This and that

[luzula]

1) My DW circle is awesome and can solve all problems: I now have in my possession the scanned pdf:s of The Travels and Adventures of Mademoiselle de Richelieu. Will report back when I've read it. : D

2) A sum-up of fanworks that people recently made for me (or that are transformations of my work):
- petra wrote me a lovely P&P sonnet about Jane and Lizzie that I got in a letter, which is always a delight.
- blackglass recorded a podfic of my Watership Down fic The Story of Hrayatha and the Rabbit Who Left No Tracks. A good choice, since it includes oral storytelling, and I always enjoy hearing other people interpret my stories!
- Finally I got a private podfic in my email for my FotH fic In His Father's Footsteps from a fannish friend who is not in a position to have her voice on the internet. Which is a pity, because I loved it!

3) In non-fannish news, my supply of delicious rhubarb cordial that I made this summer is running out. : ( So I thought I'd try making rowanberry cordial--there's a large crop of them this year, and I found many recipes online. Alas, the result was not encouraging. I found it actively disgusting, with a lingering aftertaste that I couldn't get rid of even by brushing my teeth. They're so red and lovely on the tree! But obviously better left to the birds.

Comments

[osprey_archer]

It's too bad about the rowanberry cordial! It sounds like such a charming drink, but alas, some things sound better than they actually taste.

[luzula]

Well, it was worth the experiment, anyway! Who knew, it might have been good.

[cathexys]

I love the way DW is better than any google search or ILL system. Glad you found the book!!!

[luzula]

It totally is! The ILL at my university library had already failed me...

[regshoe]

Wahey, I hope you enjoy the book :D

That's a shame about the rowanberry cordial! I've never tried eating or cooking rowan berries, but it sounds as though leaving them for the birds is the right thing to do. Hopefully you can find some other, nicer berries to make a replacement for that rhubarb cordial?

[luzula]

Have started on the book; the bits that are actually the story are great, but the digressions are long and sometimes boring.

I could have made lingonberry cordial, but I already made jam from them...but I wonder if sloe/blackthorn is worth trying. The berries are very acerbic, though.

[regshoe]

I often enjoy digressions in books, but of course it depends what they're about—will have to see what I make of them...

Ooh, sloe cordial sounds nice! I might give it a try myself, if I can find some nice blackthorn hedges—there are usually quite a few round here.

[luzula]

The first digression is about kingship in general and then the kings of France. In the middle there's an aside of how the young and gay will find this very dull, and in the end an aside about how the narrator also found it dull. Hmm. My conclusion is that perhaps the British author used this space to put words into the pretended French characters' mouth about how absolute kingship doesn't work, to make a dig at France? Or perhaps I'm overinterpreting.

[regshoe]

Hmm, that sounds like a potentially interesting bit of history—I suppose British/French relations in this period are useful context for the Jacobites and for several Broster novels—although I laughed at 'in the end an aside about how the narrator also found it dull'—well, we shall see...

[chestnut_pod]

Well, I hereby declare I am happy to leave the rowan berries for the birds! I had been eyeing a local tree with an eye to making jam…

[luzula]

It was worth a try, anyway! Hmm, I wonder if sloe/blackthorn is worth trying...

[chestnut_pod]

One does hear about sloe gin!

[china_shop]

Rhubarb cordial sounds amazing! Sorry to hard the rowanberry was so disastrous. :-(

[luzula]

Rhubarb cordial sounds amazing!

It is! I guess I just have to think of it as a seasonal thing...I mean, I could buy it, but it's not the same as making my own.