My first loaf of bread

My first loaf turned out really well apart from the blade being in the end of the bread but according to the instructions, thats a common occurence.

I couldn't resist eating some as soon as it was cool and had a couple of slices with home made coleslaw.
In all honesty it tasted better than shop bread. I made it with just strong white flour, yeast, salt and water.
I need to invest in a food slicer though thats for sure!

Home baked bread

Hmm, my bread machine has just been delivered and I've never had one before. I purchased it because I want good wholesome bread not filled with all the crap that manufacturers of comercial bread plonk in it nowadays.  I also got a book from Amazon which also turned up this morning, called Fresh Bread in the Morning by Annette Yates, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fresh-Bread-Morning-Your-Machine/dp/0716021544/ref=pd_cp_b_0   with lots of lovely recipes reducing the need to use milk powders and less salt, sugar and fat so that the loaves turn out as natural as can be. Blimey, it even has a recipe for chocolate bread! Can you believe it lol. Never knew you could make choccy bread lol. Need to go to the supermarket to get the ingredients tonight so I can make my very first loaf tomorrow!  BTW, I've never made bread, period lol.
I am soooo looking forward to the smell of baking bread!

Storm

What a night last night. We had an awful storm and gale force winds. Peoples rubbish bins were taking flying lessons and crashing and banging all over the place. We even had giant hailstones, which at one point sounded like they were going to break the window panes. The house guttering couldn't cope with the ammount of water running into it from the roof and we had a waterfall coming down past our bedroom window. Him Indoors slept right through it! I managed to get to sleep around 5 am.

This and That

The weather has been dreadful here again, grey skies and lots of rain and wind. At this rate we shouldn't have a water shortage this summer lol.

I entered a free book giveaway on www.goodreads.com yesterday and got an email today to say that I was won of the lucky winners. All I have to do is read it and review it.  It's called Quantum Breach by Mark Powell. I am not familiar with him but it is always good to discover new authors. It's due to be published on June 30th. I never seem to win anything, but two book competitions in two days!...........I feel good yeah lol. I am an avid reader, and can't afford my habit. I usually get books from the library or freebie e-books for my reader.

I also got a letter to say that my rent had been DECREASED! Fabulous. First time I've ever had a decrease. Guess it is because my landlord whas a charitable status.....Moat Homes Ltd.

Hope everyone is having a good day

Lucky me!

I follow www.waterstones.com on Facebook and last week they wrote an entry saying they had a few copies of Beatrice and Virgil by the Booker Prize winner Yann Martel to give away providing it's read and then reviewed on their site. I apllied thinking I probably wouldn't receive one. Well, I was wrong and a copy turned up this morning! I am chuffed to bits. The book is a proof version as it's not on general release. Publishing date is April the 13th I believe.

This is what Goodreads have to say on the book.

Fate can take many forms. For Henry, a writer living in a foreign city, it arrives in the form of an envelope from a reader. Instead of the usual fan mail, the envelope contains a story by Flaubert, a scene from a play featuring two characters named Beatrice and Virgil, and a note asking for Henry’s help. The note is signed “Henry,” and the return address is not far from where Henry lives. When Henry walks his dog to hand-deliver his response, he is surprised to discover a taxidermist’s shop. Here, stunning specimens are poised on the brink of action, silent and preternaturally still, yet bursting with the palpable life of a lost, vibrant world. And when the mysterious, elderly taxidermist introduces his visitor to Beatrice and Virgil—a donkey and a howler monkey—Henry’s life is changed forever.

Yann Martel’s previous novel, Life of Pi, has become a modern classic. A fantastical tale about a boy and a tiger shipwrecked in the Pacific, it asked probing questions about belief and reality. Now Martel has written another story that uses animals to examine our humanity. In Beatrice and Virgil, he poses enduring questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity. Haunting and unforgettable, this is an extraordinary feat of storytelling.