A happy event

I really didn't know what we'd be getting into...

So when I signed Mum and I up for a “dinner theatre escape room” I really had no idea what I was getting us into, but I’ve been to dinner theatre and I’ve been to escape rooms and both are generally entertaining.  So seemed like it might be a good Xmas idea.  

Spoiler alert: it WAS!

A really cool building in a gorgeous neighbourhood

I’m going to avoid actual spoilers in this but give a little more about the experience.  It was at the Old Mill in Toronto - which is a super cool building btw.   Check-in was as simple as giving the hostess our names.  We were escorted in by the “wedding planner’s assistant” (of which there were several who did not have a further obvious role in the game) who gave us the 101 on ground rules for interacting w staff (essentially don’t touch them unless they initiate a handshake or something), washroom location, coat hanging, and how to get to the game room, and then left us to sign the guestbook and greet the wedding party.

The wedding party are actors who brought the game to life.  We have the bride and groom.  Both of whom have a sibling and a best friend.  There is also the wedding planner who was not in the reception line but would introduce herself later as MC.  The distinct personalities of each was evident from the first moment.  Ironically the bride was the only “neutral” character there (and by that I mean not over the top outgoing or hiding - lol bride’s sister was very quiet and very anxious and from the first moment obviously didn’t want to be the centre of anything).  All 3 men and the maid of honour were…. We’ll go w gregarious.

We found our assigned seats.   All tables of 6, as we were only 2, we were joined by a family of 4 who we really enjoyed.  Parents and two daughters who at best guess were early 20s.  They were a lot of fun to problem solve with.

Lucky Table 13

The wedding started and there were the standard (fairly short) wedding speeches so we could understand a bit about most of the characters and then tables were called to go help themselves to the *amazing* buffet.   I think we were the last table but we still had time for more than one serving before the game began.  I’m a picky eater and I easily found multiple options that would suit - but also lots of food my foodie friends would’ve appreciated.  So many delicious options.  Even w the tiniest portions of most things I was interested in, I was overly stuffed at the end.

As we were finishing eating, the puzzles began - I actually missed the setup as to why we were doing them 😂 as I was on my way back from food at the time (last table remember, and there was desert so I definitely indulged!). But regardless, we dove in.  We quickly discovered that we would get one puzzle from each member of the wedding party (this is not a spoiler - it was explicitly written down 😂) and those were of pretty standard easy level escape room type questions.  Once you pass that you get to the next level of challenges, and….  I won’t say any more about that.

In the end the game takes a more sinister turn as you realize you’re playing for the lives of everybody in the room.  Majority rules whether you live or die - depending on how many tables successfully completed the final puzzle.   Alas, in our game only one table finished and sadly it was not ours.   The entire room was executed and the villain escaped to do whatever villains do after they win.   

While a tragic ending, it was exceptionally well done, and after they talked us through every puzzle so no matter at what point your table got stuck, you knew what you missed, what the solution was, and how much of the puzzle you didn’t see 😂.   I’m not sure I want to admit how much we didn’t see - we certainly weren’t the best, and weren’t as close as I’d hoped, but we also were not last, so I’m deeming that a win.   I like that one table did it cause it shows it can be done.  I like that not more than one did (despite my resulting untimely death) because it showed we weren’t the only ones that failed.   I suspected that maybe they always use those numbers if it’s a fail?   But decided was probably legit since the identified which table got it right, so I think we'd've heard if anyone else had gotten it.

It was fun.  It was highly interactive but in a way that could be enjoyed by introverts as well as extroverts, the actors held character throughout and were around to help if puzzles were proving challenging, and the food was excellent.   5/5 stars.  Highly recommend.

A great night all around :)

Starting the year out right

First hike of the year - cold, but perfectly sunny

So Jan first was cold, but the sun came out and that's all it takes to get me outside!   That first hike of the year I was testing my abilities to dress for winter sport successfully, and my brand new microspikes that Chris got me for xmas.  Lessons learned:

• Microspikes are amazing
• Yes I remember how to dress appropriately for winter sports
• My hiking boots are not sufficiently waterproof even for snow
• Bring an extra pair of shoes/boots if planning to use the spikes - trying to detach them from my boots in minus-stupid weather was not a fun task.  But driving with them wasn't going to be a reasonable option either.

For the curious, these are microspikes. 
They hook over the normal hiking boots.
Less intense than full on ice clamps, but still effective.

I spent a very long time at this waterfall.
So peaceful, no people, no sound but rushing water and birds
I missed having my good camera here - I could've gotten some really fabulous shots.

The second hike came earlier than expected - after days of miserable weather (think freezing rain), it was suddenly 10 degrees and sunny?!?!  AND - I was still on vacation.   Today I didn't *think* I was testing anything, but the lessons learned were:

• Microspikes are spectacular at dealing with ice that has a sheen of water on top (those who know...)
• Microspikes fail horribly with mud; like actively made the situation worse.   This could make for some interesting life choices on spring hikes which generally include both.
• It is super fast and easy to pull of micro-spikes when it's not minus-stupid out and you can reasonably use bare hands because if they get wet for a few seconds won't freeze.  Therefore, the above rule for extra boots only applies when it's actually *cold*
• I apparently do NOT know how to dress for spring sports.  😂  Layers saved it but I ended up carrying a lot more than I should've.

With two 4-day hikes to cover the peninsula portion of the BT already planned for this year, I have to be in shape early AND ready for any weather.   I feel like this is a good start :)

The "Hemlock" trail I came across by accident and followed to the top of the hill;
I will go back another day to follow it for real; today did not quite have enough time.

lol overall not a bad start to the year :)

Someday, on the other side of the rainbow bridge, I'll throw another frisbee for you.

The post I’ve dreaded almost since the day I got her.   Unexpectedly fast, the wiggly ball of fluff so many of you knew from GRS and others from my 912384735 photos, is gone.   All was normal on her walk before work this morning, but she had a heart attack slightly later (forever grateful I was at home!).  I got her to the vet quickly but between neither her lungs nor her heart working properly anymore there was not much they could do.  With an oxygen mask they bought me a few minutes to say goodbye, then shortly after, she died lying with her head in my lap.

Sasha went everywhere with me and was a great car dog!
Also, people at drive-throughs loved her - and her them ;)

Sasha was the ideal dog for me at the right time.  Very much a single human dog (although she made an exception for my Dad whom she loved just as much), and had very little interest in other animals although was kind to all of them (even the barn critters that other dogs hunted).  

She was SO tiny when she first came home!

She would wiggle her bum when excited and cock her head when listening and those two things never, in the entire 14 years we were together, failed to make my heart melt.   

She didn't know the meaning of tired until a couple of years ago;
She never learned the meaning of slow.

Sasha wanted to run - always.  As a younger dog chasing rocks or a ball or her frisbee ring was her favourite thing to do (still can’t believe she never destroyed her teeth!) and she would outlast any human she convinced to play with her.   Always friendly and she could herd with the best of them; it was often amusing watching her try to herd the lesson horses ;).   She also gave confidence to countless nervous riders by showing how easy a jump was because obviously if Sasha could do it, so could their horse!   It was always magical to me to be out hacking w Sasha bounding in and out of the trees around me.   

Snow AND a Ball - life doesn't get much better

She loved the water - swimming and chasing sticks.  But only if she could run or climb in — dock diving was not in her contract.  Watching her and Bailey (the only other animal she ever really bonded with) swim together always made me smile.  

Teamwork

She also loved the snow.   Any deep snowfall was magic to her, and she particularly loved when people shovelled the driveway if they would throw the snow for her.   

She never got why nobody wanted to play outside w her
for long enough in the snow (no time was long enough!)

The last couple years she’s slowed down.  She still wants to do all the things - but not as long or as hard or as fast.   When she runs on our walks now, it’s at a speed I can keep up with (and suffice to say, I am not fast!)  - and even last night she ran a little bit.  Cool fall weather had her feeling good.

We had so many adventures together

Sasha meant the world to me and my world is a much sadder and harder place without her in it.  I just hope she knows how very much she was loved.

I will always love you Sashabear

Dragon drawing

 Alright so I wanted to attempt another "big" drawing - which is how I think of it in my head, but not at all literal since it's exactly the same size paper 😂    But by that I really mean something that will be a challenge and likely take multiple days or weeks to complete.   The first was the bird tutorial...   Then I drew Tucker.   Now I wanted something similar quality, but of a fantastic nature.   hmmmm

My learning to draw journey started with a goal of drawing dragons.  My last "big" dragon I was...  less than proud of ;).  lol well that's not entirely true, I was proud that I drew a dragon that was recognizable as a dragon, but the sketch was way better than what resulted when I added colour.   And, well, a whole lot of other issues that come with being a beginner artist.

So I'm still v much a beginner artist but slightly less so than I was last year so, you know, we'll complicate things even more and do not just a dragon but also a fairy ;).  Now the problem is, I'm still at the level that I need to be looking at something to have a hope of drawing it.  This is a challenge, as I don't happen to have a ton of dragons and fairies hanging around that I can photograph (they're shockingly camera shy!)

This is what I started with...

I do, however, have this picture that Em took of Nick and I a lifetime ago.  To this day, it makes my heart melt.   And, I have AI ;).  So I started w ChatGPT which is usually my AI of choice and asked it to take this photo and replace the woman with a fairy and the horse with a dragon.  It failed atrociously.  Several times with different prompts.  Like not even remotely close to what I was after.   Booo.   So then I tried CoPilot which I'd never used and it NAILED it.  Like brilliantly.   I was so excited.   There were a few minor aspects I didn't like, but it was entirely willing to tweak to my specifications and in the end I had a dragon and fairy in the same pose, that I thought might work.

...and after several edits, this is what I ended with.

So we won't discuss how long it took me to figure out the sketch.  Honestly, the real challenge was the fairy's face.  Everything else was reasonably easy, but it took approximately 382783538 tries to get the face "right".  It was painful.  Really painful.

I didn't take a picture of just the sketch (day 1), but - having learned from last time, figured I'd try doing the background first as is often recommended.  Also, I don't love backgrounds so figured if I did it first and f'd it up, at least I wasn't risking the whole drawing...   Decided I would use Faber Castell for the background and Prismacolor Premier for the foreground.   So day one was FC (oil based, and slightly less vibrant colours -- often used for animal and people drawings).   After a ridiculously long time, I ended day 2 with:

So - it's super tedious doing the background first.  

 

Next day's effort included more detail to the background and first effort at the frame of the wings.   To get to that there may or may not have been some youtube tutorials on how to colour gold 😂 

Actually pleased at how the gold turned out!   Background is slightly better but I still don't love it - ah well, we'll see as we go :).  A little concerned about how the dragon spikes are going to work out with the background already there but that's a future me problem ;)

Day one of wings

The world disappeared while I was doing this one.  Was out back and started early afternoon and suddenly it was 5:45 and the alert that cats were being fed buzzed my watch, which told me I should go feed Sasha too.  I fed her, and went right back to drawing and kept going till I got cold.  This one I actually took the time to do a practice round on spare paper - tested the colours, the flow, how to get the markings in (those will be the next day), and the impact of blending (SO glad I practiced that first cause I would've messed it up for sure).   Still work to be done, but I'm happy with how it's turning out so far...

Took a break between last one and this one due to life

Making this up as I go along lol.   Did more for the wings and while I wanted to do the hair today, I figured I should do the shirt while I still remembered how I did the wings.  This was not actually how I had envisioned it, but I think it still works.   Also continuing to fuss with the background 😂   We'll see next time I look at it :)

OMG is this phase ever creepy 

lol so I got to do the hair today and I'm reasonably happy with it.   Surprisingly happy with the skin - watched a fast-forward tutorial to get colour layering suggestions but definitely no tutorial available for this particular artwork so started with base colour suggestions and made the rest up as I went along.  Quite pleased with how the skin turned out but is it ever creepy having a blank face.   🫣 

I have a practice sheet that I'm investing a lot more time in than I have previously and it's definitely helping the overall success rate.   It does slow the pace, but I think it helps the overall result.   And *why* did I choose to stop there?  Well cause I'm still not thrilled w the sketch of the face so kinda figure I have to sort that out before I add colour.   We shall see...

Oops ;-P

Alright so...  Today I am v disappointed cause I messed up some proportions and turned my lovely fairy into a neanderthal.   Booo.   I also learned a whole lot of lessons about colour theory and blending as I started to do the dragon ;).  I feel like the fairy issue might be too much for me to overlook when this is done, so this one will go down as a learning experience.  And also, my dragon scales feel a little like feathers?!?!  lol.  I may or may not be able to fix that.   BUT - I also really like the concept so current plan is to finish this one, learn everything I can, go away and learn more about drawing faces and people proportions, and maybe a bit more re colour and backgrounds, then come back and do it again.  Maybe.

Follow up:

So I posted my WIP in the forum where I’m learning to draw and asked for help.   Common consensus was that the scales do actually look like scales not feathers (and that scales evolved from feathers so good to go either way 😂 - I kinda like the idea of my dragon being an evolutionary transition) - and also someone directed me to a lesson specifically about drawing scales that is many chapters ahead of where I am now.  Won’t help for this one but likely will for the next iteration.   As for the girl - common consensus is that she looks just fine if you don’t know what she was *supposed* to look like, and one useful suggestion about tilting her eyebrows to make it more obvious she’s looking down.   So I’m going with - maybe not quite as bad as I’d felt?   Always the way w one’s own work though eh?

Today’s learning was that blending colours in a small space has some risks - my light to dark on the smaller spikes all the dark went to the light side!   I have no idea how or why - the physics of that doesn’t make sense to me.  But fortunately I was able to fix it w the next layer, just means they’re slightly more vibrant than I’d originally intended but that might just be okay - it is a dragon after all!

Step in the right direction

So with some advice from the art class forum and some studies of the original sketch, I think I've managed to save my fairy!  😂   A long way from perfect, but she looks a lot less like a Neanderthal now.   And I'm kinda loving my dragon.  Who's not actually done yet,  but getting close.  So much learning and problem solving happening but I"m really enjoying it.

We're calling this one done

I think…. I think it’s done ❤️.  ~35 pencil crayons (coloured pencils to the rest of the world), 9 evenings of work spread over a few weeks.   One “help!  How do I fix…” post in my art class forum ;).  And endless learning and problem solving.

Things that were a challenge:

• Sketch that I was proud of in black and white but didn’t look right when colour applied
• Colour theory aka what colours blend well and which ones don’t ;).  And how do you fix it if you choose wrong.
• I now know all the various shades of orange in my collection ;).  A shame it’s the last day of pumpkin season.
• Figuring out all the details you need for photorealism without a photo - this, clearly, I have a v long way to go.  Shadows / values / etc - all a challenge for a beginner with a realistic starting point - way harder with fiction and honestly AI isn't great at it yet either ;) 

There are parts of this that I love, parts that I really do not, and all of it that I can imagine the next iteration after I go away and up my skills a bit ;).   I did enjoy it though and likely will do it again once I feel I have the skills to make what I see in my head a reality. 

Bruce Trail: Caledon E2E Day 3

Actually THE most stunning day.   Added in a waterfall side quest as well :).  Did this part on my own, with J&B as trail angles to drop me at the starting point ;).   Hike was the stuff dreams are made of - esp when it also happened to be a Monday lol.   The system I rigged to hold the poles for the roadwalking part worked well -- I'll invest in proper clips for a long-term version of it 😂.   Lots of stairs today and lots of road, but also ALL the fall leaves and - I saw a fox ❤️ 

Today's Stats:

Distance: 25.9 km 
Elevation Gain: 482 m 
Weather: 10 deg sunny and windy
Duration: 5h 39 min
Avg Pace: 12:11

 

Bruce Trail: Caledon Day 2

With Janie and Braulio today - J's knee was a little stressed so took it easy.  Got rained on for all of about 45 seconds - just long enough to test out the rain cover on the bag ;).  Another day of gorgeous views and stunning leaves.   While still a couple hills today, significantly flatter than yesterday!

 Today's Stats:

Distance: 18.96 km 
Elevation Gain: 716 m 
Weather: 20 deg threatening storm that kindly held off till we were done ;)
Duration: 4h 25 min
Avg Pace: 14:00

Bruce Trail: Caledon Day 1

The 360 degree views of fall colours were stunning

What an incredible day!   Hiking w Janie and Braulio today.  Fun game of under / over / through with the stiles - lol I'd never really realized there was a pass through for critters (or people who don't want to climb lol) on some of them before.  Stunning weather, amazing fall leaves, and good friends - what more can you ask?   Well - the pub afterwards would've been nice but alas did not have food.  Fail!

Also tried poles for the first time on this hike - was truly amazed by the difference they made once I got the hang of them.   There's the lazy pole swing (like 3 steps to every pole movement) which honestly doesn't do much but does help prevent fat hands, but the one for one pole-to-stride match going up or down hills?   That adds a ton of speed and power on the down and helps conserve energy and strength on the ups.   Today had a LOT of downs and ups so definitely got to practice that a fair bit.   Someday I am 100% going to get overconfident with these and either stab myself horribly in the foot or wipe out in a big way, but fortunately today was not that day ;)

Stats:
Distance: 27.5 km 
Elevation Gain: 843 m 
Weather: 20 deg and sunny :)
Duration: 7h 2 min
Avg Pace: 14:10

The traditional approach...

...and an alternate solution ;)

BT: Caledon Pre-Hike

You can't actually see this from the BT, but it's a very short detour ;)

So we're doing the E2E over the weekend, but we can't park at the *actual* end, so I committed to doing a quick pre-hike to knock off the section between the final parking and the end of the section.   Since it was short, I also did the detour to see the Badlands - which I haven't seen since they protected them (last time I was here, we were definitely able to hike all over the rocks and nobody thought anything of it.   That was.... longer ago than I care to admit ;)

Mini-stats:

Distance: 4.72km
Elevation gain: 110m

Toronto Bruce Trail E2E - Day 2 - Southern Section

 

Today was a great "floor is lava" type day with lots of flat rocks to navigate.  Section reminiscent of the Scenic Caves which was very cool.  No real hills today.   Janie and Braulio joined for today - we got separated at the start, but met up again at the checkpoint and did the rest together.  

 Today's Stats:

Distance: 21.78 km 
Elevation Gain: 267 m 
Duration: 4h 23 min
Avg Pace: 12:06

Entrance to the very cool scenic caves type section.

Random and pretty - near the end

Toronto Bruce Trail E2E - Day 1 - Northern Section

 

Today was the hike of the boardwalks.  Long and pretty.  Some rocky sections but nothing v dramatic; very little int he way of hills.  Perfect weather.

 Today's Stats:

Distance: 27.8 km 
Elevation Gain: 396 m 
]Duration: 5h 27 min
Avg Pace: 11:39

Find the trail ;-P