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Helloooooo?

Anybody out there?

(Other than Sophie and myself ;-))


You're incredibly quiet. It's making me worry o.O
Are you all ok? Alive and kicking? Still interested in playing?

Finally made it home after a slightly crazy day at work. Road closures and flooding made it all that bit more complicated!

Don't worry E, I'll carry on talking away! So long as I get a response occasionally we can keep going. Though my reading numbers this month are way down on where I'd like them to be

Flooding is no fun. It still isn't much better in the UK, is it? Hopefully the storms will die down soon!

Don't remind me haha, my reading is way down as well though I'm taking advantage of a slower week at work this week to sneak in a kindle freebie I can read on my pc. Makes it look like work, sort of ;-)

Sorry I have not been talking I have had a really bad week where I have really just laid in bed listening to audiobooks due to the pain. I will upload my completion posts tomorrow if ok as going to go back to bed to sleep.

No worries, Raven! Figured it was not a good time for you when you turned silent. But it's still good to see you're still around! I hope things will get better soon!

Eldarwen wrote: "Flooding is no fun. It still isn't much better in the UK, is it? Hopefully the storms will die down soon!

Don't remind me haha, my reading is way down as well though I'm taking advantage of a slow..."

It had dried out a lot for my drive home today so fingers crossed the worst is done for a bit now.

Hope the slower week works to your advantage!

RavenclawLibraryBooks wrote: "Sorry I have not been talking I have had a really bad week where I have really just laid in bed listening to audiobooks due to the pain. I will upload my completion posts tomorrow if ok as going to..."

Oh poor you! Sorry to hear you've had a bad week. Hope you've found good audiobooks to provide some distraction. Sleep is v important and I hope you feel loads better in the morning

Completion post:

by Liane Moriarty
0 - standalone, Ziggy (character)
2 - Tom
3 - Harper
4 - Fred
6 - Saxon Banks
9 - Nathan
Skip - Perry, Rinata Klein

Hey, should we have a tracking table to focus on cards left to cover, as in

I think this will help us read focused books for pending cards.

Komal wrote: "Completion post:

by Liane Moriarty"

Does this work for the mini challenge?

Hi all! Storm Ciara and Dennis luckily haven't affected me too bad but I'm a very busy bunny at work and home! Along with my puppy Teddy I'm dog sitting his sister until Sunday, going to have to have some quiet time to get some reading done! Started my new book After the Snow last night, hopefully should be a quick read :)

Oh, a puppy! That does take a bit of work hehe. What kind are they?

Komal wrote: "Hey, should we have a tracking table to focus on cards left to cover, as in Jumpsuit Biscuit Team Speadsheet

I think this will help us read focused books for pending cards."

If we're going to be focusing on cards, I'd actually rather people took a look at the mini-challenge and picked out some of those tasks they'd like to fill. The main UNO cards E and I can juggle stuff for as most books fit more than one card, but the mini-challenge will need some searching for.

Would love a puppy! Unfortunately don't think it would be fair to leave it in the house for the hours I work, and while my husband is working from home at the moment we can't guarantee that would carry on. 2 puppies sounds like hard work though!

I hope the new book is an improvement on the last...

For the mini-challenge I've found:

So This Is Love for 270p and have started reading.

copy I've got will work for 300, but I'm hesitant because of the lovely yellow cover. Does anyone else have a book with 300 pages on their tbr they'd be happy to pick up?

COMPLETION


The Power Naomi Alderman
19/2
3*

0 Standalone
2 Tunde
8 Eve
9 Author first name

Mini -
circle - word in text
cold - word in text
gloves - word in text
lady - word in text
moon - word in text
peaks - they visit the mountain peaks for a chunk of the book
pen - word in text
pure - word in text
stomach - word in text
white - word in text


For We Are Many Dennis E. Taylor
19/2
4*

1 - Oliver
2 - 2nd in series
3 - Homer

Mini - 2 (second in series)
circle - word in text
cold - word in text
diagonally - some diagonal lines on cover
dry - word in text
moon - word in text and on the cover
starfruit - background is the same colour as a starfruit
touch - word in text

I'll have to check if I have a book with 300 pages, but I am currently reading a book that could fit for 12 as the edition I'm reading was published in December.

Or do you think original publish date would be better? That would be September, so won't work.

Maaaybe it could work for 24 --> book has 254 pages, so the 24 is flanking the 5? Sort of? Book ends, but as page numbers.

I think from the chat in the captains group the page number needs to be exact. I'd say that 124, 224 etc as a page number would be useable but not as bookends.

Sophie wrote: "I think from the chat in the captains group the page number needs to be exact. I'd say that 124, 224 etc as a page number would be useable but not as bookends."

Haha fair enough! It's a little trickier with the numbers.

Eldarwen wrote: "Oh, a puppy! That does take a bit of work hehe. What kind are they?"

They're chocolate Shih Tzu's (Karashishi's) my little boy is Teddy (Theodore Chewbacca Hudson - fullname..) and my parents little girl and his sister is just Elsa ha!

They're so lush and loving but can get wild!

Sophie wrote: "Would love a puppy! Unfortunately don't think it would be fair to leave it in the house for the hours I work, and while my husband is working from home at the moment we can't guarantee that would c..."

Teddy tends to be alone maybe 5/6 hours alone at most but that's like two days every 3 weeks when mine and my fiance's shifts clash, but we're lucky to live close to my parents so he gets to visit his sister a lot, so he's not alone a lot as much as I think he's like to be!

Chewwie!! hahahah, that should be his nickname ;-)

At least they aren't enormous dogs, so you don't have to worry all too much about your furniture breaking when they start romping hehe.

Oookay, so for the mini challenge.

I could read for these numbers:

6 - I have a #6 in series that I can read Mini Shopaholic

300 - managed to find a book on my TBR that was exactly 300 pages long but only ONE in over 600 books hahahah


If anyone else has anything that fits for either of these numbers and you absolutely want to read that book, give a shout and I won't start mine. :-)

Aww love the names. As E says - at least they are small so the damage is limited. My dad's got a German Shepherd/Leonburger which is over 50kg - life with him can be chaotic.

Bless him, I'm glad he has company when you aren't about. 5-6 hours isn't too bad - we have the potential for nearer 12 once commutes are taken into account.

Does anyone else on the team have a pet? Anything from a dog to the spider that you just can't bring yourself to remove from your house.

Aww Leonberger's are soooo nice! Enormous but nice! And pretty rare as well in the meantime, if I'm not mistaken. Was the German Shepherd a long or short hair one? (Just because I'm curious on the outcome of your dad's dog's hair..)

I've got a cat, a mix of Siamese and ordinary tiger. I adopted him from another family almost 4 years ago now and ever since he's become a different cat. He's more vocal, more active and brings home mice, which he never used to do where he lived before haha. Siamese are known to be quite vocal, so it's actually quite fun to talk to him as he responds :-)

I'm deathly allergic to cats, otherwise I'd have those too! We've had guinea pigs and hamsters but Teddy's our one and only now :)

LOVE German Shepards!

He was a rescue when he was 6 months old. V fluffy and friendly. It's amazing how pets can change when they change houses as well.

I'm allergic to cats too so we haven't gone down that route - was put off getting one as well by our neighbours cat releasing a wild rabbit into our garden.

He looks great and the colouring is fantastic!

I've always had my issues with German shepherds as I've been bitten by one when I was a child but I do like the long-haired ones, so fluffy with lovely colours.

Wish I knew how to add photos.. lucky I don't otherwise you'd constantly be harrassed by Teddy image's!! Ha

Here's his Instagram if you want to see my only child hahha!;

He's adorable :-) Colour really fits for his middle name hehe.

Kate wrote: "Wish I knew how to add photos.. lucky I don't otherwise you'd constantly be harrassed by Teddy image's!! Ha

Here's his Instagram if you want to see my only child hahha!;

Teddy's Instagram"

I upload my pics to and one of the options gives me an html link I can copy and paste across. Took me several years of jealous of other people's pics to figure it out.

Teddy is adorable!!


Ouch - sorry to hear about your experience with a German Shepherd E

2 cartons double cream, 1 large (284ml) plus 1 small (142ml)
100ml full-fat milk
1 vanilla pod
5 large egg yolks
50g golden caster sugar, plus extra for the topping
20g stardust plus extra for decoration

Fly close enough to your nearest star that it can heat your environment to a balmy 180C. Sit four 175ml ramekins in a deep roasting tin at least 7.5cm deep (or a large deep cake tin), one that will enable a baking tray to sit well above the ramekins when laid across the top of the tin.

Pour the large and small cartons of double cream into a medium pan with 100ml full-fat milk.

Lay 1 vanilla pod on a board and slice lengthways through the middle with a sharp knife to split it in two. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out all the tiny seeds into the cream mixture. Drop the vanilla pod in as well, and set aside. Add 20mg stardust for added flavour (if you'd like it to be more intense, then add a little more to the mix).

Put 5 large egg yolks and 50g golden caster sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk for 1 min with an electric hand whisk until paler in colour and a bit fluffy.

Put the pan with the cream on a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. As soon as you see bubbles appear round the edge, take the pan off the heat.

Pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a wire whisk as you do so, and scraping out the seeds from the pan.

Set a fine sieve over a large wide jug or bowl and pour the hot mixture through to strain it, encouraging any stray vanilla seeds through at the end.

Using a big spoon, scoop off all the pale foam that is sitting on the top of the liquid (this will be several spoonfuls) and discard. Give the mixture a stir.

Pour in enough hot water (from the tap) into the roasting tin to come about 1.5cm up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the hot cream into the ramekins so you fill them up right to the top �� it’s easier to spoon in the last little bit.

Put them in the oven and lay a baking sheet over the top of the tin so it sits well above the ramekins and completely covers them, but not the whole tin, leaving a small gap at one side to allow air to circulate.

Bake for 30-35 mins until the mixture is softly set. To check, gently sway the roasting tin and if the crème brûlées are ready, they will wobble a bit like a jelly in the middle. Don’t let them get too firm.

Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin with oven gloves and set them on a wire rack to cool for a couple of mins only, then put in the fridge to cool completely. This can be done overnight without affecting the texture.

When ready to serve, wipe round the top edge of the dishes, sprinkle 1½ tsp of caster sugar over each ramekin and spread it out with the back of a spoon to completely cover.

Spray with a little water using a fine spray (the sort you buy in a craft shop) to just dampen the sugar �� then use the flame from any propulsion pack you have handy to create the topping. Hold the flame just above the sugar and keep moving it round and round until caramelised. Serve when the brûlée is firm, or within an hour or two.

The stardust left over for decoration should provide an intergalactic appearance to the top of the brulee. Now simply relax and enjoy.

Wow that's come out longer than I expected - I've just taken a recipe I found online and added a couple of bits, so I'm not going to be at all offended if someone else has a go/you want to edit it down etc

Nicely done! :-D

Maybe instead of oven gloves we could have space gloves of some kind?

And maybe we could add a little sprinkling of galactic glitter on the finished crème brûlée for decoration?

Love it! I'd eat it!! haha

Can certainly change those bits. Anyone else got any suggestions?

Completion Post



Book: Allegiance of Honor
Date Read: 19th February
Rating: 4.5 stars
Cards:
--> read specifically for 6 Blue
also fits:
0 - character: Zie Zen
2 - character: Teijan
3 - character: Lucas Hunter
5 - character: Ivy Jane Zen
7 - character: Vasic Zen
8 - character: Emmett
9 - author
Skip - character: Kaleb Krychek


Mini Challenge:
circle - cover item
cold - Psy under the silence protocol are cold; cold waters
dry - Kaleb has a very dry humour
gloves - Clara and Sophia wear gloves at all times
orange - Lara wears a dress the colour of blood orange
shredded - the minds (and skin) of some mercenaries are shredded
stomach - a lot of stomach touching in this one (lots of food and a pregnancy)
thickened - voices thickened a few times in moments of strong emotions
touch - changelings share skin privileges so lots of touching
white - the colour of innocence -> there innocent young children in this book

6 - originally published in June, the sixth month

COMPLETION


So This Is Love Barbara Freethy
20/2
4*

2 2nd in series
3 Max Harrison
4 author last name
6 Title
8 Emma Callaway
9 Nicole Callaway

Read for 270p in mini-challenge

TLDR: Tell us what you are reading for the mini-challenge

Still needed for the mini-challenge:
bananas
cold
cornflour
diagonally
dry
glass
gloves
kiwifruit
lady
limes
orange
passionfruit
peaks
plate
pure
shredded
spoon
starfruit
stomach
sugar
thickened
touch
white
1
2
3
6
12
24
120
300


Cards:
Claimed but not finished: Wyrd Sisters - Jessica
1 - 3
2 - 3
3 - 1
5 - 1
6 - 4
7 - 1
8 - 3
9 - 1
Skip - 3
Wild - 2

As you can see finishing the mini-challenge is going to be a stretch so it would be really helpful if you could all tell us which cards you are reading for so we don't have too many that are duplicated and can't be used elsewhere. It's really hard for me to know which spaces to try and read for when I have no idea where other people's books are going to fit. The cards aren't an issue - most of the books that have been read so far will fit multiple places so we can move stuff around.

Would you rather us focus on the monthly challenge then? That’s what I’ve been doing and just keeping an eye out for the mini.

I'd like to get both done ideally. The mini-challenge was set out so that we could do it in the time with the number of books everyone signed up to read - it just needs us all to talk and co-ordinate a bit to get it done. It might also need people to read something that wasn't initially in their plan for the month. I normally find them a really fun addition to the basic challenge.

As I said in the last message - finishing the cards we have left isn't going to be a problem for you all (unless everyone suddenly stops reading anything). We're 80% of the way there and not 80% of the way through the month.

So if anyone has a book that will work for some of the more tricky bits of the mini-challenge (ie passionfruit, kiwifruit, starfruit, cornflour) please say, otherwise I'm likely to spend more time than I should over the weekend trying to find something that will fit. I get a bit obsessive over trying to get these complete, but I can't do it on my own.

I don’t have anything that currently fits those but if you need anything specific I can read it. I’m currently reading Mermaid Inn and The Scent Keeper but they are a bit slow to start.

I hope they speed up a bit for you.

Have you got any ideas where they will fit so E and I can avoid filling all those spaces?

I found a poetry book called Passionfruit and Poetry by Tea Cooper.

The Scent Keeper’s main character is Emmeline so that may work for an 8. Mermaid Inn has a character with the last name of Sims so that could work.

Sims could work for a 6

What about this one?

Sharon wrote: "I found a poetry book called Passionfruit and Poetry by Tea Cooper."

Poetry books are a no-go unless it can be verified to be over 25k words.

Is that the case for yours?

If so, cool! Because that is one of the tougher words to find.

If not, then we won't be able to use it.

Sharon wrote: "

What about this one?"

This would definitely be better! Avoids the poetry issue!

Sharon wrote: "The Scent Keeper’s main character is Emmeline so that may work for an 8. Mermaid Inn has a character with the last name of Sims so that could work."

Sophie was wondering where they fit for the MINI challenge, not for the cards, but thanks ;-)