Graceful Mary

Sorry for being M.I.A for the past few weeks but I went to Houston for my first post treatment scans. The amazing news is that there was no evidence of cancer!!! Unfortunately, the scans did show a good bit of inflammation in my right lung. I had been getting very short of breath but figured it was just part of my healing process. My oncologist put me on some steroids and antibiotics so I’ve been taking it easy. I feel like I’m slowly being able to tolerate more activity. Woohoo!

Taking it easy means I’ve been bored out of my mind so I think and think of what things I can I do when I feel better. Well….I did it! I jumped on the sourdough bandwagon. While I was taking it easy I enjoyed reading my grandmother’s recipe books and came across a handwritten recipe for sourdough starter and I told myself “just do it” and I did it! My starter is about a week old now and I’m going to bake my first loaf of sourdough bread tonight. Fingers crossed.

I was also able to order my vegetable seeds for my spring garden. I’m also planting potatoes this year. I ordered from a farmer on eBay. I received both seeds and seedling potatoes today and was very pleased. Feels good to support small farmers/homesteaders and it is much cheaper than buying commercially.

I stored my starter in the microwave with the light on for heat. I did refrigerate it for a couple of days but I wanted it more active so I put it back into the microwave. I didn’t discard any while in fridge but I did discard a cup a day while in microwave. After discarding 1 cup I would feed it a mixture of about 1 cup of all purpose flour and 3/4 cup of warm water. At first the consistency of my starter was too thin so I added more flour. I quit measuring and starting judging by consistency. This worked for me. I firmly believe that you have to find a technique that works for you.