So not language or literature related. But there's wine in there.

I have turned into a horrible student. I am not reviewing for anything I should be reviewing for, and I'm not doing much else that's academic either. I'm starting to feel rather horrible actually. I know that holidays are considered to be resting periods for some people, but for me they have always been times of intensified study for some tests or whatnot. Not this time though! I've finished an essay, or rather rewritten it somewhat since it didn't turn out good, read some German and done some Hungarian, and read half of Три Сестры, but that's really a very small amount of work considering how many days off I've had.

I am however rather pleased to be able to say that I have additional interests that take up time. I have tried to very carefully take up crocheting again, but I can only do two or three 15 cm rows a day. Yeah, that scarf is going to take awhile. Another hobby of mine is chocolate making. For the longest time I thought I wouldn't try to get serious with it, because it's just so time consuming and difficult and I've never gone to any chocolate class or anything. I usually cheat by using a specific type of chocolate to make my shells, a type that doesn't need to be tempered. I have not been pleased with the fading shine though, so I want to try my luck at using real Belgian chocolate for the shells as well - and tempering it. Have any of you ever tried tempering chocolate? I tried to do it with white chocolate and a poor thermometer some days ago. It didn't go too well. Hence I am about to spend a certain amount of money ordering chocolate equipment from the UK. Chocolate dippers, a chocolate thermometer, candy wrappers, new moulds (I already have five, but there are so many pretty ones...). Working with chocolate is an art, and I have finally decided to actually try to learn it. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with all the stuff I produce, it's not like I have any plans on starting a candy shop :-)


All of these are filled with various chocolate/nut/almond paste/coffee/nougat fillings.

Notice the Russian chocolate box :-)

Other than that, I've also been creating some jewelry with Sasha, who makes fabulous Fimo earrings and pearl jewelry. I spent Wednesday evening at her place eating delicious sushi, drinking wine and (in a somewhat tipsy state) making these:

I'm horrible at photographing shiny things.This looks very plain, but it takes a certain amount of time to make all those loops that the pearls are attached to (it's all made from wire), and open endless amounts of small rings in order to attach everything. My hands were pretty tired at the end of the evening :/

I used to do some small earrings and such things three years ago, but like many other things in my life, I stopped it when I moved to Norway. Also, back then I wasn't really as obsessive about jewelry as I am now. My 60 or so pairs of earrings do show that I have a certain interest in these things. I'm very much looking forward to making more, but naturally both this and the chocolate business is going to take some considerable time away from my poor languages.