Tonight’s Dinner: Shepherd’s Pie

Homemade shepherd’s pie (cottage pie for the UK peeps). It’s been kind of nice getting back into being interested in cooking again. It’s going hand in hand with writing more. Let’s see where this journey takes us.

I do make a very cheesy shepherd’s pie. With a bit of veg. But it should be nice and brown on top and a very savoury filling.

Thursday’s BORKING REPORT!

Today’s BORKING REPORT!
 
It’s a chilly day here in San Diego and the Potato had to be kitted up in some fleece to go out. Also it rained. As you all know the Borker, he LOVES a damp, muddy lawn and his borking route is FULL of them. A fleece is very necessary during rainy days or the Potato will come home covered in grass, wet leaves and mud.
 
He waited very patiently for his Auntie Jessica to arrive and then told her all about his week in a waddling grumble as he headed to the door. He really is an old Scottish man. I should get him a tartan fleece but I’d probably have to get one custom made to fit his blocky form. Although I have found a few dog clothes places that make good Monster Cairn clothes.
 
Gus Gus is a utlitarian type of dog. Not really fussy. Likes a nice piece of bacon and a bit of dried potato. Belly rubs and scritches are good as well. And a good ramble. He does so love his Borking Rambles. We’re going to Mon and Thurs to give him time to rest between and upping his play a bit thru the week. We want the Potato to be healthy and happy for as long as we can have him.
 
From his Auntie Jessica:
Gus loved the nice and cool weather today! He did a lot of borking and rolling around in the damp grass. See him next week. Hope he gets plenty of rest!

French and German Translations News!

Hello and well… I’ve a Translation Announcement. Or rather, several…
I am happy to share some news on Sin and Tonic (French), Hellion (French) and Dirty Laundry (German) coming out in 2021!
I will announce more detailed dates once we get them finalized but I can tell you I just reviewed the Sin and Tonic Final Galley so we are soooo close to that book being released! I cannot wait so share that with you. Thank you all for being so patient.
 

Learn to Cook With Foodland… Kung Pao Chicken!

One thing I do enjoy is following cooking programs and such on YouTube. And one of my faves is the Foodland Cooking Feeds. Foodland is a grocery store in Hawai’i but they really do serve up a great foundation of how to cook local dishes…and other things.

I even forgive them the bitter melon dish he made.

Being an Aspie… And Masking.

I am an Aspie… (Aspergers). I spend most of my energy and time masking. Masking is when you’re not neurotypical and fight to align your behaviours to “normal” to blend in. It takes a lot of effort and I’m exhausted by the end of a few hours. Sometimes I can’t even do it. Sometimes I’m okay. No one makes allowances for people who mask to survive society. We get this. We know there won’t be slack given. We’ve gone through that kind of thing since school. It’s easier to shunt aside someone on the spectrum who is struggling to learn masking and other coping mechanisms, especially in a crowd or school environment.
 
I’m sorry that it has to be that way but that’s the way it is. It doesn’t mean spectrum-typical people aren’t assholes, manipulative or any of that. We’re human. The first thing we do as babies is learn that crying manipulates our environment and can even learn to lie-cry to be picked up. It’s our first humaning skill.
 
But there’s no one who “teaches” you how to mask successfully. You just have to try your best and learn how to manage the energy depletion. We’re not introverts per se (although some are), mostly we’re trying to mirror the people around us and fit in because we know we don’t. Trust me. We KNOW. We FEEL wrong. We don’t FIT into the lines around us. What we do when we mask is try to keep our colouring inside of the lines, and those colours are actually ourselves.

I am not Dead. :D Just forgetful….

I swear to God I updated the blog last week but apparently I did not. Dear Lord.

Not a lot really has gone on. The house is slowly coming into grips with itself and I’ve got a nice writing nook built up in my room. If you are on Facebook, you might want to consider joining my group (there are questions to make sure you are not a bot so please respond to them to be accepted in). I am having an Ask Me Anything on Saturday. Well two of them to be exact.

Here’s the link to the group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/635660536617002/

It’s Rhys Ford’s Coffee, Cats, and Murder. Can’t miss it.

There will be prizes and I will try to answer as many questions as I can or just hang out with people. And give away things. International readers are very much welcome to join. I post globally because that’s only fair. If the Post Office can get stuff to you, I shall send it. There’s also going to be virtual prizes as well so… join if you please!

Today is the Potato’s 13th birthday! He got a bath yesterday because he was out playing in the water from the garden hose then decided afterwards he would roll in the dirt and grass… so he was a filthy mess. Right now, he’s spending his morning snoring away. So is Harley. I don’t know where Badger is but probably on my bed.

Or plotting world domination. One never knows with him.

But that’s my update. I will leave you with this…

I love George. He is awesome. But man, this burger can give you a heart attack. Proceed with caution.