and had to chat about furniture J So many kind comments on my pieces, lots of inspirational jargon and ideas shared back and forth, and promises to stay in contact as more pieces come available. I love meeting others who enjoy this kind of thing as much as I do.

I'm looking at doing some revamping of my blog in the next few weeks.  The last couple months have been quite a journey ~ a lot of re-evaluating where we've been as a family and where we're headed.  I would like to believe my hobby of design and blogging will play an important role in our future, but I'm leaving that up to Him.  I look forward to chatting with you more now that things have slowed down a bit.  I've decided I like slow. Maybe that's part of the reason I like the idea of making bread. You can't rush it.

I like that.

Jaimee