Category: Conventions

Last weekend we went down to London for two live experiences (now that we live further away we do try to pack in as much as possible when we visit). Saturday was Phantom Peak, which describes itself as a Immersive Open-World Experience. What that translates to in practice is that they have turned a warehouse into a small town with its own lore and history in which you interact with the local population, played by actors, to solve puzzles related to an ongoing plot. On first entry the physical space and vibe reminded me a bit of the Bay Area’s …

End of January, mostly recovered from that bug and enjoying sunlight that almost lasts till the end of the work day. On the other hand, some new fun projects coming up and a calendar with some conventions to look forward to. Huzzah.

It’s been cold here, the rest of the area had snow a few days ago but it didn’t quite hit here, just rain and cold. I’m very glad for our new heat pump, have cracked out the slow cooker and made fabada in it (not bad, though the recipe said to cook on low and that was clearly nonsense). The Xmas lights, market, and Fenwicks windows are on in town, and its getting dark by 5pm, time to start thinking about sending cards out so I don’t leave it till the last minute again. I’ve had a pumpkin spice latte …

(Whoops, forgot to press publish – have backdated this now) Took a little break from most of the internet, for obvious reasons ,but also because I was travelling and then tired/ill from said travelling. Feeling slightly better now, physically I still have a cough but my voice is coming back. As for the rest of it, going to make an effort to blog more often, going to keep my Mastodon account, am still on Discord, but otherwise have lost complete interest on social media. My fb and insta still exist so I can look up local businesses – in the …

The last month flew by, a work visit to London, a family visit here in Newcastle, and then a week of men tramping through the house to install a heat pump. All positive things but each a bit disruptive. The London visit had the side effect of me bringing back a bunch of Mexican groceries from Mestizo and some lovely Spanish cheeses from one of the vendors outside Kings Cross, the second included daytrips to Durham and York, and the third means that after two days of the heating being off entirely the house is now just a lovely comfortable …

The grand finale of our weekend in Durham was Kynren. The first big surprise was the surrounding park, its in the middle of nowhere and I wasn’t expecting that much, but its modern and generally well-designed. There are shuttle buses, well marked paths and plentiful staff to guide guests, several gift shops (the merch could be better though), food stalls (very busy) and a Viking village to keep you occupied till doors open. It was crowded though, and some additional distractions need to be added for better flow, plus the bleachers for watching the show acould be improved, it’s a …

At the end of August, John’s parents along with his brother and sister-in-law came up for little mini-vacation. They rented a place in Durham and touristed for a couple of days and then on Friday night we headed over, it being a short train ride away. On the Saturday we visited Bishop Auckland, which previously I had only passed through – as it has a train station and a bus station that connects it to Durham and Darlington respectively and is therefore a convenient meeting point for Alissa and Andrew to collect me when we do craft fairs in that …

But sort of still Worldcon really. After the convention was over, we had planned for an extra few days to explore Glasgow. Meg kindly offered to put us up and show us around a bit, so on Tuesday morning we said our goodbyes to the last straglers, bundled our suitcases into her car and set off. We were all pretty tired after the convention (I believe the first thing I actually did was have a lovely nap), so there was some relaxing to start with, then a couple of days filled with good food, good drinks, bagpipes and sunshine in …

And then it was Monday, the last day of the convention. We had belatedly decided to stay one more night, but the Village was asking for a bizarrely high price so we booked at the Crowne Plaza instead. Since the Village stops serving breakfast at nine thirty on a weekday, I got four hours of sleep and dragged myself down by nine fifteen. Except that there was basically nothing left in the buffet and they didn’t replentish it. I had coffee, a spoonful of mushrooms and some egg and not much else before packing up and leaving my suitcase at …