well - I love the taste of bread but it does make you fat once you hit 40+ ;)

Interesting. I suppose you have "just small enough" air bubbles that there is still no deeper path into the loaf? The only time I saw sour dough with such big bubbles was in the Netherlands, and that bread was hard as wood within 3 days of cutting.

That sounds about right.
FWIW sourdough is not terrible after freezing either, as long as your freezer isn't a moisture sucking drying POS (looking at you home rental fridge freezer), but can't quite compare to fresh. When we used to buy these in store, we'd generally buy half or quarter of a loaf to eat it while it's fresh (half was about size of your 1 loaf).
I figured out the freezing part when I had to live on my own and deal with shopping and school, so convenience was necessary, whilst not overpaying for groceries.

Yep, sounds about the same for me. Sometimes I'll shave off a thin slice if it's hardened, but aside from that it stays pretty much fresh

please don't wrap your bread in plastic! that's the best way to get mould from humidity not escaping.

https://share.google/2uLb8nd4Qq6twHfV6

That's the website

Tartine Bread By Chad Robertson https://share.google/BeRlMHpLXVIz6qvav

That's the book i have. They're both quite long-winded, but if you can muddle through it the results are great

Oh, yeah that's just lighting. All four loaves were the same batch. 1800g bread flour, 200g whole wheat

I HIGHLY recommend proofing in the fridge. I have never gotten this recipe to work at room temp, but it's perfect in the fridge.

I usually make the dough late morning, shape the loaves and get them in the fridge early afternoon, and bake next morning