The weekend after we got back from Dublin it was time to head up to Peterborough for Kathryn and George’s wedding! We got a ride with John’s Aunt Jennifer, and arrived in Peterborough in time to get a few hours in at the Beer Festival with John’s brother David and his partner Becky. I had a few nice beers and one or two not-great ones, and we ran into Andrew Ellis which was nice. We chatted and drank for a few hours, won a couple of bar mats in the tombola, and then it was time for dinner at the …
After Worldcon
After Worldcon we’d booked a late flight, so we’d be able to relax and play tourist. We had optimistically gotten 10:30am tickets for the Book of Kells, thinking that would give us time for a little lie in and breakfast. Of course, we had stayed late at the Dead Dog, so we still had to pack, check out of the AirBnB, and find a place to store out luggage! We managed by choosing to consider donuts as out breakfast while walking over to Trinity College. We’d been warned that The Book of Kells exhibit would be crowded, and it was. …
Worldcon 2019 in Dublin
Waking at the crack of dawn got us into Dublin city centre by nine-thirty am on Wednesday August 14th. Too early to check into our AirBnB but a fine time for a hearty breakfast at The Bakehouse, right by the Ha’penny Bridge, and a wander through Temple Bar with a quick stop at Forbidden Planet and a look in at Gamers World. At eleven we collected the keys and dragged our suitcases up three flights of stairs. It was bracing, and even less fun at the tipsy end a long con day, but otherwise the place was fine – roughly …
Kittens! (And some less fun stuff)
It’s been a busy couple of weeks, starting with the fact that Cats Protection finally contacted after three months waiting and we now have an adorable pair of black kittens who we’ve named Quentin and Alice. They’re very well socialized thanks to the nice lady who was fostering them, and despite her claim that they are “naughty kittens” they’ve adjusted very quickly, seem very comfortable with people, and only climbed up the curtains that one time. Around the same time of the above we got some much sadder news, that John’s grandfather had died. He was ninety-nine, just a couple …
Pupper, snek, etc
The last week has been very warm in the UK, even to the point I’ve been okay with it starting to drop back down again. Still, the sunshine allowed us to have our second barbecue, on a Thursday this time so shorter but with 100% more dog (Elda, a dorbs Westie). Shortly thereafter John headed off northwards for a conference, which means a week of letting the laundry pile up and letting my eating habits slowly deteriorate, hurrah! Also binging shows that we don’t watch together – Big Little Lies y’all! The first couple of episodes of The Bodyguard, which …
Kent!
On Friday the 14th (not quite as ominous, is it) I had a nice lunch with an old co-worker who now lives in Sweden and then after work John and I headed up to the Unity Brewing Taproom, which we had intended to go to for ages. Turns out it is moving near St. Mary’s stadium soon, so I’m glad we got to see the old digs before that. Back home we packed and got in a good night sleep in preparation for the weekend adventure exploring Kent. John’s parents got in around 9:30am and after a hearty full English …
LULZine Issue 2
Issue two of LULZine is now up! Actually it’s been up for about a week, but we almost immediately after went out of town for four days so I forgot to post. The theme this time is the line between fact and fiction, and we got some excellent pieces exploring the topic.
Ytterbium – Eastercon 2019
This year, Eastercon was at the Park Inn Heathrow, right by the airport. My very first Eastercon was also at Heathrow, just down the road at a different hotel. That year I was incredibly jet lagged, which seriously affected my enjoyment of the con (and let’s be honest, the con’s enjoyment of me). I’m happy to report that the Park Inn experience was vastly superior! John and I arrived early afternoon on Friday and as soon as we stepped of the bus we ran into Hanna Hakkarainen, also on her way to the con, always a good way to start …
Book Challenge
Although I’m not so much about New Year’s resolutions, I am as prone as anybody to take stock in January and make some adjustments. Rather unoriginally they involve reading more and getting more personal projects done, though that impulse is as much driven by finally being settled in the new house as it is by the changing of the year. So, signed up for the usual reading challenge, aiming for a book a week and doing okay so far with The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (ehn) and the Girl With All the Gifts (excellent) under my belt, plus …
2019
Once again John and I headed up to Casa Coxon in Peterborough to spend the holidays with his parents. It was a smaller affair this year, his grandfather wasn’t able to come down from Halifax and of his brothers only George was about – but it was still nice, with good food and good company. Things kicked off for me with my office Xmas dinner on the Friday before Xmas, which was four of us eating a heroic amount of Mexican food at La Baronia, and no one telling me they didn’t like tequila until after the pitcher of margaritas …