Maximum Booch

Every now and then I walked up to my jar of newfound kombucha to give it a taste. Louis warned me this one had a zing, what I was not ready for was how quickly it would be ready. Previously I waited 3 weeks to get my sweetened tea to taste a little vinegary. This new batch was ready in less than 24 hours. Now I have a backlog of sour soda to drink before the next load is ready... Bottems up I guess.

We did have someone we could rely on knocking back a few glasses of the stuff coming over. Good old Dan was with us this evening for a hangout and a board game. Dan's basically the only chap we've shown Obsession to - which is basically Downton Abbey the board game and he seemed to really jive with it. We got a few more virtual sessions to book in with him over the next few weeks now too, looking forward to spending more time with him.

The Eclipse of '26

The whole day I was getting hyped up for a generational event: the eclipse of 2026. I met up with Louis and headed up into our park to secure a good spot. We didn't have the special glasses, not did we bother to put a pinhole in a cereal box, we just went up to be a part of it all. While chatting I was slowly unlocking my memories of the last eclipse back in 1999. I was barely cognisant then but the day still made an impression, guess the novelty of it dimming at midday stuck in my memory. It's also funny to think that I've seen two eclipses, both in green spaces called Victoria Park, albeit in different parts of the country.

The actual covering of the Sun part was rather underwhelming. I was expecting the park to be shrouded in an eerie twilight, for dogs to start barking and birds to loose their circadian rhythm. In reality, things just got a little less bright, a pre-dusk before the real dusk. Guess that's on me for not getting the special glasses to enjoy the true majesty of the moment, but it was cool to be a part of something - I'll have an answer to the question 'where were you during the last eclipse.' 

Don't let it Die on the Vine

Made the aforementioned bucket list for my funemployment. At first I peppered in the usual 'watch X number of movies' and 'finish this big video game'. But I realised that I'll still have mental bandwidth to do all those things even with a job. I stead I want to focus more on writing and developing the ideas that I don't want to let die on the vine. 

I got one more video essay to finish writing up, if I think it's good enough I'll commit to making the video too. I want to do another Cowboy D&D campaign with my usual posse. It's so or die time for all that, and when I have a deadline I feel the burn.

 

Last Days of Rome

The call came, the five months of funemployment is coming to a close. By early September I'll be getting stuck into a new job so now I'm treating the next month like the last days of Rome. I did some writing, I watched a Japanese movie from the 50's and while Rebecca was out tonight I played not one, but two short narrative games from start to finish. Gotta maximize the remaining days I have and finish everything I wanted to during this gap on my resume. Maybe I need to make a bucket list of sorts...

Bye Bye Balloons

Scrounged some more blackberries on my return trip to collect my newly sharpened knife. I was so ready to give it a test run on a tomato or cucumber but we had to pack down and leave our Air B&B as soon as I got back. 

We brunched in an overly twee little breakfast parlour, the kind of place that had three cuckoo clocks, none of them kept the right time. Still, the food set us up for a revisit to a walk round Symonds Yat Rock to enjoy the viewpoints. Then it was time to return to Bristol. Just in time to march up the the park to watch the final bout of hot air balloons going over... But they cancelled it. We rolled up our picnic blanket with a heavy heart and returned home to contemplate the week ahead.

Blackberries on the Vine

Visited a familiar English Heritage site, Goodrich Castle to show Rebecca's parents the ruin that's in pretty good condition. We bought some mead in the gift shop (something to enjoy when the Summer finally breaks), then we ventured into Ross-On-Wye for a nose about.

In the early evening I headed out on a solo jaunt. A chap who offers a knife sharpening service lives a half hour walk away from our Air B&B so I made the uphill trek. Because I was running a little early for our appointment I took my time on the walk and foraged a mountain of blackberries. Every bush I found I basically had to eat one from. I'm reading a book all about malnourished and shipwrecked people so being able to scrounge for my own sustenance felt amazing. Just hope my fingers weren't stained too purple as I handed my knife to the fella.

August City Break

Did some pottering around and some slow motion packing for our weekend away. I have no idea why we always end up in the Monmouth area for a city break, but this time Rebecca's parents wanted to experience the piece and quiet that only the Wye Valley can offer. It always takes a few minutes to adjust to the idea that your local post office is also your butchers, bakery and grocery shop. The only pub in town (that isn't a scary looking social club) usually has a food menu but because they don't have a chef at the moment we had to go to the chippy (which is still a win). It really is peaceful out here though, no doubt we'll sleep soundlessly.