Catching up...

I needn't have worried about the natto batch that was "coming of age" in the oven. In fact, I probably should have taken the batch out after the recommended 24 hours (the soybeans didn't appear to have changed) instead of letting it sit another 8 hours or so overnight (I still didn't see anything when I took it out of the oven).

The mass of soybeans under the top, dry layer, however, are natto-ed quite thoroughly, however, so I divided up the batch and froze it. I plan to sample it soon, but not until after I finish the project I'm working on.

Apropos of which, I am within 7500 words of finishing the first pass, and expect to get most of that done over the next couple of days, leaving only a few pages for Friday. There's another item on the plate already, and I'll have to slipstream parts of it into my work schedule over the next couple of days and then hit it hard on Friday.

* * *The snow on our roof has been slowly, inexorably creeping off, until you get formations such as the following forming off the edges:


The bottom of this "shingle" of snow appears to be fairly close to the surface of the snow, but it would be a mistake to think that the surface of the snow is anywhere near the surface of the ground. If I were standing on the ground directly underneath this overhang with my arm extended straight up, you'd maybe see the tips of my (gloved) fingers.

* * *I bought a pile of Girl Scout cookies to support Hutür's participation in her Brownie group. My one major problem in this regard right now is to put them away somewhere for (much) later, out of harm's - and temptation's - way.

Cheers...