Recipe for a cold

Recipe to make you feel nice when you have a cold:

2 tbsps elderberry syrup

A generous splash of brandy (or 2)

Hot water (mug of)

A splash of lemon juice

A sprinkle of sweet spices such as Cinnamon

A tiny amount of honey

Put it all in a mug. Taste it, if it’s weak tasting, add more elderberry. Add more honey if you like it sweeter.

And some good music

Linc

So I'm writing a new novel, this time adapted from a comic book script I wrote a while ago and did nothing with. The novel will be illustrated. I will enter it into a contest, though don't expect to win. Having a deadline (31st December) is something I have never had to be strict about. So this is a chance to try and write to a real deadline.

Here is a visual taster.

This is Linc, a wannabe Knight too lazy to earn his place on the roundtable. He quickly finds himself thrown in the deep end when his path crosses with vengeful Tarmigan Fae, a girl who cares only about finding the mysterious mage who murdered her family seven years prior. With nothing much else on, Linc joins her quest.

Produce

The garden wasn't very productive this year due to a general lack of nutrients. We need to fertilize the soil before next season. We did however get some produce. Our new fruit bushes were great. Shame that the birds thought so too. We hardly ate a blueberry between us.


Blueberry flowers in the springtime

Ripened in the summer

The two we managed to eat (after having put some netting up around them)




Courguette's were in glut, and still are. Here's the first couple along with a cake I made using some of our chickens' eggs, wild strawberries growing in the garden and last year's strawberry jam.


All our berries went into a delicious summer tart



To make a summer tart:

Simmer the berries for a while, then add a little sugar. Make some pastry, blind bake it and then pour in the cooked berries and put into the oven until the pastry is cooked.

Dorset Bear

I made a new bear for Mary's birthday: Dorset Bear! She's wearing the flag of dorset, on a ribbon around her neck is a mammalian skull found on a walk, as well as a beaded necklace that can double as a bracelet for Mary.



Happy Birthday Mary!

Parkour

When I was little I played around in a gymnasium. I was an amateur gymnast. Ten years on and I still like to play around in gymnasiums. A mixture of injury, apathy and the summer holiday gym closure has meant that I’ve not been to gymnastics for over three months. Until the gym opens again I’m having to satisfy my need to watch guys do crazy stuff via the medium of youtube:

Also, some drawings I have made of parkour:

I am writing a novel for teenagers that incorporates parkour. The last drawing is of a main character in that novel; Scott. Watch this space for further info.

Scott Heim

I’ve now read two of the three books written by Scott Heim. I watched the film Mysterious Skin before I read the book, simply because I did not know it was a book until after having watched the film. Brady Corbet spoke about the book in the dvd extras section. The film had really got to me. Not only the amazing performances of Joseph Gordon Levitt (my favourite actor) and Brady Corbet, but for the way it was filmed, the subject, everything about it.

So I read Mysterious Skin. The film is very close to the book. The book is more in depth, and in some ways I think the film is more successful than the book because it holds things back that the book delves right into. The film is certainly the subtler of the two. However, I found Mysterious Skin to be an awesome read. The way the vantage points flick between characters really worked, in my opinion. Heim’s style is cool. It’s rare for me to find novels that are actually cool, that can contend with films, TV, music. Don’t give teenagers shit like Twilight to read, give them stuff like Mysterious Skin.

We Disappear is just as good. I couldn’t put it down, and like with Mysterious Skin, the style was cool. Obviously it was less harrowing than Mysterious Skin. I did feel that We Disappear went deeper than Mysterious Skin, and Heim had got a little better at writing, his style more honed. I felt We Disappear outwitted me at times, kept me on my toes, whereas Mysterious Skin didn’t, perhaps partly because I already knew how it ended, having seen the film first.

Both these novels are examples of fresh writing, vibrant/ interesting characters, gritty subject matters. For this reason I think they are good for young people to read (17+). Heim’s style is flawed. It is by no means perfect. The characters in Mysterious Skin alternate the narration, but each chapter has the same narrative voice, despite the fact that different characters are narrating from chapter to chapter. This didn’t bother me, because their different personalities were crisp and obvious enough from their actions, rather than their narrative voices. Heim tends to over explain some parts, gives the reader too much detail sometimes. But again, I think this is part of what makes the books cool. They are not perfect, they are rough around the edges and that suits the subject matter and the audience.

Basket and Book Fair

In May I made another willow basket, this time using a different weave that I forgot the name of already. It came out better and larger than my first basket and now stores my knitting. The first basket has become a rollag container. (Wool spinners will know what I'm talking about.)

I've recently attended a third basket making course, this time making a frame basket. That was a lot harder and the willow dried out in the hot sun by the end of the day, loosing pliability. I managed to finish it and will post photos up as soon as I take some.

Today I cycled to Stourhead because there was an antiquarian book fair on there. I bought three books:


Man and the Land. Part of the New Natrualist series. #31


I just bought a rug loom from a local old lady. I have no idea how to use it. Perhaps this book will tell me how.


Hopefully this will help in the coming months!