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Weekend Updatia
Busy weekend - after a busy Saturday (Top Sekrit portion thereof), we capped off the weekend with an event-filled Sunday.
Before we got that far, though, we added a bit more on Saturday night. After Brandon went to bed, I introduced Rachel to D&D. Although Justin had played before, it's been a while. I managed to get their two characters to meet up, agree to travel together, and then I had three thieves ambush the canal boat they were travelling on. Unfortunately, I underestimated their abilities (they had 9 & 14 hit points, so I didn't want them dead right off), and Justin's cleric spiritual hammered the one on the far shore while Rachel's fighter managed to charge and take out the leader (who was supposed to be the toughest) and the other one, who was up ahead where the mule team was.
Sunday, we spent most of the day at a martial arts tournament up near Camelback Mountain. We watched the end of the weapons forms - one guy did an excellent routine with the staff, another, with a sword, seemed to draw too slow. I'd like to think the latter's black belt was an indication of a beginner rank, but I highly doubt it. However, I do feel better about my own novice abilities - I was able to do the entire opening form in less time then he took to clear the blade. We watched the 17-34 year old forms. Rachel and some friends from her school went with their senseis to watch the kids sparring, and Justin and I stayed in our near-corner (mostly to attempt to keep Mr. B cornered; we should have received medals for our efforts at toddler-fu - I'm confident I would have snagged the silver, Justin was displaying his frustration at times and thus would have received the bronze. Of course, there was no real competition for the gold - Mr. B had that from the outset. Rachel and her friends left earlier than us - they went out for pizza; we stuck around to try to see the guy who was waiting to compete in the 35+ mens forms division, but we finally gave up on that and headed back.
At home, we goofed off for a bit, and then went outside. We installed deer fencing around the summersweet and one of the three paw paws - both were hit by the deer in the past month. Last time, when we put up the other seven, we had a difficult time getting the posts in the ground. The metal ate into the rubber sledgehammer, and we had to mess around with rocks, holding them in place and thwacking them without hitting our fingers. This time, thanks to my dad's tool collection, we had a choice of three or four metal hammers. We opted for the heaviest one, and the only time we had trouble was when the spot we picked was directly over a buried rock. After getting the six posts in the ground, Justin traded jobs with Rachel and played with Mr. B while Rachel assisted with cutting and hanging the fencing on the posts.
Justin and I relocated one of the wind chimes from the porch to a tree - partially to maybe startle deer from their munching, mostly because Deb didn't think it went with the other stuff on the porch.
We were going to hang some of the lawn ornaments - three spheres of different sizes and three glass swirls, all with phosphorescent paint - but we didn't get quite as far as we would have liked. Our original plan fell apart (in its current form) when we realized the monofilament line we were using was only 8 pound test. I had thought it was 20, and felt confident that would support the heaviest sphere, as well as multiple items. After dangling the large one on its lead - and feeling the line stretch thin to snapping - we re-evaluated the situation. In the end, only of the three swirls is up, and it's likely to come down and be put back in a slightly different fashion once we work out the details. As it was getting dark, we gave up on doing more (which is good - will give us time to do it right). Tonight, we should be able to see if the area gets enough light to make them glow.
Before we got that far, though, we added a bit more on Saturday night. After Brandon went to bed, I introduced Rachel to D&D. Although Justin had played before, it's been a while. I managed to get their two characters to meet up, agree to travel together, and then I had three thieves ambush the canal boat they were travelling on. Unfortunately, I underestimated their abilities (they had 9 & 14 hit points, so I didn't want them dead right off), and Justin's cleric spiritual hammered the one on the far shore while Rachel's fighter managed to charge and take out the leader (who was supposed to be the toughest) and the other one, who was up ahead where the mule team was.
Sunday, we spent most of the day at a martial arts tournament up near Camelback Mountain. We watched the end of the weapons forms - one guy did an excellent routine with the staff, another, with a sword, seemed to draw too slow. I'd like to think the latter's black belt was an indication of a beginner rank, but I highly doubt it. However, I do feel better about my own novice abilities - I was able to do the entire opening form in less time then he took to clear the blade. We watched the 17-34 year old forms. Rachel and some friends from her school went with their senseis to watch the kids sparring, and Justin and I stayed in our near-corner (mostly to attempt to keep Mr. B cornered; we should have received medals for our efforts at toddler-fu - I'm confident I would have snagged the silver, Justin was displaying his frustration at times and thus would have received the bronze. Of course, there was no real competition for the gold - Mr. B had that from the outset. Rachel and her friends left earlier than us - they went out for pizza; we stuck around to try to see the guy who was waiting to compete in the 35+ mens forms division, but we finally gave up on that and headed back.
At home, we goofed off for a bit, and then went outside. We installed deer fencing around the summersweet and one of the three paw paws - both were hit by the deer in the past month. Last time, when we put up the other seven, we had a difficult time getting the posts in the ground. The metal ate into the rubber sledgehammer, and we had to mess around with rocks, holding them in place and thwacking them without hitting our fingers. This time, thanks to my dad's tool collection, we had a choice of three or four metal hammers. We opted for the heaviest one, and the only time we had trouble was when the spot we picked was directly over a buried rock. After getting the six posts in the ground, Justin traded jobs with Rachel and played with Mr. B while Rachel assisted with cutting and hanging the fencing on the posts.
Justin and I relocated one of the wind chimes from the porch to a tree - partially to maybe startle deer from their munching, mostly because Deb didn't think it went with the other stuff on the porch.
We were going to hang some of the lawn ornaments - three spheres of different sizes and three glass swirls, all with phosphorescent paint - but we didn't get quite as far as we would have liked. Our original plan fell apart (in its current form) when we realized the monofilament line we were using was only 8 pound test. I had thought it was 20, and felt confident that would support the heaviest sphere, as well as multiple items. After dangling the large one on its lead - and feeling the line stretch thin to snapping - we re-evaluated the situation. In the end, only of the three swirls is up, and it's likely to come down and be put back in a slightly different fashion once we work out the details. As it was getting dark, we gave up on doing more (which is good - will give us time to do it right). Tonight, we should be able to see if the area gets enough light to make them glow.