Wacky weather, carbohydrates, and something odd

Wednesday's photo were taken over the course of three days, Sunday through Tuesday. Our temperatures were well above freezing; the high on Tuesday was 12C (54F), a record breaking temperature for January 30th. It cooled off from there but was still lovely the rest of the week. However, the forecast for Sunday suggests we may see some snow - not much I don't expect. 

As I was sitting down to start this post, I realized it was a carbohydrate heavy week. On the weekend I'd baked homemade buns and cinnamon buns for lunches and snacks. Then Monday I made slow cooker beef stew. We can't have stew without biscuits. And to top that off, on Tuesday I baked a loaf of Italian cheese and herb bread to go along with our spaghetti and meat sauce dinner. Friday night was homemade pizza night, meaning more dough was made. I've learned to make small batches, so there were just 15 buns, 9 cinnamon buns, a dozen biscuits and one loaf of the Italian bread. There is one of each of the buns and the cinnamon buns, the heel of the loaf, and less than half of the pizza leftover. We do enjoy our carbs. :)

The bread recipe I found was for use in a bread machine, which I don't own. I modified it, using about four cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups of warm water, yeast, oil, sugar and salt for the dough. In addition, I added about 1/4 cup each of grated parmesan cheese and shredded Italian cheese and a teaspoon of an Italian spice blend. After allow it to rise for 90 minutes, I shaped it into a loaf, then let it sit for 45-60 minutes before baking it for 35 minutes in a 350F oven. It was delicious and my son and I used it for sandwiches through the week as well. One evening he made himself a grilled cheese and meat sandwich, dipping it in egg. I was already in bed, and could smell it from downstairs, and oh my, it smelled delicious. 

I had errands to run on Wednesday, for my daughter and myself, before I headed over to Stitch and Chat. There were three of us there that afternoon, and I got a bit of work done on my cross-stitching while we visited. One of the ladies is knitting a kitchen towel, while the other was knitting a bag to hold a small teddy bear. She's been using her stash to create little bears to donate to the Children's Hospital here in the province and has made eight so far. The little bears are adorable and I'm sure they will brighten up the day for the little ones who are being cared for at the hospital. She's hoping to finish a few more before she sends them off.

Thursday was Mahjonng and I had a very lucky day. I won three games! Several games ended in draws and the others at the table won a few as well. There is definitely strategy to playing the game, but often it's truly the luck of the draw. I do enjoy the game and the company of this group is terrific. 

My something odd is the sheer number of views my blog has been receiving lately. There are over 200 views on most of the posts. When I checked the stats nearly 65% are from Singapore. Since I know of no followers nor do I receive comments from anyone there, I presume this is some sort of server that sends readers here. I'm not sure what the interest in this blog would be and I'll likely limit the amount of personal information and photos I share, just in case this is an effort for something nefarious. 

There has been lots of curling to watch this week as well, and will continue through the weekend. Between the USA national championships, both men and women, and our own provincial men's Tankard event, I've enjoyed a number of the games. Some were blow-outs and others came down to the last rock in the final end. Tomorrow's semis and finals will be the best games of the week, I'm sure.

Have a great week ahead everyone!