Hooch! Oh, and some other stuff too...

1. HOOCH!  Apparently, I'm making moonshine instead of sourdough starter.  When I noticed separation in the starter mix, I thought I'd done something wrong, but apparently this is normal.  At least I think it is normal.  My concoction isn't smelling so great right now...  (Picture coming)
2. Inspired by the sourdough science experiment, I went out this weekend and bought 2 cookbooks, Whole Grain Breads by Machine or Hand and King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking.  I was really excited to find some whole grain recipes I could use with my bread machine.  Much like my slow cooker, I love the fact I insert ingredients and a finished product emerges with little effort from me.  It's the closest thing to a personal chef I'll probably ever have.
3. The spring cleaning continues.  This weekend the blinds were wiped down (which takes FOREVER, now I know why I don't bother every week.), hosed down the air duct return grate, and for the outside of the house, trimmed back all the monkey grass and reassembled the landscape lighting.  The outside work moved us down the shacky scale about 1 point.  Besides needing fresh mulch on all the landscaping, there is still the matter of the two dead azaleas that have been there for 2 years.  On the plus side we have some neighbors who, bless their hearts, are doing their very best to make us look better.
4. I finished The Book Thief on Friday.  Narrated by Death, the overall tone of the book is what comes to mind when I hear "heavily stylized."  There is a huge emphasis on word painting.  The descriptions are not flowery or flowing.  The entire prose is fairly terse but the phrasing is distracting because no one (at least that I know) talks that way.  Set in WWII, beware of a heavy emotional drag on the whole book and if you're looking for a happy ending, pass this one by (what can you expect when Death narrates?).  However, there is very satisfying character development, and you can't help but root for them as they struggle as non-Nazis in Nazi Germany.