Well, if I was dancing, which I’m not. But I think Isaac and Laurie are on to something here. All the kids will be dancing like that soon.
Quite like the new videos by Slaves, here’s another one:
And of course the making of the album:
Hemp and Almond Bread
Decided to experiment with some bread baking again. While doing my shopping yesterday I spotted some ‘Hemp Seed Hearts’ (described as ‘pure unrefined hemp seed kernels with a delicious light nutty flavour’ and that among other things they are perfect for baking), so I bought some to use them in some bread to be baked for the weekend.
(click on the pictures for larger versions)
These are the ingredients I used (I decided to also include some almonds):
- 300g strong stoneground wholemeal bread flour
- 150g strong white bread flour
- 75g hemp seed hearts
- 75g toasted chopped almonds
- ~10g fast action bread yeast
- 2 table spoons olive oil
- 1/2 pint of warm water
Mix, knead, let rise as appropriate, then bake at 220ºC (fan assisted oven) for just over 30 minutes.
Taste test?
Has a nice light nutty smell. Taste also light nutty (as promised), bread turned out quite light but also crunchy with the seeds and the almonds. Yes, I’ll almost certainly make this again.
Electric Steam Train in Aldermaston Wharf
No, of course there is no such thing as an electric steam train. But the headline made you curious, I hope. The reason for it is that the local rail line is currently in the last stages of the line electrification and the overhead power lines we put up about a month ago. While more environmentally friendly than the old diesel trains we currently have it’s not so nice for taking pictures of the steam trains passing through here every once in a while. Today we saw the first steam train coming through since the cables went up.
The train was the ‘Quantock Intruder’, pulled by SR Merchant Navy Class 4-6-2 no 35028 maintained by Clan Line. Here are the pictures I managed to take:
(click on the pictures for the larger versions and captions)
Big tree, cattle, butterfly
It was a very nice sunny spring day in West Berkshire today, so I went for another walk in the countryside near the village. I had hoped I might still be able to see some Bluebells, but couldn’t really find any. Didn’t see anything spectacular, so here are three fairly mundane pictures of a big tree, some cattle in the sunshine and a butterfly on a leaf:
(Click on the pictures for the larger versions)
I hope you had a nice weekend as well, hopefully spring and soon summer continue to be nice.
Jay in a tree at Titchfield Haven
Time for the third set of pictures from my second visit to Titchfield Haven nature reserve. After the Kestrel and the Avocet this time I’ve got a Jay sitting in a tree just off the reserve:
As usual, click on the pictures for the larger version.