Marty

And aloha right bakatya, young Albert!

It wasn't drowned as such. More a case that it had its head snapped off by the wind. But, looking at the width of the stump, I'd hazard a guess that it's probably lost several heads already to previous storms. I'd say it will send up new shoots/branches, and live to lose another head again in another storm. Some tree species can be tenacious little buggers.

Hola, Drew!

Hi, dugh!

Thank you very much, clo! I did have to play with the original image in PhotoShop to try to make the colours "pop" slightly. The day was actually a bit on the grey side. In fact it was still raining when I took that photo, so I had to be careful I didn't get raindrops on the lens, which would have completely spoiled the image.

Page, my man! Howya doing? Hi, Gary! Yea, they've more or less gone now (probably battering England as I type ). I managed to get out this afternoon and take a few photos. Here's one of some flooded fields and a wind blown tree not too many miles from where I live...

G'day, bignick.

Bonsoir jeune Albert! Comment vas-tu?

If I haven't got any self raising flour when a recipe calls for it, I can always add baking soda, or bicarbonate of soda, or even cream of tartar, to plain flour. (Yea, I'm aware that some of ye may not know some of those terms, but that's where Google is your friend, or whatever your search engine of choice might be.) I only found out what cornstarch was when I had to Google it because the care instructions for a certain toy I once bought online recommended dusting it with cornstarch when it was not being used every day.... Sleep well, clo!

I currently have 5... Strong wholemeal flour (for bread) Plain white flour (for cakes and biscuits) Self raising flour (for cakes - basically plain flour with added raising agents) Cornflour (for thickening sauces, etc - I think it's called Cornstarch in the US) Almond flour (for certain cake and biscuit recipes) Cheers, bud! I intend to. Always glad to help!

I use dried active yeast as well. Google gives me the following for "All-Purpose flour" .... In Canadian recipes calling for all-purpose flour, you can substitute American all-purpose flour or UK plain flour except when the recipe is a bread recipe. Canadianall-purpose is a truly all-purpose flour, being very high in gluten, and can be used for bread, but American all-purpose and UK plain flour cannot. Seems that might be your problem. Another Google search suggests that British (or Irish, in my case) Strong flour is called Bread flour in the US. https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2017/01/flour.html

I know I said yesterday that I have basically given up using FB... But sometimes it can be useful for getting up to date information a lot quicker than when I Google for the same information. A few minutes ago I received a text message on my phone to say that the camera club meeting planned for tonight has been put off till next week due to the "weather warning". When I checked FB I found the following message from "Metalert Ireland" (I live close to where the number 104 is on the map - that's the likely wind speed in kilometres per hour).

The secret to success seems to lie with (a) the kneading, (b) letting it rise twice before baking, and (c) the flour you use - I always use wholemeal. I think there are two main types of flour - cake flour and strong flour (there may be other names used your side of the pond). You need strong flour for bread making, as it has extra gluten that helps trap the gases given off by the yeast, so giving a better texture. Bread made from cake flour doesn't rise as well. You can use a bread making machine, but those only allow the dough to rise once before 'baking' it. They do produce a reasonable loaf, but I don't like the shape of the bread made by the one I have. I do sometimes use it for the initial mixing and rising if I am in a hurry, as it has a dough setting, which means it switches itself off before cooking the loaf. One thing to be aware of is that from start to finish will usually take around at least two and a half hours. You really need to be available to watch it if you are hand making it, as it's fairly critical that you don't let it rise too much. I have my own recipe that has been adapted from ones from various sources. There are numerous ones available online (Google is your friend). The one below is close to my own, although I would only use a pinch of salt (not a teaspoonful), and I just cover the dough with a clean tea towel whilst it is rising (instead of oiled cling film). https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/traditional-wholemeal-bread

Hi clo! Hope the weather today is a bit calmer where you are today than it is here. It's not really a contest, more of a challenge. And it's one new photograph per week. Don't have to upload this week's until Friday, but I haven't got one yet. Tonight is more of a social meeting. I think we're going to have a talk from some (locally) famous photographer. Do you think I might be doing it on purpose?

Agreed! And I try to treat everyone with love. Unfortunately (?) I'm human, have preferences (whilst trying not to be prejudiced), so maybe some people just get a bigger share of my love than others...

I once read that, if you are selling your home, one way to make it seem more attractive to people viewing it is to have bread baking in the oven at the time they view. Apparently the smell of the bread can make all the difference. It has been a good day, really. Go raibh mhaith agat!

All good here, at least. Being stuck in the house means I've managed to get a lot of stuff done that I've been sort of 'long fingering' (no dirty comments please - it's just an expression - Google it, if you don't understand) for the past while. Currently waiting for dough to rise (that was dough, not dugh, you dirty minded people! ) before popping it in the oven. It's now over three years since I purchased shop bread. Camera club meeting this evening, so I'll need to have a shower and a shave before I head off to that. Hey, @Timothy M., by the way!

You are a wicked, wicked man, Gary!

Hey, Gary! How's things with you this wet and windy day?

Howya, Page?

So could that have been the seed that has caused Nate, years later, to talk to Greg about wanting to meet a nice girl, get to know her, settle down and get married, have kids, the white picket fence... (etc)? And does that mean that Nate may actually be gay - or at least bisexual - or even Greg-sexual, as someone suggested in a comment to the last chapter? We already know that Greg and Nate have had sex twice, which supposedly confirmed that Nate was really straight. What we don't know is how old they were at the time. Was it before or after Richard assaulted Greg? If it was before, it could just have been a case of adolescent experimentation. If it was after, then it just may be that Nate is not 100% straight (or could it just be a case of Nate wanting to comfort his friend, or to prove to him that he could still give his body to another man despite what had happened with Richard?). My gut feeling is that Nate is actually straight, but I have to admit that I'm not sure. I suppose I'll find out the answer in the remaining chapters. Great story, Jason! You've still got me hooked (and second guessing).

Uhmmm, something seems to be missing ... wasn't there a hot shirtless guy in a pair of tight worn button-fly jeans leaning against the fence post ... where'd he go? I think the night may have cooled somewhat, so Gary decided to take him home with him to warm him up again...

Howdy, dugh.

I think it's time I got some shuteye... Night guys!

This. ^^^ Yea, I knew that actually. But I just couldn't resist the double entendre. Although I would have said that they were wrapped in sausage meat, rather than just sausage - but that's perhaps just the fact that you American's don't speak proper English (not like wot us does! ). And they don't have to be deep fried. You can make just as tasty (but not so full of nasty fats) by baking them in the oven. recipe/oven-baked-scotch-eggs/