I don’t know how society will change…

There are lots of conversations on social media and I’m sure in offices, homes, 6 feet apart in lines in front of walmart… about how society will change after the Covid-19 stay at home orders are lifted.

And, I don’t know anything about that. I’m not in tune with that thinking. I just keep doing what I can, that is right in front of me.

I bake, sew, quilt, talk to friends, teach, train, practice gratitude, garden, keep bees, walk, pray, hope. What is certain, is that life is uncertain. I am not guaranteed the next breath.

Here’s what I feel about my experience, though, so far. I will be even more diligent to use my time and resources well. I have made a crate full of Christmas gifts and fun things for our home, and it’s not because I have more time. It’s because I’m not allowing a temporary lack of focus, turn into a trip to town to buy something I might not have needed in the first place.

I do that a lot, apparently. And, I’ve also discovered, with intention and planning, I can go 2 weeks without driving into Lincoln, Nebraska. And, with even more planning, I can get all the essentials done, plus some extra visiting with my favorite shops, in half a day.

I know for some, cabin fever is setting in. I do remember that being more pronounced when my boys were little and weeks of super cold or rainy weather kept us all inside, cooped up. I was ready; ready to get out of the house and into some sunshine.

So, maybe I have an advantage, as a quasi-empty nester.

I also have so many things I love to do, and want to try, and I get distracted easily by the next shiny object, which might send me to town to pick up one thing.

I think there’s balance to be achieved there. Or, maybe just more thinking on why I get distracted, what distracts me, and if that’s a good or bad thing.

I do know, I intend to make fewer trips to town, without sacrificing my essential relationships in town. That alone, probably reclaims a full day to create, instead of windshield time.

So, I’m not that smart or interested in trying to guess how or if society will change after this. I just keep living with what is in front of me, and appreciate the beauty in ordinary and simple things.

I’d love to hear what creative things, if any, you’ve been doing during this Covid-19 stay at home period. Best way, is to find me on Instagram!

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

Sourdough rhythm

I used to really overthink sourdough. And, because of that, I didn’t enjoy the process, and I rarely kept a starter going, beyond a couple bakes.

I started baking small batches, often, leaving my sourdough starter on the countertop all the time. It’s been there for weeks now, with a tea towel. I suppose that will come to an end, keeping it covered with only a towel, once spring is in full swing and flies and fruit flies become a hassle again.

But, I think my aha! Moment with sourdough, and why it seems so easy to some and so complicated to others, happened when I took my starter along on a trip to our yearly campout, and made bread at the campfire.

I had my starter, flour, water and salt. And the supplied dishes in the cabin. I didn’t have all my usual tools and kitchen toys; not even my favorite bowl.

And it was in that moment, when I thought about my pioneer ancestors, who made bread because they had to feed their family. I’m betting they didn’t worry about hydration percentages. They used what they had, and experience, and baked bread.

My dad likes to tell a story of a great aunt or grandma, kneading bread and reaching over to feed the wood cook stove with dried cow pies, and returning to the kneading. I don’t know if it’s true. But, I know they didn’t have a fancy mixer, special bowl, or a way to tell if their sourdough was a particular hydration. For the most part, they were surviving. It always amazes me how much grit and perseverance our pioneer ancestors had.

So, I stripped off all the “required tools mindset” and used whatever flour I could find in the little town next to the campground. It wasn’t organic, and it was probably bleached. I dumped my starter in a bowl, kneaded it in the bowl with my hands, and baked it in the fire. It was fantastic.

And, it reminded me that although I love to read bread books, and even geek out over the science of what all goes on, bread is really quite simple.

So, sourdough, or wild bread; bread leavened with the wild yeast in the air…can be complicated or it can be super simple. I choose simple.

And what has made it so much easier, is making it a rhythm or habit. I’ve done it enough times and in close succession, that I’m past the part of thinking through the steps.

But, to get there, you have to make a lot of bread. Or, make bread often. I fell in love with the dutch oven method, and those loaves bake better if they aren’t so big. And, once wild bread/sourdough became a part of my natural rhythm in the kitchen, making enough bread for 2-3 days, and repeating, takes only minutes of actual work a day. The rest of the time, I’m doing my usual thing. Why 2-3 days? Well, part of that is because I like bread really fresh. The other part is because that keeps me from having too much starter on my countertop.

That’s what I would hope for anyone who wants to bake bread for their family; for it to become so common place, that it falls in rhythm with their life.

And feel free to geek out on the terminology of sourdough. I do. I love the science of it. But, for me to get to this point where it’s effortless to bake bread, naturally, with only water, flour, and salt and have it taste incredible, I had to cut it down to the basics and pretend I was a pioneer. (I do use my Bosch mixer most of the time at home! But, it’s the theory of it… Bread is not complicated. If it were, would we have expressions about daily bread, or staff of life? I don’t think so.)

Your friend and currently daily blogger, because I’m on a facebook fast. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Twelve days in and I have to say, no facebook posting aside from my challenge groups, and companies that are only on facebook, has been incredible!

Anne Dovel

Sourdough sandwich bread

Baked on vacation, this sourdough sandwich bread is flour, water, salt, honey and milk. No commercial yeast added.

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Happy easter 2020

Our family Easter was different this year, as it was for a lot of people. My family, including Mom and Dad, siblings and their families, usually get together for Easter dinner. It’s a day of food, hiding and finding baskets, conversation, laughter, and games.

Because of the unknown and the fear of spreading a virus…I wonder if once this is all over, we’ll be less fearful or more?… We didn’t have our big family gathering.

We did, however, manage to get a good share of our family on a Zoom conference to see and hear each other. It pales in comparison to the real thing, but it still made me smile to hear the voices of the littles and the laughter of the bigs.

We don’t have to like the hand we are dealt, but how we play it out, is up to us.

Happy Easter, friends.

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

What are Egyptian walking onions?

I posted a video on IGTV (Instagram TV) the other day, about one of my favorite edible and decorative garden plants.

The Egyptian Walking onion, so named, because to make new plants, the sets that grow on top of a mature stalk, get heavy and bend over and grow there. So, it appears to walk across the garden, in slow motion.

First of all, every part is edible. You can use the early spring growth as scallions. You can dig up a clump and use the bigger white parts in anything that calls for onion. They tend to have a little more bite than a regular onion.

But, I must confess, that for the most part, I keep them around because I love how they look, how easily they grow, and for companion planting in my vegetable garden.

Even though they propagate easily, they don’t become invasive. Once you dig up a clump, it’s gone. It won’t grow again. If you trim off some of the green, like scallions, it will grow from that root. You can also eat the itty bitty sets that grow on top, if you like peeling. I tried pickling them once, but it was too labor intensive for the result. I have thrown them into a jar of pickled green beans, however, unpeeled, for flavor.

The video I posted is on Instagram. I’ll include the link here. And, if I figure it out again, I’ll post the video IN this blog post. Now, isn’t that all fancy?

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

Quarantine sewing

Now that I’ve had my soapbox time in prior posts, here’s what I’ve been up to, and huzzah….I figured out how to put a photo in my post. I don’t know…do you like that, or should I link to the picture on Instagram? I’ll even turn the comments on, if the random stranger who comes by this blog wants to comment on that!

One of the things that has just warmed my heart, is how art and craft businesses and enthusiasts have been so generous in providing some free or discounted patterns, or just simply moving up the launch of a much anticipated pattern or kit, to help people stay engaged in something other than worry during this time. (For future readers, “this time” is the very strange Covid-19 time.)

Along with doing my fair share of shopping, when I notice an account on Instagram sharing a free tutorial or pattern, I choose one and make it. Chouette Kit in France, has given 3 free tutorials recently. I’ve made all 3. I made the little stuffed whale from thrifted wool, a project bag from panel yardage, and this little bunny treat bag from linen and vintage tea towel.

We were supposed to have family Easter dinner, 40+ people at our house this Sunday, but that is not going to happen now. We can blame the stay at home order, but the weather has also played a spring trick on us and we are supposed to have a wet, sloppy snow on Easter Sunday.

Because the pattern is in French, I’ve been asked to show in English how to sew it. I love picture books, so maybe that’s why I could follow the pictures in the French pattern!

It always takes me so long to actually make a video, because of the setup process and then uploading the video. Since this is my hobby, I don’t have a video set up already in place where I can plop down and start recording, or someone to edit and upload, so I can keep sewing!

We’ll see what happens.

By the way, this is day 10, no personal facebook posts. I’ve gotten over the hump of feeling “I should go post this on Facebook,” for every silly, snarky thing that pops in my head!

So, tell me. Do you like having a picture on a post? If you are looking for all my quarantine sewing pictures, you’ll find them on Instagram right now!

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

Sweet bunny treat bag

This pattern is free from Chouette Kit website.

I am using fabric that I have during “quarantine.”
The blue is a linen/cotton blend and the cream is a scrap from a vintage tea towel that someone had marked a cross stitch design on with pencil. I think that makes it even more charming.

The sweetest handmade bunny treat bag

One of the things I’ve enjoyed doing lately, is sewing the free patterns that some of my favorite Instagram maker accounts have posted.

This morning, I saw the free bunny treat bag that Chouette Kit from France, posted. Including printing and cutting out the template, the entire project took less than 30 minutes.

And it’s so sweet. I used a scrap of a vintage tea towel and some of a modern linen blend that I had leftover after making a shirt.

Bunny Treat Bag post on Instagram.

Your Friend,
Anne Dovel