In which she tromps through the garden with a loaf of bread and a bottle of kombucha

I opened a bottle of strawberry kombucha this morning. The lid came off with a Bang! and the strawberries swam their way to freedom on a wave of foam. Fortunately a bowl waited in anticipation of their escape and caught them before they could make a swimming pool of the counter.

Note: Kombucha devours berries, leaving them devoid of color and the fermenting tea full of bubbles.
Also note: Candied ginger and strawberry flavored kombucha is particularly tasty.

The planned fascination of the year was to be woodwork. Instead it is Turkish coffee, gardening, fermentation, and bread.
The Turkish coffee has yet to foam properly. Meanwhile traditional Arabic music improves the atmosphere.

I have read that gardening is a forgiving process but is it I or the carrots who are to do the forgiving if the seeds refuse to sprout? A maple tree and salvia bush have sprouted in the front yard without asking permission. 

As it happens, the carrots are the only shy ones thus far and the rest of the garden is behaving itself in a satisfactory, though not predictable fashion.

Young basil sprouts ready for planting

For the first time since I started baking bread, I heeded the instructions to dust the peel with rice flour. Ah, the joy! Ah, the understanding! when the dough slid easily off the slab of wood instead of holding on for dear life! I am a changed baker.