Very tranquil - except for the gunfire

Here's a picture I took Saturday morning after enjoying another free night at the hotel. We go again in January and again in Feb. In the morning I asked one of the hotel employees what the "banging" sound was, and his guess was that it was from duck hunters. I am known for complaining about the neighbors who live near the castle (boy could I tell stories), but at least I don't hear gunfire in the morning. And at least I haven't paid a ton of money for waterfront Chesapeake Bay property and have to listen to gunfire during hunting season.

I got an early Christmas present, a bread hook for my vintage Kitchenaid mixer and used it today for the first time to make bread. Of course I have a bread machine - since I love all things bread, but haven't used the Kitchenaid for bread making. I made ciabatta bread, it was a 24 hour long process. Ciabatta bread is a rustic bread with a bunch of little holes throughout. But why settle for little holes when you can just do one major hole:



I guess I need some practice, but it still tasted good.