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An overdue mulching

I never got around to refreshing my mulch last year; my last mulch delivery was in May 2021 (as mentioned here). It looked great at the time, but mulch gradually decomposes (that’s kind of the point) and needs to be replaced. I had another 8 cubic yards of mulch delivered last weekend and, while I’m definitely making a dent, between my hip issues and air quality concerns (due to wildfires in Canada), I’m having to take it a little slower than last time. Admittedly, I’ve had the mulch for less than a week at this point; this is what it looked like Saturday afternoon, after filling just one bucket:

Sunday morning, I switched to using a wagon to haul mulch to a few spots in the backyard. I could tell I had made a dent on the pile when I headed in for a shower and work on Monday:

8 yards of mulch minus a chunk a couple days after delivery

I’m deliberately not cleaning up the scattered mulch that I missed while shoveling; it gives me an idea of how much progress I’ve made. Of course, so do the results, like our herb garden out front after I finished placing mulch Wednesday morning:

fresh mulch around the star-shaped herb garden

I’m mostly done with the front at this point, leaving some sizable areas in the back and along the edges of the house still to do. All in all, it’s good progress.

A new sofa was needed

Creak went the sofa, again, as I sat down on it. Clink when I leaned against it while sitting on the floor. I had found a metal piece on the floor a while back, and only recently noticed another one on the side table. Sitting down on this old sofa – and it was old, a hand-me-down from family with both a scratchy fabric and pattern that made me wonder which decade it was from – was making me nervous. I placed an order for a new sofa online and moved the old sofa, then removed the cushions.

The wooden frame for our old sofa with some detached metal support pieces. And, of course, a cat.

I don’t know a lot about furniture design, but I’m fairly sure the metal supports aren’t supposed to be curling downwards. The pieces we found on the floor were those round bits at the end, which the supports hooked into.

Pieces of the new sofa waiting to be assembled.

The new sofa required some assembly. Honestly, this was a relief, as I was concerned about getting a sofa into the house; taking the old frame out was challenging enough. The packaging was quite clever: box 1 held the base, with all of the vacuum-packed cushions, the back support pieces, and the legs tucked inside the base itself; box 2 held the essentially armrests. The legs screwed in with simple twisting, and all of the other pieces simply slid together.

The assembled new sofa featuring, of course, a cat.

The sofa was, of course, cat-tested (and approved) immediately. Actually, there was some cat testing during assembly, but I was too busy to get those photos.

Stepping back in time in Janesville, Wisconsin

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine in Janesville reached out to let me know about a small Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin: the (not surprisingly) Janesville Renaissance Faire (JRF). You may wonder what differentiates small and large Renaissance Faires; most comparisons will be to the Bristol Renaissance Faire (Bristol), since that’s the only other one I’ve attended recently. Primarily, the differences are affordability and permanence.

At the JRF, parking is free and, if you arrive early enough, fairly close; admission was a mere seven dollars (six if you brought a non-perishable food donation). In contrast, Bristol parking is five (general) or ten (preferred) dollars, and admission is up to a whopping forty dollars this year.

In terms of permanence, most vendors at Bristol display their wares in actual buildings at a location dedicated solely to the faire. In contrast, JRF vendors work out of pop-up tents at the Traxler Park, occupying it for just one weekend a year. Scrolling through the JRF’s sizable vendor list, I half expected a larger location, but the vendors made good use of their space.

There was, of course, entertainment, spread across four different stages. One, conveniently, was located in the midst of the food vendors, which was perfect while patiently waiting for lunch or dessert. As expected, there was a fine variety, ranging from musical groups such as Bardmageddon and Bounding Main, to comedy acts and even fire eating. Similar to Bristol, there were more events that we wanted to see than we could possibly attend, though the lunch line placement did help a bit.

The main difference we noticed was the shopping. While there’s no shortage of shopping opportunities at Bristol, sometimes we want to find small groups of gifts – think something in the one to five dollar range – and there were far more of those available at JRF than at Bristol. I suspect this is a combination of the lower entry cost for vendors and the sheer variety of merchandise, as not everything sold at JRF was strictly adhering to the Renaissance theme.

All told, it was a fun day and worth the drive… when the weather is good. We had a lovely sunny – yet not too warm – day, but I understand that it snowed for the event last year. I expect we’ll attend again, and continue to attend Bristol as well.

Birds hidden in a field of dandelions

We’ve had a decent mix of sun and rain here recently, causing an explosive growth of grass and the plants mixed in, particularly the dandelions. This first photo shows the dandelions and clover in my lawn shortly before the most recent mowing.

Dandelions growing tall in my mix of clover and grass.

This second photo shows similar growth in a friend’s lawn, which was mostly a field of dandelions at that point.

Dandelions growing tall in a friend's yard.

If you’ve never seen a Canada goose, I should inform you that they usually stand between a foot and two feet tall. I was amused when I realized that there were three Canada geese in the nearby field where I took the next photo; I think two of them were sitting down.

Canada geese resting in the tall dandelions in a nearby area.

If you’ve never encountered a Canada goose, this is an appropriate distance – far away – as they’re not friendly and can be quite aggressive at times. I periodically see them on my walks around town, and occasionally have to alter my route because of them.

Game-fying chores

I’ve said it before, nobody likes chores. There may be a specific one you enjoy (hanging laundry on a nice day, for example), but overall, they’re something that just needs to get done. And then there’s the matter of distributing chores evenly among household members. I had looked at chore apps before and hadn’t found one that was customizable enough to suit our chore list and that seemed fun.

That all changed this week, when someone mentioned Chore Wars on a group chat. The basic premise is that each household or party member creates a profile, and the Dungeon Master sets up the “Adventures,” allocating experience points (XP), chances of finding treasure or a wandering monster, as well as setting the relevant stats (standard gaming attributes based on Dungeons & Dragons or similar games). The gold pieces accrued for each chore are between a range of numbers, also customizable. There’s even a quick start for the Adventures that will create a set of common chores pre-loaded with all of that information.

I used the quick start for our initial set of Adventures, removing the irrelevant ones (ironing?) and replacing them with house-specific items like cleaning the litter boxes, taking out the compost, and refilling the bird feeder. And, after finding one the hard way this morning, cleaning up hairballs.

Our adventure has just started, so we’re still figuring out the website and haven’t decided if we’re going to exchange gold for real life rewards. Maybe once we reach a certain number of gold pieces between us, we’ll cash that in for a nice dinner.

Three girls napping

The week got away from me and I have an odd collection of mental distractions at the moment, so I’m sharing one of my stress relievers today. In other words… a cat photo!

Three cats napping on a sofa filled with pillows and Captain America shield blankets: Diane (black and white), June (tortoiseshell), and Arwen (white and black).

This is literally the view from my work desk many afternoons. Every so often, I’ll look over and smile at however they’re piled on the sofa today.

A somewhat random photo tour of the United Kingdom

Headstone Manor in North Harrow
The moat at Headstone Manor
A random toy duck decorating a post box
The North Harrow Tube station
A sculpture near the London Liverpool Street Station
London Liverpool Street Station from above
A double decker bus near London Liverpool Street Station
A flag near Liverpool Street Station
A peek at the London Eye
Random houses near Saxmundham
Nature walk near Saxmundham
A historic church in the Saxmundham area
The same historic church in the Saxmundham area
Houses near Sizewell Beach
Sizewell Beach view of North Sea
A sculpture on Sizewell Beach
A gate in Winchester
A waterway in Winchester
Winchester Mizmaze on St Catherine’s Hill
Stained glass window in Winchester
The “Round Table” in Winchester
Map of New Forest Wildlife Park
Otters of the World at New Forest Wildlife Park
New Forest Wildlife Park field mouse habitat
New Forest Wildlife Park field mouse
New Forest Wildlife Park otters
New Forest Wildlife Park otters
New Forest Wildlife Park otters
New Forest Wildlife Park otters
New Forest Wildlife Park otters
New Forest Wildlife Park otter
New Forest Wildlife Park owl
New Forest Wildlife Park owl
New Forest Wildlife Park deer
New Forest Wildlife Park otters
New Forest wild horses on the road
Mr. Bounce tile in Southampton
Jurassic golf in Swanage
Beach in Swanage
Beach in Swanage
Beach in Swanage
Steam engine train from Swanage to Corfe Castle
Church near Corfe Castle
Parts of Corfe Castle
Parts of Corfe Castle
Parts of Corfe Castle
Watching the steam engine train near Corfe Castle
An electric waiter with a cat face at a Japanese chicken restaurant
Engine for the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway – Welshpool Raven Square station
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway scenery
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway sheep
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway sheep
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway scenery
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway fluffy cows
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway Llanfair Caerein station
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway pedestrian bridge near Llanfair Caerein station
Arriving by train into Manchester
Bird art on a building wall in Manchester
Cow Hollow Hotel’s list of Useful Stuff
Cow Hollow Hotel’s list of Free Stuff
Cow Hollow Hotel’s Free Nibbles
Cow Hollow Hotel’s bed
Cow Hollow Hotel’s breakfast
Cow Hollow Hotel’s Room 13
Asmara Bella Restaurant menu in Manchester
Asmara Bella Restaurant’s delicious food in Manchester

Two weeks in the United Kingdom

You may have wondered why I was writing about trip planning. As it happens, we’ve recently returned from a two week trip to the United Kingdom. It was going to be a two week trip to England, but some friends in Wales said “you’ll be so close, come visit for a day”. And so we did.

One of the advantages of traveling in the United Kingdom is they have an extensive train network, so to bounce around between various cities, I booked train tickets. The disadvantage is that I now have three different apps on my phone for the tickets for each part of the journey; distinct parts of the country tend to be serviced by different companies. There’s some overlap, and when there are system problems – a bridge repair or signal cable theft cancelling your train – the notification lets you know which other companies will allow travel as you reroute.

Headstone Manor, in North Harrow, England, from the garden

The photo above is Headstone Manor, a manor house with a moat in North Harrow, in walking distance of my cousin’s house.

It goes without saying that we had a fabulous time. We started by visiting family in two different cities; of my seven remaining first cousins on that side, we were able to spend time with six of them. (The seventh is currently in Australia, so we didn’t get to see him.)

We then visited with friends in Southampton in southern England, where we visited a labyrinth on a hill, the “Round Table” (analysis of the wood dates it to the 1200s, almost 5 centuries after the first mention of King Arthur in literature), a wildlife preserve with a focus on otters, and Corfe Castle, which we reached on a steam engine train. Oh, and a Build-a-Bear shop that we didn’t make it to the last time we visited Southampton.

And then we were off to the trains again, heading to Birmingham for Conversation 2023. Similar to WorldCon, Eastercon rotates between diferent locations within the United Kingdom. I had last attended in 2000, when it coincided with a planned trip to Scotland. This was a delightful opportunity to meet a collection of online friends, and an even rarer opportunity to attend a convention that I wasn’t working at… no party, panels, or other responsibilities. As an added delight, next year’s WorldCon, which will be held in Glasgow, hosted a cèilidh.

As the convention drew to a close, train cancellations (due to the aforementioned signal cable theft!) made for an interesting travel day as we made our way to Wales, where we disembarked from one train and headed to a smaller local station to take a scenic ride through the Welsh countryside on another. The scenic ride was optional and quite worth the time.

We ended our stay in Manchester, meeting my Dorkstock UK counterpart (Dorkstock UK was held a couple consecutive years in the early 2000s) after more than twenty years of friendship. Not surprisingly, we met up at a game store.

As I reflect on the trip and all the planning that went into it, it amazes me that my father used to organize visits like this, with a day here and a day there staying with different friends and family, using only snail mail and telephones.

Different aspects of trip planning

There are many things to take into consideration when planning a trip. I typically start with where we want to go, why, and how we’re getting there. There’s a significant difference between planning a trip to tourist sites versus visiting family and friends (especially if you’re visiting for a specific event), though there may be some opportunity for overlap.

Back in 2013, we did a big road trip (12 days) targeting national parks and monuments within the United States. Except for our stop near Mount Rushmore, we only stayed a single night in each location, mostly at KOA campsites. On our trip to Florida last year, we stayed two nights near the Everglades, three nights in Miami Beach, and just one night everywhere else, almost constantly moving as we progressed from Key West to Orlando. In contrast, on our last visits to Oregon and Guatemala, we stayed in the same place the entire time because the purpose of those trips was to visit with family in one area.

Three of the four trips I mentioned involved flying to get there, and two of those involved renting a car to get around. When travelling by car – either at a destination or on a road trip – consider whether you need to print directions ahead of time. I know that sounds archaic, but in 2013, there were cell phone dead zones in some areas we travelled (Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, for example), and even our GPS had trouble connecting. In other areas, we’re happy to rely on local transportation options, such as our 2018 trip to Philadelphia.

Once you arrive at your destination, where do you plan on staying? You can pick a hotel or bed & breakfast based on the activities you’d like to explore in the area, such as staying in the heart of Key West or a hotel in Florida City for proximity to the Everglades. In each of those cases, I wanted to minimize any extra driving where possible, knowing that parking is at a premium in Key West, and Florida City has the closest hotels to the Everglades.

When your trip is longer, like ours was last year, you may want to consider laundry options as part of your planning. Our three-night stay in Miami Beach was the ideal time for doing laundry, though a bit annoying because the minimum laundry card purchase was more than we needed. (I ended up handing off the laundry card to another visitor who was a dryer load short on his card.)

These are just a few of things I take into consideration when planning a trip.

Thoughts on Leap!

At first glance, Leap! is a feel good kids’ movie from 2016 about an orphan girl who flees her rural orphanage with her best friend to pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina in Paris. And it is absolutely that, a fairly typical underdog works hard to overcome obstacles story.

There are a couple surprises that made this movie stellar. For starters, the U.S. version of the movie adds lines for an otherwise silent character, Luteau, voiced by none other than Mel Brooks. I mean, how can you go wrong with that sort of talent? (For reference, the original release was a France/Canada co-production titled Ballerina.)

We have a tendency to watch shows and movies with subtitles on at home, largely because of how much the sound quality varies across platforms. That’s why we noticed early in the movie that the subtitles don’t match the vocals. This isn’t a case of somebody mistyped a word or two, as we frequently see… there are entire sentences in the subtitles that aren’t spoken.

In hindsight (with Google’s help), it appears there was some rewriting of the dialogue for the U.S. version of the movie. I’m guessing the subtitles weren’t updated to match, which made for an entertaining evening as we compared the vocals to the text. All in all, it’s a fun movie with either set of dialogue.