Not on Shelves Mini Meet

So, a much longer ago time than I care to admit, I came up with the idea of a stamp series that would be a bookshelf with book spines of books that don't really exist.  You know, books that exist in fiction that have a fairly recognizable name, but don't actually exist in real life.  Example: Hogwarts: a History (well, it doesn't exist at the moment - I don't put it past JKR to actually write it).

I had even gone as far as creating the design and carving the bookshelf.  I had transferred all of the bookspines onto OZ Kut when OZ was a new carving material - to give some of you a sense of the timing ;) And then they sat.  And sat.  Remaining mostly uncarved.  I've changed jobs, moved homes... and those transferred carves sat waiting.

Finally, at the 2017 Box ON (for which I'm horribly behind in posting about), I decided to get off my butt, finish the series and host a winter mini meet!

Yesterday, the mini meet took place.  It started off with a significant goof on my part: I forgot the event stamp at home and had to run home to get it.  Other than that - the event went well.

Sorta.  Philosophical question for you: when is a letterboxing mini meet not a letterboxing mini meet?  "Mini" means less than, shall we say, a regular Box ON! meet, right?  But how small does it get before you can't call it a mini or even micro meet?

At one point, there were around 20-23 people signed up, but for various and assorted reasons (I'm lookin' at you, mother nature!) that number dwindled down to 3.

Don't get me wrong: any time you get to meet up with boxers is a great day.  I had a blast, but I'm sad I didn't get to catch up with more boxers or that others didn't get to see the series.  (For reasons you can guess, this isn't a series I can leave in the library...)

It's all done though and would be really easy to re-host next year... I've been known to re-read many a book in my time...

Happy trails!

Box ON! 2016

Battlefield Park, Stoney Creek, Ontario

Hello and welcome to my long neglected blog!  If you're just joining me, you'll find that you want to bash me in the head sometimes because I forget to post somewhat important things... One of those important letterboxing things is Ontario's premiere letterboxing event: Box ON!


Last year was the ninth year of Box ON! and was hosted by a brave letterboxer and his family who have not themselves been to one of these events.  I think the established letterboxing community would agree that he hosted a wonderful event that was enjoyed by all!  So many thanks and much kudos to Bon Echo for hosting an amazing event!

For this edition of Box ON!, we all headed to Stoney Creek, Ontario to Battlefield Park, which was (is) located helpfully off of the highway and has direct access to the Bruce Trail.

As per usual for these events, it was lovely to reconnect with Ontario boxers and meet some folks who drove in from out of the Province - the carvings were spectacular as usual, and Mother Nature held out for us and only gave us a sprinkle at the end of the day.

Which way is north? An important question in Hamilton where the lake is north, unlike most of Southern Ontario.

 Myself, I loved the venue because I am growing every increasingly appreciative of historic buildings and places...  I haven't had a chance to visit during the war reenactments, but it's something I may look into.

 In fact, this place is a bit of a historic letterboxing location for myself.  One of Gwynlais' purple-diamond-worthy letterboxes, which has been planted since 2010, is still alive and well.  Although I have already found this box, because the folks I was boxing with wanted to claim the find for themselves, I got to see my old log from spring 2011 (now six years ago, what?!) and one of my original signature stamp impressions.

A letterboxing find from 2011.

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling so well this day, so I didn't find as many boxes as I would have liked, but it was a lovely visit and a wonderful day to be boxing.

Thems some boxes in them thar rocks.

 So many thanks once again to Bon Echo who did a fantastic job.  Fiddleheads has once again taken the chair for Box ON! 2017 - Time Warp.  This will be the 10th year of the Ontario event and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again - hope everyone will sign up!

Happy (Bruce) trails!

Bruce Trail marker, Stony Creek, Ontario

Inconceivable!

Inconceivable little library

So, with slight delay, I post here about last weekend's letterboxing trip to Kitchener to join StarHexen's mini event.

Two other casual letterboxers and I headed up to Kitchener after work on the Friday to make an appearance at a little library where there was allegedly a letterbox planted.  Kitchener must have the highest per capita rate of mini libraries (which is something to be proud of). This particular library, however, is unique with a green roof (amazing) and decked out with a Princess Bride motif.  And, of course, it joins the ranks of letterbox-containing-mini-libraries.

It was great having a little visit with StarHexen, but the ladies and I only had a couple hours before dark and so we stamped in (fantastic stamp) and headed on our way...

We then headed over to the nearby cemetery where I had found a number of letterboxes before.  The sun was quickly going down, putting the cemetery in twilight which was quite beautiful.

Unfortunately, once we came upon the box we were searching for, it was quickly apparent that my namesake insect had created a ground nest right in front of the hiding spot.  Yikes.  A quick stamp in for everyone, a delicate re-hide procedure, and we were on our way out of the cemetery.

It was a beautiful trip and although we didn't find any other boxes (one was a little too tricky and then it was too dark to continue) the day was great for getting back in the letterboxing spirit of things.

Eek, the summer is almost over.  I did manage to get out letterboxing and go to a mini event though so  I'm not hopeless.  I'm also planning to attend Box ON with a fellow letterboxer and even sent a stamp in for the event.

Hope to see you there!

Happy trails!

It finally happened *or* a letterboxer's view on ink pad packaging

It finally happened: I had to throw out ink pads.  Ones I bought over five years ago.  It's crazy.

In reviewing my ink stash (which have been tragically underused over the past year or so) I came to find three (3) of my ColorBox petal point kits had gone dry, along with a number of other individual stamp pads.  I'm a bit of a craft supply hoarder, so it was nice to have a good reason to toss those.

The petal point packaging in particular was difficult to use, particularly on the trail.  Too many pieces, weird size.  10/10 would not recommend.  I do like pigment ink for certain things though... Their individual stamp pads have this unfortunate habit of popping their tops off in my trail pack. {The insides of my one bag are a lovely teal because of this...} I don't even buy those any more.  My long skinny ColorBox with the full range of colours sometimes joins me, but it is also super messy to use.

On the other hand, my StazOn and other Tsukeniko inks are doing really well.  Still quite juicy.  The black is the only one I've needed a reinker for - and the packaging stays nice and tightly shut in my bag on the trail.  I'm going to stick with those in the future, I think...

Throwing a stamp in the mail...

Does anyone else have a moment of panic that you wrote the address right on an envelope after it leaves your hands at the post office?

On Monday, I finished a fun carve that I've sent off to GreenSpirit who was kind enough to host this year's Box ON! event.  I remember writing something on the front of the envelope.  I sorta remember writing my return address.

Don't worry.  I'm sure my stamp will reach GreenSpirit.  I think it's sort of like driving; you suddenly arrive at a location but have no recollection of the actual drive itself.

I hope.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to Box ON!, not just because of the letterboxing, but because it will be really nice to catch up with everyone.

Hope everyone is having a great summer :)

Lovely updates on my Korean letterbox

Seoul, South Korea, with N Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain in the middle of the city

So one of the many things I have been behind on blogging about is my profound delight in getting find notices on a box I planted while in Seoul, South Korea: Love in Suraksan.

In early spring of 2012, I was a very sad Bumble who was missing her baby sister, let's call her Mini Bumble.  A year earlier, Mini Bumble flew across this planet to work at a South Korean hogwan where she was responsible for teaching English to a small class of nine adorable kindergarteners. Since I missed her and wanted to visit the place she had been calling home, I packed up my gear and flew over to meet her - taking a small letterboxing kit with me, obvs. She lived just outside of Nowon, a district of Seoul, at the base of Suraksan Mountain.

At the time, there really weren't many boxes in Seoul - or at least there weren't many listed on AQ.  Combine that with some significant difficulties in getting around without knowing the language meant that I wasn't able to find any boxes while I was there (came oh so close: we found the right spot for one, with certainty, but the box was MIA).

If you haven't been to Seoul, it is a magical place for letterboxing.  The dense urban city is broken up by endless little mountains with an infinite number of walking trails.  The only thing stopping me from heading in was my fear of getting lost.  Anyway - just a tip for any letterboxers who may be going over to visit or teach.

I had no idea what I would plant, and I was actually nervous that I'd have trouble taking a camo'd lock-n-lock through airport security, so I believe I had a box that was clear and a small slab of uncarved material.

In the end, overcome with seeing my sister after so long and absolutely loving the country, I decided on a simple heart with a Canadian flag maple leaf and a Korean flag Taegeuk inside. (If I've somehow spoiled the box for anyone, my apologies.)

I had a bit of a time hiding it, though.  With such a dense population of people, there was never a moment I was alone and my slight hike up Suraksan Mountain wasn't proving to have a lot of hiding spots.  In the end, thanks to the water that was not coming down the mountain while I was there, I was able to hide the box under the decking of the areas beside the water flow areas for which the mountain was named.  I hid it and got out as stealthily as only a tall, white, overweight foreigner can.

I listed the box and finished my wonderful trip, Mini Bumble as my guide, returning to Canada after my trip.

And I waited. 

And I waited.

Really, no hits on the clue.  I couldn't really imagine anyone from North America heading out there and to the end of one of the subway lines to climb a mountain based only on the directions given by a letterbox clue.  And as time went on, I could only imagine that the citizens of the cleanest country I've ever visited would find my box and remove it.  So I waited, but secretly wanted no one to even make an attempt because the thought that it was still there on the other side of the planet made me happier than if I found that it was gone.

But then two years after planting I got a find and a lovely message from Sonoran Girl: "I was the first finder on this box even though it was planted almost two years ago. It was a little mucky from its days by the creek, but it's in perfect condition and has a lovely hand-carved stamp inside. It's well hidden enough to never be noticed by someone not specifically looking for it, which is kind of a miracle here in Korea."

So very happy.

Then not so long later, from Fruitcake: "Just wanted to let you know that I came VERY close to your letterbox, but had the misfortune of searching on Korean independence day when the creek area was swarmed with people. UGH! So close, yet so far away! It is in a beautiful location though, and I really enjoyed my time in the park."

Almost there, but I can't believe all the people in the creek were not seeing the box...

But it was safe! From Lig: "The box and contents are all in great shape. First time trying multiple colors on the same stamp; it worked really well. Check out Cafe Dasio at the end of the street, near the box for an artsy place to stamp in while enjoying something sweet."

And then as recently as March, from JIY: "Hi, the park is beautiful and I loved the Stamp."

I've had a bit of a weird year starting last summer and have been a little down.  These finders don't know that their find logs filled me with an indescribable joy. Maybe I'll send this post their way...

Happy trails!

Where have all the letterboxers gone?

My, how things have changed since last year.  Letterboxing has just about ground to a halt, but I'm sure it's not me: I can count the finds this year on my boxes on one hand.

But today, I signed up for Box ON (I choose to force myself to go rather than wallow in regret) and my carving thumb is getting awfully sore.  I've even dusted off my letterboxing pack.

Who knows what the future holds?

What happened to the summer?

What happened to the summer?  This past winter was, quite frankly, traumatizing and I expected a nice hot summer full of summery activities to lift my spirits.  Instead, we got perhaps a couple of hot days and then a coolish summer that is now almost over.

I didn't even have time to put away my winter coat.

 

Yesterday, I even smelled fall in the air.  It's still mid-August and I could smell autumn. I love the fall - love it - but that it is here already is distressing.

 

I've not even been out for a good letterboxing adventure this season.  I have a find from down in San Diego I haven't logged yet, but otherwise, nada.

 

But... but...

 

I have an idea... It's in my noggin.  I can't get it out.  Gears are turning... I miss 2012.  Could it be? Should I do it? I have an idea, a place, a timeframe... Should I?

Desconstructing the Devil's Advocate, Part V: The Devil Himself

Okay, this might be the last of my very spoilery posts for a while, but once again, danger - spoilers!

Desconstructing the Devil's Advocate, Part IV: The Court's Decree is Poetry

Warning! Danger, Will Robinson! Spoilers ahead...

Desconstructing the Devil's Advocate, Part III: Alien Rights

Warning! Spoilers ahead...

Desconstructing the Devil's Advocate, Part II: Jail Bird

Danger! This box is still alive, and able to be found and logged.  Nevertheless, the clues is mostly broken down below.  Spoilers ahead...

Deconstructing the Devil's Advocate

Okay, so it really shouldn't be news to anyone who boxes in Ontario that the Devil's Advocate is an alias account that I have and that the four boxes were actually mine.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, I had to pull the Devil's Advocate box which makes the whole series of the puzzle impossible to solve.  Nevertheless, I really enjoyed putting that puzzle together, it was great fun, but for anyone who didn't get the chance to hunt them (or for anyone looking for inspiration for future puzzle boxes) I've decided to deconstruct the making of this puzzle series as well as the solution to it all.

In case you do *not* want to be spoiled or still think you can solve these, I'll try to put the content after a jump break.  You have been warned.

I love creating puzzles.  It's incredibly fun and part of the massive allure of letterboxing for me.  I'm not so great at solving ciphers in particular and can get notoriously frustrated, but I love putting them together and watching others.  It's the same feeling I get when I get an awesome Christmas present for someone.

I've been making tricky boxes for a while, but I had been wondering about how to make a clue that was based on an actual stamp itself.   Leave bits of clues everywhere and let the fun begin!  This, to me, is like the ARGs that I love so much (again, I follow them on the sidelines because I get notoriously frustrated).


SPOILERS AHOY!

I am the letterbox thief

The Grande Hermine {The Big Weasel} Jordan Harbour, Jordan Station, Ontario

Warning: spoiler photo at the end of this post.

Before I ever started letterboxing, another local boxer had done great work and had (has) marvelous boxes planted all over the province.  One day, without notice, she deleted all the clues, deleted the comments, and retired all of her boxes.  Why? I'll never know.  Those were some of my favourite boxes, they contained the amazing history of letterboxing in Ontario.  And now they're gone.  Poof.  This happened over a year ago, so I'm not sure why I'm whinging about it now...

Except now I've done the unthinkable.  I've taken someone else's letterbox.  On purpose.  With intent. Not to relocate because of danger, not to repair due to damage.  To keep. 

My log from 2010.

This particular box had special meaning to me; when I found it, where I found it, who I found it with. I was gutted to think it was gone when that letterboxer deleted the clues and retired the whole lot.  But I had this niggling suspicion that told me that there was no way she had physically pulled so many actual boxes given their geographic spread.  I pretty much knew that these boxes still existed.  I just had no way to find them, or even re-find the ones I had already had logged.

Nonetheless, after moving back to Burlington, I had decided I was going to replace the one box.  It's the perfect location, the perfect theme, and it's perfect to stop at if you're traveling along the QEW back/forth from Canada/US.  So I created a box and headed out today to replant with the hopes that even without the clue, I'd find the box.

I found it.  In perfect condition.  I took it and literally planted mine in its place.  I have it, it's mine.  The log is dry and only half filled...  Its clue is gone and the owner retired it.  This baffles me.  And those lovely boxes are still out there, lonely and unloved - abandoned.  Does anyone keep old clues?  I never have, and now I'm sad because I'll never be able to retrace my steps to some of these now lost gems.

Have I committed a letterboxing crime? I'm not sure.  I plan to show people this box and its contents, I plan to maintain my new replacement box (or at least not destroy it for future finders should I decide to retire from boxing...).

I hope you and future generations of letterboxers enjoy my replacement box.  If you ever want to see the old one, please let me know...

In with the new...

Out with the old, in with the new...

I know Fiddleheads would be disappointed with me if I didn't regularly recarve my signature stamp.  So with the move back to the area of my letterboxing roots comes a new stamp!

Old at the left, new at the right.

Hope you're all out on the trail this beautiful weekend!

Happy trails!

Letterboxing in High Park

What a gorgeous day.  Finally, out on the trail.  Though I was largely unsuccessful, I had a great time and am looking forward to some more letterboxing in my future.

I had plans with friends downtown, so I took the opportunity to then head to High Park to try and find some of the many boxes there I have yet to find. I can't recall how frequently I've posted about this, but I have a terrible time with the old High Park boxes. They are so hard but I want them so bad!

For those new to Ontario boxing, an event was held in High Park in September of 2009 (almost five years ago!) which, for the record, was before I started letterboxing.  Many boxes were planted, lovely, and are still sited to this day.

Nonetheless, High Park being the size it is, changes with time and trails and foliage undermine clues fairly uniformly.  As much as you spend in the park, you never really get a full sense of the whole of it and it's full of difficult plants.

I started with a Fiddleheads box and came across the most intriguing entry in a logbook that I've ever seen, here it is:

Sooo... besides the message, if they weren't looking, why did they have a stamp? Anyone read Mandarin?

Anyways.  I had a massively unsuccessful time next doing one of Gwynlais' first Smokin Festivals series.  Here's the thing: I actually got lost.  Lost.  Lost.  I didn't find a single box in the series and I'm glad I knew High Park as well as I did or I would have panicked when I got so turned around.

So I ended up back near the Grenadier Cafe, so I tried the Stockyards box and found it full of water.  Like full, full.  Like full of blue water, full.  And in a log with a bee nest in it.  So, yeah.

Full of water.  Full.

It was a beautiful day and a lovely walk through the park, so I'll consider it a win.

Hope you all enjoyed your first day of summer!
Happy trails!

In the mood...

I'm feeling the letterboxing itch.

I think it's time to finally pull out my gear, don't you?

*wink*

Happy trails!

In the news...

I love reading about letterboxing in the news, and it's amazing to hear non-boxer's perspectives on the hidden world of letterboxing.  For posterity, here's a lovely one with a great plot, great characters, and an excellent ending:

Schenectady City Hall mystery turns out to be a letterbox, by Kathleen Moore, The Daily Gazette.

It's officially spring, my peeps.  I'm wondering how my boxes have fared this winter...

Happy trails!

Letterboxing in Boston, Massachusetts

So, after leaving L&B, Fiddleheads and I headed into Boston.  After the trip down and all my irritating singing in the van, FH finally snapped, slowed to 100 and shoved me out of her van.  Luckily, it was close to the "subway" and I was able to get downtown and rent a place for the night.  Jeez.  She's so touchy.

Anyways, I've been to Boston, Massachusetts, a number of times before, so I decided to spend my time focusing on two important things: letterboxing and shopping (big cross-border exemption applied).

Since the weather forecast called for thundershowers in the next couple days (hopefully to get rid of the stifling heat we had through the whole L&B event) I decided to get my letterboxing out of the way on my first day...

Beautiful!

 First I headed out to Harvard's Arboretum for a couple letterboxes. Man it was hot.  I seriously questioned the logic in letterboxing in the heat.  However, the Arboretum was fantastic and it was definitely worth the experience.

First box, Mad Chef dating back to 2002 had a massive logbook, but the box was full of water.  Very sad.

 I also found the Best Gift Ever - which was really cute :)  I planted one of my own, and I was off!

 Next, to the Coolidge for the Most Extreme Cool of All Cools and Only at the Coolidge.  The Coolidge is this gorgeous art deco theatre that still is showing movies.  I loves me some art deco, so I was really happy to trek out to see these two boxes :)

Heading back out on the "subway".  This is the "subway" which is almost identical to Toronto's older streetcars.  Very confusing.

Except that the "subway" does go below ground sometimes as well.  Jeez... And don't get me started about the Silver Line.

Anyways, I went out a little farther for Art Theif! which I think might be my favourite find in Boston.  Very cute stamp and a lovely location for stamping in.

The next day, I planned to do some serious shopping, but I got up before the stores were open to try and get another two boxes - I ♥ Old North Church and Sonnet.  I used the boxes as a reason to do some nice long walking tours of Boston.  Note to self: Boston is gorgeous, I need to go back.

Happy trails!

My newest logbook

So just before leaving for Live & Breathe, my then current log book was nearly filled.  I'm pretty set in my ways, logbook-wise, so I went out on a hunt for another 5x7 hard-covered spiral bound book.  There's lots of them around, my current one was by Eco-Jot, but I had a harder time finding one this time around.

I did find one with a beige cover.  Ugh.  So I bought it.  Ick.  And while driving home a nice thought occurred to me: because of the cover colour, I could cover it with stamps! And I was heading to L&B, so what better thing to do than to have people put their stamps all over it during exchanges! Whee!!

So, here it is in its current glory:

Front and back

Inside front...

... and inside back.

As a result of L&B, I actually filled this brand-new book almost 2/3 of the way, so I'm already having to look for another book.  Have to say though that this is just about my favourite book :)

Happy trails!