Hello Mate!

Ahead of Confuzzled, we have had our friend Trapa staying from Vancouver. Taneli and I picked him up from Manchester Airport in the morning as Wolfie had to run our regularly monthly meet. On the way we also picked up Entei-rah and the four of us travelled back to Pudsey just in time for the annual Pudsey Carnival, a motley collection of floats, marching people and advertisements. The bagpipe procession leading the event was its main draw while it was great seeing the Leeds Rhinos mascot Ronnie the Rhino make an appearance, along with Pudsey Bear. There were also some kids on lorries penned in as if they were being led to the slaughterhouse.

It was a lovely sunny day and having missed the start of the meet, we opted to take a taxi down there. Soon enough we arrived and I opted to do som fursuiting which was rather hot given the conditions. It was quite an international meet, the only one in the UK the weekend before CFz, so we had a fair few Americans and Canadians present ahead of the con. In addition we had Brazilians and Poles so it was quite a party, even if the bar was rather warm. Suiting was great fun, particularly as I could just sunbathe in suit, while I also found a half empty apple juice carton meaning I could pretend to pee in the street. I gave Fibrekitty a guided tour in suit and we were even allowed in the Library as the lady on the front desk loved us so much. Meanwhile I am still surprised just how pink Lupe is in direct sunlight, the sparkles add to the depth of colour.

After the meet, we went to Trinity Kitchen before Arcais and I headed to Kirkstall to do some charity work, stewarding for the Midnight Memory Walk. This involved standing on a street corner for four hours guiding fully grown women across a road even though traffic lights were already there. I felt a bit silly doing this but it was more about providing a friendly face, directing people where to go and to hand our refreshments and plasters if anyone needed it. At that time of night in that location, I thought two suits and no spotters wouldn't be good so I stewarded Arc for the evening, who was excellent and made everyone smile. We even saw some foxes dooping about the river next to our station while the ramshackle pub opposite kept giving us free drink for our efforts. This is puppy approved!

The route doubled back on itself so there was a big throng at the beginning and then everyone dribbled back later. The middle bit was a little dull but we got to rest and a van came around and gave us tea. We also got to eat our complementary food and bond a bit, it was nice to chat. We did this on a wall near a lighting store, whose lights suspiciously came on for no reason after midnight. It was scary. We also spent a lot of time saying 'Hello mate' from the Resolva weed commercial because we found it amusing.

We were done by 2am and with no partners to pick us up through drink and sleep, we grabbed a taxi back with a nice gentlemen. I took Arc back first even though it would have made sense for me to get out before her, making up a story about a dodgy key to assuage the rather nice taxi driver who was perplexed why we were doing it this way (it was the chivalrous thing to do particularly at that hour). We were both home by 3am after a tiring but amazing day.

Farthing Wood Friends

On Sunday, we woke up around lunchtime due to the previous evening's charity work and Trapa needing to adjust to his new timezone. Wolfie needed to collect a bench from a salesman who had been unreliable once before and unsurprisingly he wasn't in again so he gave up.

It was a wondrously sunny day and Draken wanted to go to Howarth as there was a German beer served in a bar there that he particularly enjoyed. As we could ride the Worth Valley railway, we thought it would be a good day out for Trapa too as I knew he enjoys steam locomotion. So we all headed to Keighley and soon boarded the train into Bronte Country. It was then we realized it was 1940s weekend and many were dressed up to celebrate the decade during which you could find your house had been blown up. It was a nostalgia trip for many and made quite a scene although seeing the range of full dead fur animals draped around people's necks was quite saddening.

There was a festival going on in the park where we saw some locals doing the jive including a sailor with a big arse. We also bought some local (puppy) fudge as well as gorged ourselves on hot dogs and ice cream. The Main Street was replete with old vehicles and at the top was a full Spitfire but in all honesty it was a little too crowded for me. We grabbed our beer from the Howarth Steam Brewery, another local brewing place which is thriving at the moment. Sadly they didn't do flights off tasters due to the festival while a sign at the back said strictly no Nazi regalia, clearly it was a very British event.

We grabbed some olde fashioned sweets and opted to forgo the Bronte stuff, not being a fan of literature conveying such sensibilities. The steam train was the best bit as we all stuck our heads out of the window pretending to be dogs. We had a Human Centipede selfie where I looked like I was vomiting my hair and we also met Taneli's Dad who rides up and down the railway as he has an annual pass. The smell of steam was very evocative and it was a rather quaint scene as it passed through sunlit country. The seats were also super comfy too, far better than the shite you get now.

At the other end, we decided to show Trapa around Saltaire, where we saw a cyclist swerve past two other riders before losing control and falling into the canal. The smell was quite strong. We also looked at the mill and organized Victorian town surrounding it before going to Shipley where we got Trapa to try an authentic Bradford curry at Aagrar. It was buffet night, allowing Trapa to sample a range of starters and mains, something which we all indulged in. I think he quite enjoyed the range of curries available but like me I think he was bowled over by the starters.

We went to local bar The Fox after this just to say we were in the Fox on twitter (guffaw guffaw). It also sells a range of craft beer and had been recommended to us - it didn't disappoint.

Upon arriving at home, Taneli (who had driven Wolfie's car back) left and we introduced our Canadian friend to The Animals of Farthing Wood. We saw four episodes on Sunday and a further three on Monday, those by request as he got into the show and wanted to see more. Unlike me, who has a penchant for Fox, Badger is his favourite character although he did like Adder while finding Weasel annoying. Hopefully we can watch the remainder of Series 1, the best series in my view, at Confuzzled. Some of his acerbic comments were quite funny and he developed a love for the show as the story progressed. As for me, twenty years on it still doesn't get old. Fox was my first furry crush and the show awakened my furry side. I still enjoy watching it to this day.