Messages

The Ayalgas are another female spirit, loyal guardians of ancient treasure – although, in some tales, they may secretly hope someone does steal the treasure without killing them, thus freeing them by leaving them with nothing to guard

This has inspired an idea for the backstory for a pair of PCs in a DnD or other RPG campaign: an adventurer who stole a treasure that someone was cursed to guard. The adventurer specifically stole it so that the cursed person could go on adventures with them, instead of being stuck guarding the treasure in one place forevermore.

Also this was very interesting to read! Do you have any suggestions for particular sources, if someone wanted to look into these creatures and myths more?

November entry for me! Reece and I made bao buns from scratch, steamed them and then ate them with homemade pulled duck (basically just slow cooked duck with garlic, ginger and hoisin sauce) and some veggies. A pretty successful first go at making any form of steamed dough.

We have also now added a steamer to our Christmas list, as we didn't own one and had to improvise.

 

29th works for me 😊

I'm always so impressed by people who eyeball recipes for baked goods! I can do that with a few things (estimating a tablespoon of butter for instance, possibly the silliest measurement type for butter and yet hideously common...) but for the most part I have to follow a recipe or I'm incredibly likely to make a mess!

Looks delicious! I have a lot of pumpkin flesh saved from my carving that I plan to make a pie with. When I will actually have the free time to make it is as yet undecided XD

How did you make the apple streusel thing? It sounds tasty

I also found those specific two very grim! The whole set are pretty spooky!

Sorry that the first few of your spooky season books didn't deliver on quality, but I'm glad you enjoyed the others!

Last night, I started (and finished in one sitting!) a book that I bought at Comic Con from an author who had a stall there. It was all about witches in 1940 and a pumpkin-headed scarecrow so that felt very appropriately themed for the season, and I quite enjoyed it.
It was a quick read, but very interesting and reminded me somewhat of a more serious version of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I solidly recommend it: The Crow Folk by Mark Stay (who was very nice and autographed the full set for me). It also has very pretty cover art.

Here's my October entry in the food challenge: Anzac biscuits! According to a quick bit of Googling, these were made by the wives of Australian and New Zealand soldiers during WW2, to send with their husbands to the war.

I think I probably did a decent job when I made them, since the entire batch (half of which is pictured here) vanished within 4 hours of coming out of the oven!

 

I have officially achieved my goal of reading 52 books this year (actually gone a ways past that now!), so I'm pretty pleased.

My book club has covered some interesting books lately that have sparked a lot of discussion (although we haven't always liked the books...). I'd definitely recommend The Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, which is very wholesome if also heart wrenchingly sad at times...

Both dishes look delicious!

That is an excellent pumpkin!

I won't be able to make it then sadly, I have a board game event I'll be going to (and am, as predicted, busy on Halloween itself). But I shall see you all next time!

Ooh that sounds like a lot of fun, I shall give the demo a go when I get a chance!

A classically late but hopefully delicious looking entry for September's food: we made sushi!

   

   

Love this! I'll keep an eye on any creative endeavours you post. I don't think of myself as an especially creative person, but I do enjoy creative writing and recently finished a Paint By Numbers of a rainbow lion! Do share photos of your pumpkin when it's ready!

I have also decorated for Spooky Season (mostly via the medium of fake mushrooms and pumpkins in various formats) and started lighting cinnamon scented candles which make everything smell lovely.