Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:00 a.m. in "The City."

We have yet to receive much snow in Ottawa County, but the entire West Michigan area is under a winter weather advisory that will be in effect until 12:00 p.m. today. Strong and gusty winds will cause blowing snow that will make driving hazardous. The NWS has forecast a 90% chance for snow this early morning, that could produce anywhere from one to four inches of additional snow. We have a current temperature of 14° that feels much colder due to the steady winds in the mid-20 mph range and gusts in the 30 mph range.

Late last night, I stood outside with GTWD in the area that I cleared in the back forty but she seemed more fascinated by the winds and the few blowing leaves that passed her nose. STWD knew where she wanted to be, inside, and didn't have to be asked to come inside twice when she was out earlier.

We originally adopted GTWD as a lap dog and "cuddle bug" for Mary, but we also got a watch dog who sits on the back of the sofa and barks at any person or dog in her field of vision. She especially barks at people on the sidewalk in front of the manse. The UPS drivers and the USPS carriers are also not welcome since they come on her porch. STWD used to be like that too, so we are hoping that Ginger will grow tired of this activity.

I'm sitting here in the Weather Office, WO, and the winds are blowing quite strongly outside the WW, Weather Window. We have a canvas awning on the front of the manse and the winds are making it sound like I'm in a bass drum.

With some assistance from Mary, I got my bread baked yesterday. The first and second rises went well, and then I placed the dough into the baking pan for the final rise before placing it into the oven. That was supposed to take from 1 1/2 to 2 hours, so we went out to the grocery store for some things. When we came back, we found that the yeast had proven even more active than expected and the dough had expanded way over the top of the pan. Mary made an administrative decision and trimmed it back some and then it went into the oven.

It baked for a shade over one hour, but it wasn't quite done, so back in the oven, it went. We couldn't get it out of the pan, so we went out to dinner. When we got back, it easily came out easily and the finished loaf was everything I had hoped for. Mary took some pictures of the bread in progress to memorialize our efforts.

Before Mary's "Surgery."

Just out of the oven.

Out of the pan and cooling.

It tasted even better than it looked. 

In addition, since the camera was downstairs, Mary took a picture of me in the La-Z-Boy with both of the fur-children in my lap.

Looking Good.

Today, Mary has to revise a previous index. I spent a few hours last night highlighting the manuscript so that she could recreate her previous efforts. Since I wasn't commenting this time, the process went relatively quickly.

There were no trains yesterday, so I don't know what to expect today. I plan to sit in my chair and do some reading and TV viewing. I want to spend some time with the girls in my music room too. I can't play and sing too loudly while Mary is working.

The sun will rise into cloudy skies @ 8:09 a.m. and set @ 5:10 a.m. Ciao.