Sunday & Thursday Swim: Double Helping

P ♡ M is upside down, not me!

 Another sunny day means another dip in the sea.  Or two. 
 Yes, there are two lots of beach photos here - I couldn't post Sunday's on Sunday because I didn't want to rub Jon's nose in how bright and sunny it was here while he was suffering yet more rain in That London (we had all our rain on Saturday, then more on Sunday evening, as I recall). 
 Oh, and Jon?  While I didn't get stung by a jellyfish, I have just been stung all the the arm by nettles while clearing a path up my embankment!

 Anyway, on with the show.  This first lot of photos are from Sunday - the tide was on its way in (in fact, it was almost at its highest point when I left - compare the first and last photos), and so were the clouds:

Thursday Swim: Calligraphy & Cake

 Before we get to the calligraphy and cake - I can tell that you're all just a quiver with anticipation! - I have some photos from the weekend to dump here offload graciously share.
 Sunday saw a lunchtime, post-rain wander up Tower Lane, across the field and down the road to the skewed railway bridge, across to Madams Lane, then back home.  Along the way, various things caught my attention, including these closed bindweed flowers on the right which look like they're holding hands.
 There were also, baby toads (some of which may have been trampled underfoot - oops!), that mossy post again, a dead tree that Beaky guards for some reason I've yet to fathom, butterflies, and - once home - a bloody massive bumblebee!

Saturday Swim: The Seven Sigils of Groyne

 "And, lo, did the seven sigils appeareth on his gnarled and ancient groyne!" - - Anon

  Or somesuch...

 Anyway, before we get to all that groyne-related malarkey, something else is afoot.  And I don't mean The Host's pale and slightly repulsive effort on the right there.
 Hey!  I think I'll carry on with this, thank you.
 Fine.  You do that.

 So, just after 8:00 this morning, we ventured down to the beach again for a swim before the tide went out and the tourists and daytrippers arrived.  I don't think Camera was on board with the relatively early start, as it got all moody and sullen, as the photo below demonstrates:

Sunday Swim: Plane Sailing

 This morning was warm enough, and the tide was about right early enough, for a swim in my (June) 2020 Swim Spot (see map in previous post).  The photo above is how it looked when I got there.

s'all right, I s'pose...

 After my swim, and on my way back home, I saw this little sailing boat (you can't really make it out on the first photo below, but there is a cormorant [unless it's a crow?], and some wally on a paddleboard).

And then there were two...

 Right.  I think you've all had enough of that Star Trek stuff, haven't you.  So, as I haven't got much else in the way of distractions, here are some photos from the last week or two.
 First up, the End-of-the-Line from just after my second sea swim on 28th June:

Forties Sentinel standing watch

Art Trek: Aefvadh

It's the beginning of another month, so you you know what that means: Star Trek time!

In Times of Crisis…

As we’ve all seen, 2020 hasn’t been such a stellar year up until now. We’ve got a pandemic on our hands, social unrest, a climate that’s going haywire… The list goes on.

But we’re here for something else. Something optimistic. Something better! June is Crisis month, and I ask of all of you, should you choose to tackle it like it’s nothing, to show us what the Federation does in times of crisis. Show us the heroics, the sacrifices, the lone ship sent to rescue the Kobayashi Maru that started it all.

In short: show us the best that the species can get while helping each other!

 This theme, as set by the winner of May's art challenge, had me stumped for the first week or so.  I didn't want to depict a crisis - I didn't want to deal with fighting, and sacrifices, and destruction even if someone (or some people) were going to turn on the heroics and effect a daring rescue.  However, I didn't want to sit this one out, either, so I started to think about the big crisis events that had rocked the Federation, wondering if I could somehow get around the actual event itself.

 The first thing that came to mind were the various Borg incursions (of 2366/67, 2373, and 2381), but they seemed unremittingly grim.  Then the 2387 destruction of Romulus popped into my head - as briefly shown in the 2009 Star Trek reboot movie.  But it was the evacuation prior to destruction - as alluded to in the latest Star Trek series, Picard - that got my attention.  I thought I might portray the Federation in a more positive light than the cynical, distrustful, self-centred organisation as seen in (the really quite loathsome) Picard.