Culinary delights and late-night crafting

Last Saturday, I finally started reading The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling. It came in the mail on Wednesday or Thursday last week, much earlier than what I was expecting, which was a wonderful surprise. I decided to finish the Pern book I was reading, and then I dived into The Casual Vacancy. It is realistic and gritty, and the writing style is wonderful. The pictures that are painted in my mind are very realistic and recognisable. It is captivating, but not a book that I would want to rush through - I want to savour the experience, enjoy the writing, and imagine all the scenes fully. It is so captivating, actually, that I forgot to get off the bus at my stop today. That is the first time I've done that since I moved here more than a year ago. I guess that is saying something.

My copy of The Casual Vacancy in its protective cover.

The book is, of course, a hardback. I have removed the dust jacket, as I do for all hardbacks while I am reading them. But I worried that the book was having a rough time in my rucksack and on the floor beside my bed, so I was toying with the idea of somehow getting a protective cover for it while I am reading. Last night, past midnight, actually, I decided to try to make one. So I unearthed some material that was cut off from my curtains, found a needle and some thread, and set to work. I was very out of practice with sewing, but I think it turned out okay. It took me about an hour and a half, and I was quite proud when I finished at about 2 AM. Far too late for a school night but I didn't care - I had made something that worked, served its purpose and didn't look half bad. I went to bed smiling to myself.

Now onto something else. I have recently started making more vegetarian food, and it has been quite successful, actually. I really liked the beetroot with lentils and feta cheese I made on Monday, and the beans and rice I made today was really good (and I have enough left over for three more dinners). I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the food, but there are some good ones in the videos I was inspired by. The beetroot dish was taken from the topmost video, and the beans and rice was inspired by the second one.