Summer yardwork

I’ve been busy for the last few weeks – mostly with yard work. We ended up taking two loads to the dump – the old deck, old pool and older pool tubing, and leaves. We set up the new above ground pool, a new shed, and a base for the new shed. We took down part of the chain link fence and the fenced-in area that the previous owners had for their cat.

I was also able to clean up a bit downstairs. My desk is still quite the cluttered mess, but the table beside it is now able to be used. We took the four boxes of VHS movies to storage, and dropped off some clothes, shoes, and small toys to the thrift store.

going back to the vault

Before I was even married I started picking up the Disney animated movies on VHS. I figured that I would have kids at some point and would want to share the movies with them and even if I didn't have kids I would still want to be able to see them again.  Besides being pricy (usually about $25) the clamshells that the movies came in took up more space than regular movies. When we had to empty the wall unit to move it so we could update the flooring, we decided to not put them back. Unfortunately, we haven’t picked up most of them in DVD yet.

I really wanted to get the ‘classic’ Disney movies – Snow White, Cinderella, Dumbo, Robin Hood, and so on. We even got a bunch of the ‘secondary’ Disney movies but, for a while there, they were churning them out. I’m not sure I’m in any hurry to get Cinderella 2 or the extra Belle movies again.

In some ways Disney’s “vault” system works in our favor. Instead of having all the movies available all of the time, they cycle through them every few years, removing the old ones before they go on clearance (sending them ‘back to the vault’) to maintain the integrity of their pricing. While this keeps the films artificially valued high , it also helps to spread out the cost of buying the entire set.

So now I have to recollect them, because I need to have them, to share with the kids and for ourselves. It should also give us a chance to watch some of them with the kids again.

Books read - January to April 2013

Jan
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Indians by Benjamin Capps
Codex Eldar 4th edition by Phil Kelly
The Best of Instructables: DIY Projects from the World’s Biggest Show & Tell – Volume 1 by MAKE Magazine
Better Homes and Gardens Halloween pumpkin & parties: 101 spooktacular ideas by Better Homes and Gardens Books
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Soldiers by David Nevin
Geek Dad: awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share by Ken Denmead
The Geek Dad’s guide to weekend fun: cool hacks, Cutting-Edge games, and more awesome Projects for the Whole Family by Ken Denmead
Microcrafts: Tiny Treasures to Make and Share by Margaret McGuire, Alicia Kachmar, Katie Hatz and friends


Feb
Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War by Nigel Stillman with Rick Priestley & Tuomas Piriren
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Forty-Niners by William Weber Johnson
The Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton
Knitmare on Elm Street: 20 projects that go Bump in the Night by Hannah Simpson
A Ghastly-Good Halloween: 201 Spooktacular Recipes, Crafts & Decorating Ideas by Gooseberry Patch
A Store Like No Other – Eaton’s of Winnipeg by Russ Gourluck
Every Day is an Athiest Holiday! By Penn Jillette
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Pioneers by Huston Horn
The Mammoth Book of Street Art edited by Jake


Mar
Blown Covers – New Yorker Covers you were never meant to see by Francoise Mouly
Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition by Martha Cooper + Henry Chalfant
Maphead by Ken Jennings
Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (5th edition) by Tuomas Pirinen & Alessio Cavatore
Brainiac – Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs by Ken Jennings
Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson


Apr
The Big-Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano
James May’s Lego House by James May