https://rhiaro.co.uk/ @rhiaro@toot.cat

If you read and enjoy my travel posts through my website or Mastodon* and you are planning to travel to somewhere I've been and you can't afford an actual travel agent and you find travel planning too stressful or time consuming to fit into your life, I would be delighted to share advice.

My specialties are land and sea (not air) transit, especially long distance European buses, and finding vegan food. I'm happy to also help with general stuff to do, and even more in-depth help with planning and realistic budgeting if you want because I actually love wasting away hours and days researching travel stuff.

#rhiarofreetravelagent

*or a feed reader you built yourself or another decentralised service

https://rhiaro.co.uk/2019/07/mastodon-travel

Once again my #coop is hiring: https://app.beapplied.com/apply/bx6k4sjaxe

We do open data stuff for public good. This role in particular is focussed on beneficial ownership data analysis and standards development, but internally there's a lot of flexibility about what you work on and we have a variety of ongoing projects. It's particularly fun to do transparency and anti-corruption stuff though.

We have flat pay, are all remote, mostly UK-based, mostly part time, extremely flexi, and always looking for new ways to improve our wellbeing.

There's a birdsite thread with more info here: https://twitter.com/opendatacoop/status/1450787984706506755 (which I might recreate on here later).

#coopjobs #cooplife

The great thing about procrastibaking is that at the end of the day when you realise you haven't got any work done, you can console yourself with cake. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/10/great-thing-about

This morning my brother found me buzzing around at 7am in the kitchen, nodded knowingly, and said "ah it's your superfan day. That's why you're up early getting all your jars out."

And indeed! The grand opening [https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/fifes-first-vegan-and-plastic-free-deli-set-to-open-in-kirkcaldy-3416068] of the Kirkcaldy branch of Grain and Sustain [https://grainandsustain.co.uk/] has arrived!

I got there just after 9 to find it delightfully buzzing, jammed my backpack full of jars of supplies, and had lovely chats with a few local business owners who I bumped into who I also see regularly. Plus the sun was out. I am feeling the love for #Fife!

https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/10/morning-brother

Replacing the smelly carpet with laminate in ~Dave's room~ the guest room has escalated into installing insulation under the floor in half the flat. Which is definitely good in the long run by BY GOLLY do I want this disruption to be over.

Replacing the smelly carpet with laminate in my room will, I anticipate, escalate into creating a secret compartment under the floor with a trap door because I think I have 4-5 feet of space down there.. (plus installing under floor insulation in the other half of the flat).

#diy https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/10/replacing-smelly

Of all of the things that could divide the current W3C TAG, ReSpec vs Bikeshed is going to be our downfall. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/10/things-could

Posted 21 photos: A day trip to areas around the border of Fife and Tayside, with some #foraging stops. Found enormous pestle puffballs, and a few new things to ID.

Also pictured: agricus and dryads from closer to home, earlier in the week. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-foraging-tayside

Posted 14 photos: #Foraging on my doorstep last week. Puffballs in Ravenscraig Park. A new flush of dryads saddle on the first tree I saw fruit in June! Don't they know their season finished a month ago?? A relative of the hedgehog fungus. Agricus, the ones that didn't have sneaky little beak marks in. Several unknowns.

Also pictured: Max helps with mushroom ID. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-foraging-fife

Posted 20 photos: Chanterelle emergency in #Fife woodlands. Also hedgehog fungus and a few to ID. #foraging https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-chanterelle-emergency

Posted 39 photos: An absolute chanterelle emergency in the woods by Loch Ness. I picked a bagful but we were supposed to be hiking.. I've never seen anything like it, there were so many. Also found hedgehog fungus, a few boletes (but most were one to two weeks too old), shaggy inkcaps, my first woolly milkcaps, a handful of puffballs, and a few to be IDed. #foraging https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/10/photos-mushrooms-loch-ness

My brother and I are going on an adventure together this weekend. I'm paying for everything, as a goodbye present. With the caveat that if he fails to actually leave, he's refunding it in full. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/brother-going

I'm not usually around when my brother goes for his before-bed snack, but I was last night. Thoughtful of him, as he heads to his room with the last slice of lemon pie on a plate and a fork in his hand, licking his lips, to ask: "is it okay if I have this?" as if it wasn't a foregone conclusion. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/im-usually-around

Colleagues who offer to hold a meeting for you so you can get on with other stuff instead are precious indeed. <3 #cooplife https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/colleagues-who

I accidentally made seitan the other day. I was trying to make a not-omelette (aka nomelette) and was mixing the equal parts flour and water with all the seasonings and stuff but it was going springy instead of batter-y?! I'd grabbed wheat gluten instead of gram flour. Fortunately it was a totally valid seitan mix so I stuck it in the fridge and started again. Now I'm frying it for a stirfry and it's super. Good job, past me. #food #vegan https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/accidentally-made

I haven't done a Week in Review since like May but REST ASSURED I'm keeping notes in a text file and I will flood you with all of them at some point. I'm behind on photo logging and like to link to stuff from the WiR, is why. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/havent-done-week

Posted 10 photos: An afternoon in the community orchards at Buckhaven for apples, pears, and plums. Also spied some aging parasol mushrooms. And stopped in the ice cream shop at East Wemyss on the way home. #foraging #fife https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-buckhaven

Posted 74 photos: #fife #foraging in various woodlands between Kirkcaldy and Dundee. Loads of chanterelles and amethyst deceiver, plus lots of new mushrooms to ID. https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-dundee

I am beyond excited that my fave independent zero waste shop Grain & Sustain (grainandsustain.co.uk/) is coming to Kirkcaldy, and bringing a vegan deli with them! https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fife/2529380/grain-and-sustain-fife-zero-waste-business-to-open-third-shop/

And I'm thrilled that my local coffee bean supplier Ecobean (https://www.ecobean.co.uk/) is getting recognition for having a completely closed-loop zero waste thing going on as well. https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/business/business-gateway-back-fife-mans-thriving-eco-friendly-coffee-bean-business-3356136

#fife https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/beyond-excited

Posted 23 photos: A visit to the woods on my doorstep. We were hoping for more chicken of the woods, but it seems like it's beefsteak fungus season! This deeply disturbing bracket fungus which bleeds and wobbles like raw meat is found mostly on oak trees, anywhere from by the ground to way up high.

We levelled up on this foray though - mushrooms up to 11 feet high are no longer safe from us due to my unexpected new skill of precariously and hilariously balancing on R's shoulders.

Also a great haul of puffballs. And a few late hen of the woods.

#foraging #fife https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-foraging-3

Posted 25 photos: Friday evening mushroom foray. Good haul of various boletes, chanterelles, russulas, plus my first amethyst deceiver and porcelain fungus. #foraging #fife https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-foraging-2

Posted 24 photos: Day 4 of West Highlands adventure - off-trail very wet valley walk back to Glenfinnan. Collected loads more mushrooms to take home. #travel #hiking https://rhiaro.co.uk/2021/09/photos-glenfinnan-2