Louise James
Louise James has lived in Scotland since 2003, although she has spent countless days over the years in the islands and highlands on hillwalking adventures. She tries to ‘grow where she is planted’, drawing on her Canadian roots, as well as her twenty years in Yorkshire, to inspire her writing.
Daily Bread
He rose at five as usual. A quick wash, then into the kitchen where he assembled bowls and ingredients, laying them out on the scrubbed deal table. Silently, he began, weighing out the flour, setting the yeast to froth in the battered tin jug he’d inherited from his father. Every day, something a little different, yet all the same, really. Flour and yeast and water, then something special added, and then the best part, kneading. Today he’d make Maija’s favourite, dark rye with potato, caraway. She would know, when she smelled it, that he was sorry and was making amends. He sighed as he mashed the hot potato and stirred it into the sloppy mix for the first rising. No need to hurry, she slept late, since her illness began. Now he sat with a mug of strong black coffee, enjoying the mingle of smells and the precious solitary moments of the day. He prodded the rising dough for readiness, certain that when Maija tasted it, she would forgive him. Who could replace a man who rose at five and made a different bread every day, she had smiled at him through tears, when he had asked her.
Louise James
Read more of Louise's writings by visiting our Library on Home Page.