Happy Birthday Jon!

 I had my hose out watering the fuchsias when look who leapt out all wet and surly.  Yes, Tom Daley!  Quite what he was doing in the undergrowth, I don't know?  Anyway, I haven't got time to deal with him now, so perhaps one of you can get him out from under my feet?  Jon, I know it's an imposition - and on your birthday too - but would you mind?

Fuchsias from Madam Arcati's Back Yard

Tom Daley via Fabulous Magazine/Pyramid International

Highlights and Horrors of Hexenhäusli Device Gardens

 Hello!  I thought I'd better pop in as it's been a couple of weeks since I last surfaced.  I don't have very much to say for myself, but I do have some photos from the gardens here at Hexenhäusli Device.  

 Above is the second showing from that Hippeastrum in last month's Of Hawkmoths and Drag Queen Knock-Offs (you can see the first set of blooms in the photo below). 

 To the right, the first little 'pineapples' of my Pineapple Lilies (Eucomis comosa 'Sparkling Burgundy') sprouted earlier this month. 

 And below, rocketing up in front of the jasmine, clematis, and permanent pea (everlasting sweet pea), is a double white hollyhock (sourced from Delargo Seeds back in 2021).  I sowed it and its many siblings last year (along with some other seeds - as seen here), and while most found their way to a border at the side of the house and flowered that year, this one was a spare that I tucked in beneath the trellis next to the paysho.  It didn't seem to do very well then, but it was obviously establishing itself ready for this year.

This was taken on 2nd July.

The hollyhock is now even taller at just over three metres (that's nearly 10 feet)

A Garden Photos Event Announcement (massive, misshapen phallus not pictured)

 As promised last month, this is another official reminder to continue photographing your greenery (or, for some of you, to start, even) in preparation for... 

 

The House of

I N F O M A N I A C

Garden Photos Event 2022

 

... in November.

 Whether you have expansive rolling grounds, a tight back passage, or a precariously perched pot plant, get snapping to show off the results of your greenfingers (or brown thumbs) - we want to see it all!  No Brugmansia too big, no Soleirolia too small - anything goes.  And please include a brief - or verbose - caption/blurb with each photo/set-of-photos, ideally something that amongst other things (gardening tales, tips & observations, who your veiny, purple love cabbage reminds you of, for example) states what the plant is, because I'm not Jon (The Official Plant Spotter of Blogdom) and I don't want to do any more research than I have to!

I thought I'd use these photos I took...

 As well as photos of your current garden/courtyard/balcony/window box/pot plant/salad drawer, thanks to Dinah, this year's event will also include a 'Greenery of Gardens Past' exhibit.  To take part, please send in a photo or two of a previous garden that you tended, or a prized specimen that may no longer be with you (don't worry: this blog can support sepia toned and/or black & white photos - engravings and stone tablets are out, though).  It would be great to see how your garden has changed over the years, or if you've moved house, what your previous garden(s) looked like and what you grew.  For the old hands at this, if you can find something that hasn't featured in a Garden Photos Event before, even better! 

... up at the allotment yesterday morning...

 Finally, Terrifying Triffidery is still a thing so, just like last year and the year before, please include a photo of a monstrous or weird specimen for the Hallowe'en GPE prelude.  Or, if you don't have something like a corpse flower or a massive, misshapen phallus arum hanging around, a plant taken from an odd angle/closeup/while drunk will do just as well.

 Photos should be emailed to me by Saturday 29th October - my blog gmail address is in my Blogger Profile (there look, on the right at the top of the sideboard).  Or, if you have my personal hotmail address, use that instead.

... to illustrate this post.

 For any of The Very Mistress's old guard Bitches, or any lurkers or only occasional/sporadic visitors here who would like to take part - please do!  If you're not sure what this is all about, please click on my Infomaniac Garden Photos Event page (at the top of this blog) for info & a little history, and for links to previous years' gardens.  Oh, and don't worry if you haven't ever commented here before, and don't concern yourselves with not knowing who we are/us not knowing who you are - the more the merrier!  If you have any questions, thoughts or ideas, please leave them in the comments and I'll do my best not to ignore them.

 And remember: The Garden Photos Event is NOT a contest!  We're not looking for perfection and there'll be no judging - we just want to see how your garden grows, and maybe swap a few tips.

Happy Gardening!

Sea Cows at Sunset

 Had I been a minute or two earlier, and that annoying cloud bank not been there, last night's sunset is something like what you would have seen at the end of last month's Summer Solstice.  Although, preferably without the sea cows...

A Frisson Amongst the Flora

 Thursday was quite a day.  For me, anyway.  After a delightful swim with* an aesthetically pleasing young man - and the last fifteen minutes with a lane to myself which meant I could lark about underwater - amongst other things, I paid a quick visit (along with The Mother) to Felbrigg Hall walled garden.  Whilst there I experienced something I'd almost forgotten existed.  More on that in a bit - first, let's look at some photos of the garden.

: : :

Oh!  Before I forget, here's Sophie Ellis-Bextor's latest, "Hypnotized"

(x @Wuh Oh, whoever that is?)

 Anyway, carry on!

: : :

Norfolk has long been one of the sunniest and driest counties in England, and with the increasing temperatures of late, the gardens at Felbrigg have been planted with what would once have been unsuitable specimens.

"Oh, no! Fanny's exposed!"*

 Well, that's the second quarter of the year almost done and dusted - where is it going in such a hurry??  So, as is now traditional, here's what I've been reading and watching since the last update:

Read

∘  The rest of Typeset in the Future, by Dave Addey  (from Star Trek: The Motion Picture onwards - last seen here, and presented on the right by my little Box Fox, Rutherford, from Star Trek: Lower Decks)

∘  And I'm still reading Little, Big, by John Crowley (I'm just over halfway through, now.  I bought it on Kindle and thought it must be thousands of pages long as it's taking so long to get through, but I've just checked and it's 'only' 564 pages...) 

Watched

∘  Call Me By Your Name (Netflix)  - This reminded me of parts of my own teenage years.  Not that I was a cool, self-assured teen (far from it, in fact) who had a dalliance with an older man in Italy, unfortunately.  The fly on Timothée Chalamet's shirt right at the end stole the show, though.

∘  Cobalt Blue (Netflix) - My gods the artist lodger (played by Prateik Babbar) is handsome!

∘  Star Trek: Picard (Amazon Prime) - S2, eps 5-7 then I gave up on this incoherant mess, leaving eps 8-10 unwatched.  I should have known after the crushing disappointment of season one.

∘  A Monster Calls (BBC iPlayer) - Enchanting and sad.

Of Hawkmoths and Drag Queen Knock-Offs

 First things first, the leading photo in this post is to address the disappointment of no actual sunset in yesterday's Summer Solstice post.  Poor Mr Tonking was so looking forward to it, so I hope this Big Gay Sunset (thank you, Jon) from out of my pit nest boudoir window on the 19th will suffice?

Now, on to the titular moths and knock-offs, also from the 19th:

This hummingbird hawkmoth (and friend/partner) was drinking nectar from the last of the Jasmine flowers.

This was the best shot I could get as they were zipping around so quickly.

There are some better photos back in 2020 and 2015.

I get up at four in the morning so you don't have to!

 Yes, the longest day is here, and didn't it come around quickly!?  Where is the year going? 

 Anyway, as I'm working today, rather than miss out on the extra few seconds of daytime because I'm stuck in front of a laptop, I thought I'd capture the day so I can experience it tomorrow instead (I have the day off!).  Of course, if any of you, the delightful Blogorati, wish to make use of this day after it's occurred too, then help yourselves!

 This is part one.  I'll post part two tonight, soon after it happens.

Late!  (And it's not because Camera's clock is six minutes fast...)

Ah. There you are!

White Cliffs of Over(strand)

Uh, oh...  This doesn't seem right?

 On Thursday, knowing that the temperatures on Friday were going to hit at least 30° and therefore any outside venturing then would result in heatstroke, and crisping of skin followed by complete desiccation, I slapped on some sunscreen, stepped outside and sloped off down to the beach to get some fresh air and have a paddle.

 

 

 Only it didn't quite go according to plan...

A sudden embiggening of the landscape alerted me to the fact that I had inadvertantly happened upon the Lilliputian Cusp interface again, promptly becoming debigulated.

Things That Can Fly...

Can you guess what it is yet?

 As I don't have anything else to post about, here are some photos of flying things that would otherwise languish on my hard drive.  While the cow below may be able to jump over the moon, I'm not convinced that it can actually fly.  Fortunately, there's a pheasant in the lower right corner which meant I can include this photo (it was taken at the beginning of June while I was cat-stting at my sister, Inexcuseable's house while she was away - as were the following three photos).

Moo!  Yes, I love being disturbed at 6:15 in the morning by a cow trying to eat from a bird feeder.

Creatures From the Black Lagoon* - And a Load of Tits

 

 While having a little break by the pond, I thought I'd try and take a few photos of some of the creatures that dwell within.  The frog tadpoles are quite big now, and have started to grow legs as you can see above. 

 They'll come in handy for certain spells... 

 We'll see about that!  And most of the young water boatmen (Greater waterboatman {Notonecta glauca} above and below) will leave the pond and fly to other bodies of water later in the summer.

This dragonfly nymph seemed to be attempting to get out of the pond...

A Paddle At Last!

 I've got to prepare for an invasion - I suspect The Little Witch and Vom Smallhäusen will appear any moment now - so, as I have just finished sorting out the photos I took on this morning's drift along the beach, I thought I'd pop the least boring up here for you to peruse while I'm battening down the hatches etc.  Besides, I haven't furnished you with beach pics for quite some time, so this will be a nice(?) change from Triffids and such (although there are some triffids here).

 I shall return once normality has descended upon Hexenhäusli Device once more...