shades of brown

Today is Family Day here in Saskatchewan. It's been a low-key day for us.

As you can see, Cooper is doing just fine.

He's learned to slightly pick up his broken leg so that it doesn't slow him down too much when he's racing around outside with the other dogs.

Next brown thing is my new tiny Jenkins Kuchulu spindle beside a Bosworth midi for scale.

It is so cute and spins for a very long time for such a light spindle (11 g - just under .4 oz.). I had placed my order for one a few weeks ago and said that I didn't have a wood preference. Wanda Jenkins must have been reading my blog since I placed the order because here is what she wrote on the receipt:

"I picked a spindle that I thought would be a good match with High Noon Cooper. May you have as much joy spinning with this Kuchulu as the new guy has brought.

P.S. From the couple of pictures he does look like he has a smooth reach and extension, from front and back. Not that I know much about dogs! I used to pay attention to horses' conformation and gait."

I have ordered from the Jenkins in the past and as you can tell, the customer service is wonderful! Wanda did indeed pick woods that matched my sable puppy's coloring very well. Also, I once attended a dog structure seminar and was told that some of the best dog judges got their start in the horse game. You really learn about good structure when you are riding a horse. If the horse isn't put together very well, you have a bumpy ride.

Here's a birds-eye-view of the Kuchulu so that you can see the wood grain. It's Lilac on a Kingwood shaft.

The last brown thing I want to share is my new found love for Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day. This is the coolest bread making technique! You mix up flour, salt, yeast, and water with a wooden spoon (it's a wet dough so you don't need to use the mixer or knead it at all). Let it rest for a couple of hours at room temperature, then cover it loosely and pop it into the fridge. When you're ready to bake a loaf, you sprinkle flour on the dough, pull out a grapefruit sized handful, quickly shape it and let it rest on parchment paper or a cornmeal-dusted pizza peel for about an hour or less.

Preheat a baking stone and broiler pan in the oven, place the loaf on the stone and pour hot water in the pan, close the oven door quickly and bake for about 30 min.
Absolutely delicious! The dough can stay in the fridge for 2 weeks so you can bake a fresh loaf every day. No fuss, no muss. I like this much better than my bread machine loaves.