The scent...

...of the bread

Everybody that knows me and all the people here on blip know how much I love baking bread and cakes, how much I love cooking and something that perhaps you don't know is that I built a traditional oven to bake my bread like back at my Greek home, the way my granddad would bake.

June the 22nd today and only 21 days left to long eight week holiday back home! Woohoo! Not that i wont miss Yorkshire, but once there I think I ll forget my Yorkshire home for a whie. As always before the weekend, I wake up even earlier in the morning to bake bread for the week but today I woke up later as after my night swim i could not sleep until after 4:30

Jumped out of bed to find my daughter already up making green tea for herself and listening to some Japanese tunes (at that time I actually had a vision, saw her in Japan talking to her Japanese friends in fluent Japanese. I am sure she will spend some time of her life in the future in magic Japan)

...prepared the oven and started making the dough straight away while having a gorgeous Greek coffee. I waved the kids goodbye and asked them to get their waterproofs but my son turned back and said 'Dad I thought your advice was to dress minimally when it s raining'.

Everytime and I mean everytime I start making bread, I feel my granddad next to me, I remember all the stories he would tell me, how he taught me to bake everything you can imagine. He was born in 1891 and experienced two world wars and a civil war, telling us stories of those times and how his baking saved the lives of many families in Greece as well as keeping his family safe. He was always a fighter and he ended up in trouble with the occupying forces many times.

Well to cut the long story short, with the loaves in the oven by 8:00am I was ready for a long swim. I had 5000m in my mind since I woke up. Beautiful, powerful swim with some beautiful 1930's tunes playing in the barn that helped with the day dreaming while swimming...but still kept me focused on the swim. Swam it in 1hr 19min, one of my slowest times lately but my wounded foot misbehaved a tiny bit. By the time I finished I believe that the scent of my bread must have traveled at least two miles around the house and it was second breakfast time. And what's better than a slice or two or three of fresh bread spread with homemade plumb marmalade and another cup of coffee! mmmm yummy!!!!!! Super yummy actually!

After breakfast I cycled with Sanja on the Tacx for an hour and god she likes kicking my bum! (excuse my language) Powerful, fast and furious bike ride with her in Slovenia on the other end and the agreement was we were kicking each others bum...and we did. It s time to go lean and mean, pack some strength so I can eat more yummy bread of course!!!

While writing this I am watching the Germany - Greece football game, I don't usually watch football but I really want to see if my country manages to wins. I won't be sad if they don't as I know that they will fight all the way to the end.

Dinner will be a lovely wild mushroom risotto and I was thinking to wait until I prepare that in case I was to change my mind what to blip but ...for the tonight

...the scent of the bread it is

Thank you for all your super lovely comments and hearts, although I am not an online person, I keep on coming back as there is no other way to be close to you at the moment.

I might not run tonight as I have to prepare for the aquathlon tomorrow, but I might taken Paige out on the moor to play for a bit although it feels like a monsoon is approaching!! And how cool is that :-)