What I'm reading

It's been very busy at work so I haven't had a lot of time for much of anything. But every now and then I'll sit and do some reading.

An actual physical book! I like the feel of a good hardcover, although it takes me longer to finish since I can't read while I'm out and about. It's one of Brandon Sanderson's secret Kickstarter books that I got for Christmas. Since it was a present, I didn't even read the blurb, I just went in blind.

It's fun! I was expecting a light, humorous fantasy and instead, it's a light, humorous sci-fi. It's set in the Anglo-Saxon period of England, which I've also been learning about from the "History of English" podcast, and it's fun to see the historical things I was learning about in a light, humorous sci-fi book.

Hot pot

I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely fourth! Poor Gilly hated every second of it, but I got to hang out with friends and enjoy hot pot for the very first time. Here is an excellent introduction to hot pot.

We each had our own individual pots, but the rest of the ingredients were communal. We had the vegetable platter, the mushroom platter, and the tofu platter. We also had some taro and rice cakes. For our meats, we ordered beef brisket, lamb shoulder, lamb leg, and chicken.

I was bad at the actual cooking. I overcooked everything, but it was still delicious. I especially enjoyed the rice cakes, which I also had not had before. They had a lovely texture.

There was a bar where you could make your own dipping sauces. There were two long rows full of different ingredients and I found it very intimidating. Our server was Thai, and she offered to make us her own special sauce. It was a spicy peanut sauce that I thought was delicious, so I just ate that for my whole meal.

I would very much like to go again. I feel like I would time my cooking better. I might also feel brave enough to make my own sauce. Any dipping sauce recommendations?

Dog Camping

I took Gilly on her first camping trip at Gramby lake. She did pretty good, except for her refusal to eat, pee, or poop in an unfamiliar place. But that's her response to any new place. Hopefully, if we travel more she'll become more comfortable in new settings.

Unfortunately, there were storms and the lake was cold and choppy. But we went on some great hikes and enjoyed spending time around the fire with good friends and good food.

There were two deer just down the road. We gave them a wide berth.

Beautiful, but cold

Gilly of the Valley

There was an osprey really close to our camp!

Wild Columbine! So pretty!