Rainy days...

We need the rain. Badly. Don't get me wrong - I know we need the rain - we've needed rain all spring (ever since my basement stopped flooding). When I smash the small clumps of garden soil between my thumb and my forefinger, all I get is a small dust explosion that's appropriate only for late August or September. This is high on the list of things that shouldn't be during a New England June.

It rained all day yesterday, and I don't think the high temperature broke 60 degrees. A wee bit dreary. It's still in the 50s out with showers scheduled for today, but I've opened all the windows to try and store some of that coolness in the house (as a giant heat sink). The highs forecast for this weekend are 92 on Saturday and 94 on Sunday. June, in New England. You just never know.

I was so cold & damp yesterday that I made 2 loaves of honey whole wheat bread. I think it's quite possible it was my best bread yet. I didn't kneed it by hand at all - after setting some galvanized steel posts at the CSA farm yesterday, my wrist just wasn't up to it (carpal tunnel flair up - its been about 15 months since the last one). This is where the stand mixer comes in handy. I just let that dough hook fly away and make a god-awful racket for 8 minutes or so. Worked perfectly. In the end, I had two perfect loaves of honey whole wheat bread that smelled a little citrus-y (I let the loaves rise a little too long, so I think the yeast was very happy). The house smelled great - to the point where I was constantly hunting for a snack for the rest of the day and evening.

I'm going to try to enjoy today's dreariness. It might be the last cool day for some time. Even the 10 day forecast shows highs in the mid to upper 80s for as long as the eye can see. As of Saturday my peppers should be growing like crazy.