Long weekend with family

Since Grandfather died, this Christmas my immediate family didn't go back to Lancashire where he and my aunt and uncle live, and Liv and I had Christmas in Cambridge. But we said we should all do something another time in the year, so we didn't end up never seeing each other.

So mum found a beautiful b&b in Shropshire, at the border with Herefordshire, and just 15 miles from the welsh border. It was converted barn and outbuildings of some old house, our bedroom was all stone walls and vaulted ceilings and wooden beams and big wooden chests.

And they go out of their way to do interesting food, with a different menu every day, with three courses, and two extra in-between courses in french, etc :) And they had very nice local cereal, bread, jams, and cooked breakfast including very nice mushrooms, and including vegetarian sausages and bacon. I think vegetarian bacon for breakfast is actually a bit much for me, though I like it in sandwiches occasionally, but I very much appreciate them finding *something* to serve that's vegetarian and not just a smaller subset of the omnivore's breakfast.

On Saturday, we went into ludlow, had cream tea in the castle tearooms, walked through the woods along the river, and shopped through the market (handbag with owls on!).

On Sunday we went for a long circular walk about 11 miles from the hotel, through along footpaths and through woods and over bubbling rivers and onto hills, to dinner at the place with the best name, Leintwardine. Nom lasagna with good pasta and vegetables, and chunky chips, for all. And after about three hours for dinner, the energy for the last mile and a half before dark. Including the steepest hill, although opinions are split whether the steepest hill coming when you're most tired is a matter of subjectivity or perversity :)

I love that my family are always nice and almost always restful. Love you, all!

Rithmatist, YA novel by Brandon Sanderson

Rithmatist is an excellent example of academic magic in an alternate fantasy history where America is a collection of islands, and technology is replaced by Rithmatism and a bit of steampunk. Universities teach as a special subject, Rithmatics, the art of making precisely calculated magic circles out of chalk, and chalk figures which come to life, used in duels, and fighting against wild chalklings in Nebrask.

I'm disappointed it's not more *mathsy* -- there's a lot of calculating the proportions for where to draw things on circles, but that's all done in advance, and Rithmatists don't really have to actually understnad it, just be really good at drawing accurate proportions freehand. But even if it doesn't flesh it out, it implies a world where researching new geometric forms and innovative ways of using them is important.

The world is lovely. I wasn't moved by the plot or characters (though I couldn't put it down without finding out what was going on with the science). The young student who wants to be a rithmatist, but was poor and wasn't chosen. Who is intelligent but doesn't get a chance to prove it and has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. The kindly old professor who's a good theoretician, but not as good at duelling. The young rithmatics student who is really good at drawing animals but isn't any good at the geometry so clowns about and can't take the study seriously. They're all reasonably nice, but very similar to other characters. Whether that's he didn't have time to polish the book more (it sounds like he would have liked to do more in that world if I had time) or that I'm too jaded for it.