With all the major events going on in the World our conversation is dominated by the pandemic and the threat to democracy in the USA. There are times when one is grateful for the banal.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/bread-bagjan21.jpg"><img class="alignright  wp-image-6606" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/bread-bagjan21-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="194" height="259" /></a>I've been making bread over the last few months (using a bread machine) and the problem arose how to keep bread fresh. I could freeze it which is what I do with the sliced bread I buy for sandwiches but the pleasure of eating home baked bread is the flavour and freezing it doesn't work. After some research and reading the debate between airtight containers which may cause the bread to become moist and grow mould or ventilated tins that allow the bread to dry out. The answer, it seems, is to put the bread in a linen bag in a ventilated container. Let's see if it works or not but I won't be doing parallel tests.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ash-tree-consentjan21.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6605" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ash-tree-consentjan21-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a>In the last week I've been consent from the local authority to undertake the tree work I applied for last February. Initially the first pandemic lockdown stopped my application and the second was delayed because the tree officer left the council.

The ash tree in the centre of the picture has a fungal growth at the base which is weakening the core of the trunk at the base and therefore puts the tree at risk of falling. On the plus side this tree will give me enough firewood to last several years once it has been seasoned. The tree surgeon is booked to come at the end of February and remove fell the ash as well as carry out work on a couple of the lime trees that overhang the neighbours bungalow.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/winter-walk-1jan21.jpg"><img class="alignright  wp-image-6604" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/winter-walk-1jan21-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="209" height="279" /></a>Lockdown alone isn't too bad provided the weather isn't so severe it stops me getting out into the garden and do some tidying. I spent an hour cutting up branches for firewood the other day and I did get cold.

Walking is more invigorating. On a cold winter's day with a bright sky there's nothing better than going for a walk. After an hour, having covered 3.8 miles I arrived home, gloves off, warm and ready for a cup of Earl Grey. The only downside is that my left knee has a bit of a twinge. Was it the walk or my Joe Wicks workout in the morning. It will pass given time.

For those readers in the UK with a TV license I highly recommend watching the BBC series <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000qfrw/winter-walks-series-1-selina-scott" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Winter Walks...</a> I found them delightful and left me feeling very serene (especially the walk undertaken by Selina Scott).