It’s been a bit since I posted about 101 things! This post I’ll be writing about some the tasks that I’m currently in middle of or have recently started and may or may not finish. This will be a quick, no pics post of my 101 Things in 1001 Days. As always, for more information on about 101 things in 1001 days, you can check out the Day Zero Project!
Harry Potter
One of goals was to reread Harry Potter. I know there’s a lot of controversy around J.K. Rowling, her views and some on the books as well. I’m not here to get into that (though I’d like it to be known disagree with her stances) however. From a pure story perspective I’ve loved these books for many years and have read through all seven books twice. It’s been probably 9 years since I’ve done so, so I found myself embarking on doing just that.
Recently, I finished the first book – The Philosopher’s Stone and am currently about halfway through Chamber of Secrets. What I don’t remember, however, is how absolutely boring the initial parts of these first books are. I find myself literally trudging through Harry’s story at the Dursley’s and wanting to stop reading. I’ll continue to though as I know what lies ahead and it is one of my goals!
Baking Bread
I’m in the middle of trying to improve my baking skills and began 2022 with trying out a sourdough starter. To be blunt…it did not start. Well, I shouldn’t say that, it did to some extent, but the two loaves I made were underwhelming. I’ve decided to put a hold on that for the time being as we’ll be away for the summer and no one will be around to feed the starter for a couple of months.
As such, I’ve returned to Jim Lahey’s No Knead Bread. It’s quick, simple and tastes amazing! It’s easy prep and even easier to bake and since there’s no real kneading necessary, making sure the dough is just right isn’t overly difficult. The hardest part of this was making sure I had the right kind of baking tools, in this case a Dutch Oven. Luckily, we found a very nice one at Marks & Spencers and it’s done the job quite nicely.
My goal is to make a loaf of bread at least once a month for six months. I’ll have to finish up this summer, but I don’t think anyone back in the US, will mind!
Puzzles
If you’ve seen any of our YouTube videos, you’ll know I’m in the process of trying to put together a 1000 piece puzzle of Hong Kong. Finishing a 1000 piece puzzle was on my list so I scooped up one not too long ago. It initially moved very quickly as finding the pieces for all the buildings was not overly difficult. As I have transitioned to the evening sky, however, with its nice oranges, purples, blues, reds, and pinks, I am struggling considerably more.
What took me perhaps three weeks for ¾ of the puzzle, has been another 2 weeks without doing much at all. It takes much more patience to sit down and stare and formless puzzle pieces with just color than it did with the cityscape. But I’ll keep going! My goal is to finish before the end of the school year. I’m also upset as there seems to be a piece missing so technically it’ll end up being a 999 piece puzzle, which is beyond frustrating, but I’m not sure if the piece didn’t come with the puzzle or if I’ve just managed to lose it. Either way…argh.
Well, that’s all for this short post, I hope you enjoy!