• Miscellaneous

    Vegetable Garden Set – Epoch Sylvanian Families / Calico Critters

    March 26, 2024 - By 

    One of the things my daughter did when she was 2 was to scold crows (real or imaginary) and tell them to go away, à la Rabbit from the Hundred Acre Wood. When I noticed the Sylvanian Families / Calico Critters Vegetable Garden Set, I imagined Small Sophie scolding the huge-in-comparison stuffed crow as it tried to enjoy vegetables belonging to the hardworking Sylvanian animals. I generally like toys that that offer more/different play opportunities and prompt usage of different vocabulary and scenarios. (Also, my only Sylvanian Families food was ice cream, so that was the main diet of the…

  • Miscellaneous

    My WordPress Site is Full of 404 Errors!

    March 14, 2024 - By 

    I was suspicious when my primary WordPress site fell to 0 revenue, but maybe everyone who visited had adblocker on. When it lasted 5 days— and when Small Sophie was not around— I took a look at my stats and was surprised to find that I also had 0 views. I checked my site. The home page worked but all the subpages, the content actually useful to the young musician or otherwise, had 404 errors. I use WordPress, and this situation is possible when the .htaccess file has issues. Since it is WordPress, there is an easy solution: I regenerated…

  • Food - Tea Things

    Afternoon Tea at the Bar Artefact / Auberge Saint-Antoine in Québec City, Canada

    March 9, 2024 - By 

    When I am in Québec City, Canada, again, I will strongly consider returning to the Bar Artefact in the Auberge Saint-Antoine for Afternoon Tea. Thé à l’anglaise, as they call it, is served on weekends between 1 and 3 PM. In 2024, the price per person was CA$49 (~US$36.40) if 13 or older, CA$29 (~US$21.54) if between the ages of 6 and 12 inclusive, and free if 5 or under. Reserving afternoon tea was very simple. We visited the front desk to ask for 1, they let us know they were full and could take me at 1:30, and I…

  • Food - Tea Things

    Afternoon Tea at Sally Lunn in Chester, NJ, USA

    March 1, 2024 - By 

    Sally Lunn’s Tea Room & Restaurant in downtown Chester, New Jersey, United States, is a small tea room with a Victorian theme and very good scones. No matter the flavor, they have a nice texture and they serve some of the nicest clotted cream I have found in the US. One important thing to note is that they are dedicated to the Victorian theme. Victorian-era people thought it was bad taste to have bare walls and tried to cover every surface with things. This restaurant tries to do that while still making it possible to run a restaurant that is…

  • Travel

    Crossing by Car Between US and Canada 2024

    February 22, 2024 - By 

    I rarely cross from the US to Canada or Mexico by car, but I recently did. All I really knew was that US citizens just need their passport and that the US-Canada land crossing has a reputation for being a lot quicker than the US-Mexico land crossing. Contrary to what I expected after reading about others’ experiences, the US agent was more friendly on our way back than the Canadian agent on our way to. United States to Canada When we crossed to Canada by Champlain, NY in 2024, it was very quick. You can look ahead to see what…

  • Travel

    Auberge Saint-Antoine in Québec City, Canada, or Archaeology Right in Your Room— If You Can Find It!

    February 13, 2024 - By 

    The Auberge Saint-Antoine in Québec, Canada is a pleasant old hotel with an archeological theme. It is located close to an old alley of Québec, the Rue du Petit-Champlain, which is a lovely little street to walk down. In 2024, I got to find out for myself how comfortably placed it was. Although only a 4-star hotel, the Auberge Saint-Antoine was cleaner and in better condition than the 5-star Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. For example, there were no discarded bandages lurking by the mattress, the bathroom was not dusty anywhere, and the only dirtiness was that the bottom of the…

  • Travel

    Cheap Suitcases in Tokyo at Ginza Karen

    February 9, 2024 - By 

    In Tokyo, Japan, you can buy cheap suitcases, as in roughly US$50 for a 28-inch, in several of the covered shopping streets. If the shopping streets are closed or you do not want to go there, Ginza Karen in particular is well-known for selling suitcases at that same price point. This shop is extremely popular with Chinese tourists and one location, in Nihonbashi, is conveniently open until midnight! Ginza Karen also sells higher-priced suitcases, but most people who go there— myself included— are looking for the ~US$50 suitcases to quickly and cheaply carry back our purchases. I have purchased from…

  • Finance

    A Baby’s Roth IRA

    January 30, 2024 - By 

    Planning ahead is important, and I consider the Roth IRA a useful tool for every person who qualifies. That includes babies, who, like everyone else, should think about saving for their future. Because babies are not capable of comprehending what this is, their parent has to think for them. For the 2023 tax year, you can contribute $6,500 if under age 50 or $7,500 if age 50 or older. There are income limits involved, but I doubt any babies even approach it. Even a mere $300 per year for the child’s entire childhood, with no further contributions made past age…

  • Travel

    Carnaval de Québec 2024: Effigies

    January 22, 2024 - By 

    If you attend in 2024, it is the 70th anniversary of the Carnaval de Québec, a winter festival held ! Attendance requires an effigy of Bonhomme Carnaval if you are a teen or older. For example, my 2-year-old will not need her own effigie parce que les effigies sont “obligatoire pour les 13 ans et plus”. To purchase your effigy, you visit Nos produits carnavalesques – Carnaval de Québec. The snowmen are not sold in mid summer, but sales opened up at some point before I returned to the US in November. Purchasing before January 15th, 2024, allowed for a…

  • Food

    Seagull Egg, or Kamome no Tamago from Japan

    January 19, 2024 - By 

    In the Tohoku region of Japan, a common souvenir item you will see is their regional specialty, the Kamome no Tamago, which translates to “egg of seagull”. In English, they frequently refer to it as a “Seagull Egg”. Like most regional specialties, you will have to physically be in Tohoku (Iwate Prefecture is the safest bet), look online (https://saitoseika.co.jp/), or pass through international departures at the airport to find it. Like most of the other regional products, it has a short life; this one typically has 30 days from the date of manufacture. Although they claim that the motif is…