Monday, August 4, 2008

Automatic Phrases, Produce and Magic

I mentioned on Saturday that this is a holiday weekend, Civic Holiday. However, it could be any holiday or no holiday at all, it makes absolutely no difference to us other than that stores and banks which are normally open might be closed . Therefore I get a little irritated (comes with old age you know) when people ask me if I have plans for the holiday, or did I have a nice holiday. They don't think; I am always on holiday these days. I might get very bored with being retired, but I am still "on holiday" to all intents and purposes. Even my doc asked me if I had plans for the weekend and I know she knows we are retired. Not that we ever did things for the long weekends anyway, too many other people are out and about and we are not good with crowds. We always took our vacations in the spring or fall (autumn to you Europeans). Admittedly we might leave home on Labour Day weekend to take advantage of the extra day for our two week trip, or something similar but we generally avoided destinations to which everyone else went. From 1980 on it was usually North Carolina we headed to anyway as we had a mobile home in which to spend our vacations. Sunday we went to a farm especially for tomatoes, they didn't have any due to the bad storm a week ago, all damaged by hail apparently. I did buy myself some corn though and then ate it for lunch, it was gorgeous. Two cobs, 3 minutes in the microwave wrapped in grease proof or waxed paper. Roll each cob in the butter and.... heaven. There is nothing to beat corn fresh out of the field, cooked and eaten within hours. Marilyn mentioned it being ripened on the roof when she lived in South Africa, I have never eaten it that way, but you sure would have to go a long way to beat my lunch. I finished my Rules of Deception and have now started a new series of books by Katherine Kerr, the first being Dagger Spell. You may recall I got a book from the library the other day and discovered it was actually the last book in a long series. I took it back and got the first two books which begin the series. I have been reading a conversation with Glenda Larke (Tropic Temper, this page) about the different types of magic used. I admit it is something I hadn't really thought about, but authors come up with the most incredibly diverse ways of giving their characters power. This book talks of dweomer which Wikipedia tells me is and old English word for witchcraft which derived from an old Norse word meaning dwarf talk. I recently read a book where they called it geas, but that is really not the same thing - well from the original definition of being a compulsion or prohibition. Glenda has used two different forms of magic in her trilogies The Isles of Glory and The Mirage Makers and is apparently using another form of magic for her upcoming trilogy The Time of Random Rain. We had something different, to us, for supper last night. Fried ravioli. Matt came across the recipe on Rachael Ray's TV programme. In fact when researching on the net I discovered quite a few recipes for it, but we had never tried it before. I don't have a proper recipe, but it is good and can be served as an appetizer or as a main course. Fried Ravioli 1 jar roasted red peppers Tomatoes, chopped, we used a small can Chili flakes Garlic Salt and Pepper 1 packet fresh ravioli (we had cheese & spinach) 1 egg breadcrumbs Parmesan Cheese First make a sauce - basically a Marinara. Matt whizzed the first 5 ingredients in the blender and then put the results in a saucepan to heat. He then dipped the ravioli in beaten egg and then the breadcrumbs into which the cheese had already been mixed. He fried them in a little olive oil until they were golden and served them with the sauce on top. For an appetizer, you can serve the sauce as a dipping medium. If you want, you can make your own ravioli which would have a more noticeable filling, but we just bought the fresh from the grocery store. You could serve these with a side salad. Have a great day.

13 comments:

  1. Yes, bank holiday weekends we tend to make the most of the time at home, as the lunatic hordes are always out and about everywhere. If I can incorporate bank holidays into a longer holiday away then I will (it ekes out my annual leave allowance from work) but I wouldn't travel over the holiday weekend if I can possibly avoid it.

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  2. I imagine where you live, you must get a lot of tourists in the area.

    In NC, we used to say the island sank a foot every summer because of the hordes that crowded onto it.

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  3. All the Morrowind and Oblivion gamers knows about dweomer ^^ It's part of Rpg gaming culture. The book seems already nice if it's talking about dwarves !

    So what's up for your holidays ? Did you have it already ?
    Miss Green's already running away from the blog to avoid a pinch !!

    Less pollution in Bordeaux this year, people were less on holidays in the South-west ! cool ^^

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  4. Tourism has fallen off a lot here over the last several years. Once families became able to fly to more exotic, sunnier parts of the world at less expense that it would cost them to come and stay here, the writing was on the wall.

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  5. i hope you enjoy Daggerspell and its sequels. I love that one but the second one really failed to grab me and I haven't read any more of Kerr's work. I do, however have good intentions:-)

    Apparently lot of fans read fantasy just for the magic. A stint on Online Writers Workshop showed me that I needed to put a lot more magic into my books. Readers actually like to see it being done: smoke n mirrors n stuff. That surprised me (once I'd realised it) as I read for the characters and for me the magic is peripheral. Diff'rent strokes...

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  6. No Gynie, our holidays don't take place until the middle of September.

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  7. I'm like the generality apparently, I love the magic. I have just finished Daggerspell so I will see how I get on with the second book.

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  8. Geas or geis is actually an activity you have to do. Let me explain. When they who are Celtic of Norse Tradition celebrate a Sabbat such as Yule it is a party where there is much mead drinking and making merry.
    A geis is a challenge so everyone picks a geas or geis and it is something like, sing a song, tell a poem or tale, dance, take your clothes off and dance or pretty much anything and a great deal of boasting and bragging. Meaning who can tell the tallest tale or boast the biggest boast. It is a friendly rivalry and if you don't complete the geis you had then you have to do two more. It is all fun.

    Enjoy your book Jo.

    Randi-Lee

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  9. Jo --

    I'm stand with you there on holiday weekends ... We've got one at the end of next week - August 15 (Assumption) - and, falling mid-August, it is always the quietest weekend in France. In the days that follow the French will start returning from their summer vacation. There will be many "and how was your vacation?" or "where did you go?" etc. My reply is always: "But I am permanently on holiday", which of course I'm not though some people think that because I don't set off for an office every day, I am on holiday.

    The ravioli sounds delicious, and quick and easy to make, so Jo, I'm going to try it.

    Marilyn

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  10. Sounds fun, I have never heard the word in this context before.

    In the dictionary it means obligation so I guess thats what it means in this instance too.

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  11. Woo hoo Marilyn, I'm impressed. It is quite easy and if you really have to you can use a bought Marinara sauce although I don't recommend it of course.

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  12. In modern fantasy writing, a geas has come to mean an obligation / challenge placed on you by a magical or supernatural being; one you can't get out of. It has a feeling of magic about it - the protag is often ensorcelled until s/he makes good the geas.

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  13. That's how I have always understood it Satima. But the book I read recently used it as a magic rather than a compulsion/obligation. I can't remember which book it was right now.

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