Book Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finishing a good book sometimes makes me feel the way I do when a good friend moves away. You know that you'll have great memories but it's never going to be the same. And when you finish the third book in a trilogy, well, let's just say, you may find yourself crying in your beer, or maybe that's just me.

I loved this trilogy. I found Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist to be unusual yet compelling characters. Set in Sweden (where they apparently drink coffee nonstop) this novel unravels the mystery of the injustices imposed upon Lisbeth in her youth. A fighter throughout who overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles with the help of a few loyal friends.

Add this trilogy to your summer reading list, I promise that you won't be disappointed.



Rolling on the River

I'm an Aquarian, you know, the water-bearer, and as such, I adore the water. I love being in it, on it, or at the very least, near it. Oddly enough, I've never been river rafting. It isn't because I haven't had the opportunity though because I have. The fact of the matter is that I've been too afraid to give it a try.

When I first moved to Utah as a teen-ager we had neighbors, two Dads and their two children each, who went rafting in the spring in the creek not far from our house. I don't know exactly what went wrong that day but one Dad fell out of the raft, hit his head on a rock and went under. The other Dad managed to get the kids to edge of the creek safely but was unable to get himself out of the water. He drowned also. This left quite an impression on me.

So many of my friends grew up river rafting and tell me that they knew I would love it. This past weekend I had the opportunity to go on the spur of the moment and without much time to think about it I agreed to go. We met our friends in Vernal and floated nine miles down the Green River on Saturday. Floating the river was fantastic! The scenery was spectacular. We had a great time and after we got off the river we were treated to a dutch oven dinner. Yum! I hope we get invited again next June.











Father's Day Weekend

I traveled to Florida to spend Father's Day with my Dad. After all the turmoil with his health and impending divorce we decided that we needed a few days of fun. We spent five days at a resort listening to live music, golfing, swimming, and eating. I'm ready to relocate to Florida, it's like living in paradise!

Posing along the boardwalk heading over to the square to listen to live music.

Lunch at the country club before a round of golf. I didn't play I just drove the cart but this trip has me thinking that I ought to take up the sport. Have you seen the cute clothes? Plus, we hit some balls at the driving range and I didn't do half bad. If I start playing now I'll probably kick ass at golf by the time I retire. :)

My Dad with his sweet new ride. She's a sporty, two door Honda Accord.

Carrot Salad


Yesterday I made this delicious carrot salad as part of a picnic dinner for Ban and I to take to Red Butte for a concert (Steve Martin...worthy of another post). The salad could not be simpler, grated carrots, toasted sunflower seeds, blueberries, lemon juice, olive oil, and black pepper. I found the recipe in Mark Bittman's 101 Simple Salads of the Season article which you can see here. I have my first CSA pick up this afternoon so I hope to plow through as many of the 101 salads as I can this summer.

Boboti!


In honor of the World Cup being played in South Africa, Ban decided to make Boboti for dinner while we watched soccer on Sunday. He used this recipe to make the Boboti. Believe me, the smell was intoxicating while it was baking. He served it with rice and simple cucumber/red onion salad dressed with only cider vinegar and Dijon mustard. Yum!

Roller Derby Bout Recap


Here's my report for SLUG magazine on the Bombers vs Cleavers bout last Saturday night.