The Infomaniac Garden Photos Event 2024

 

Yes, the Infomaniac Garden Photos event is finally upon us - Welcome to the show everyone!

 As I type this, there are photos from nine Bloggerati (including mine) waiting in the wings to be published throughout November.  However, I am fully expecting at least one tardy entry - even if I have to scrape their blog for the photos myselves!

 Oh, and due to an unavoidable scheduling clash, there won't be a showing from the Infomaniac duck this year - The Very Mistress sends her apologies.  Instead, may I present the Hexenhäusli Device dove and jackdaw:

 Beaky is livid that he didn't get a starring role, but it's his own fault for being such a demanding little diva!

☙❧

 Now, on to the winners (i.e. the triffids that managed to devour whole persons or limbs) and losers (those that only inflicted minor lacerations or stings) of Terrifying Triffidery.  Just in case anyone hasn't yet seen the previous Terrifying Triffidery post and wants to guess who sent in what, I've redacted the names in the captions below but they can be revealed by selecting/highlighting the blank part.

GPE 2023 : IDV's Zoological Gardens

 This, the final array of flora & fauna from the Infomaniac Garden Photos Event 2023, is my own.

 

Take a Turn Around the Grounds with

M E,  I D V

☙❧

 

 I thought we'd start with the zoological specimens first as the display includes the majority of Hexenhäusli Device's grounds, so you can see the layout of the gardens and many of the plants too (not pictured: the North Lawn and Gardener's Private Retreat):

 

Arial view of the South Gardens

Widdershins from top left: Nursery web spider (Pisaura miribilis) in the red greenhouse [April], Large yellow underwing moth (Noctua pronuba) x2 in the potting station (not the related Satellite as incorrectly marked on the image) [July], Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) [August], Peacock (Aglais io) [August], and some sort of spider that I can't be bothered to try and identify on a rock next to the pond lake [June].

The Birds and the Bees: A Garden Photos Event Q&A

"What if my wildlife photos have critters in them but you can't see the plants/flowers because the critters are sat on a patch of grass or open space?

Does that count as a submission, nonetheless?"

 

asked The Very Mistress in the comments of the previous GPE reminder post.

 

 Yes, it's reminder time again for:

 

the House of

 

I N F O M A N I A C

 

Garden Photos Event 2023

 Well, The Very Mistress raises a good point, and one that's been on my mind lately as I've taken some close-up photos around the garden, but without background for context, they could have been taken anywhere.  So, I have come up with a couple of solutions:

 

I spied this variety of ichneumon wasp (Amblyjoppa proteus - at least I think that's what it is?) while enjoying a G&T in my shade garden

Bitey wishes it to be known that these rather tiny, ambulatory anal beads do NOT belong to him.  And they're certainly not mine, either!

Over the Cusp and Addressing the List

Continued from A Realm Beyond Comprehension and a Shortish List...

 

 "Oof!"  I struggled to extricate myself from the surprisingly prickly rose bush I'd fallen into following a - some would say unnecessarily dramatic - flinch due to a passing sparrow (which had since alighted on the fence and was looking at me with an expression of curiosity).  "Oh, it wasn't Beaky after all.  Where has that dratted bird got to?!"

 

 It had been unnervingly quiet here recently.  Beaky, my terrifying - and extremely annoying - blackbird familiar, had seemingly vanished from the expansive grounds of Hexenhäusli Device, but my survival instinct had yet to dial itself down.  Brushing the muck and bits of rose bush off myself, and sucking on a couple of thorn-inflicted scratches, I headed across the paysho and into my gingerbread mansion to see if the postman postwoman had been.

 "Oh, it's just another cease-and-desist letter from RHS Rosemoor.  They've obviously got the wrong person as I've never even been to-  Hang on..."  But this one contained something that the other three hadn't: a still image seemingly taken from a security camera video - and it didn't paint a pretty picture.  Lurking amongst the azaleas was a witch.  Or, more accurately, someone dressed as a witch.  And rather craply, too, with a parsnip for a nose, and an old measuring funnel for a hat.  "That's not me!  My nose doesn't look like that!"

Well, depending on the light...

Oh, shut up!

 I squinted at the photo for some time until, eventually, I relented with a 'hummmph!' and grudgingly went to fetch my reading glasses in order to make out the details.

 "Aha!" (No, not that one) "Got you!"

An Early Start

 Having mentioned to Jon that I have a couple of posts started, and to Mago (after his inspiring link) that I may go down to the beach this weekend, I bring you this new post as the first step in ridding myself of Lazy Baggageitis (and its instigatory conditions). 

 I woke up at about quarter to five this morning and laid there for a while listening to Beaky in a sing-off with some other balckbird as the sun was nearing the horizon.  Half an hour later, sick of Beaky's increasingly strident racket, I got up and decided to go down to the beach...

Sunrise in the north-east from the cliff top

Down on the promenade

The tinsel is a dead giveaway...

 Oof!  I'm back!  Well, briefly, at any rate.

 I've had some things to deal with which is why I've been, well, not here...  And despair at the state of the world is only part of it.  Signs of an impending infestation of unicorns, and that little shit Beaky skulking around the garden have been of more concern...

.  .  .

 But first, to accompany your scrolling, here's another almost certainly miserable* song from my favourite glum, beardy miseryguts, White Lies: "Time To Give"

* I try not to listen to the lyrics, remember?

.  .  .

 Anyway, back to the topic at hand: Beaky.

This was the view from my kitchen window this morning.  Looks okay, doesn't it?

Until you notice the blurs of black on the bench and birdtable...

A Pink Prelude...

Continued from... The I.T. Wizard of Oz and

The Calamities of the Carmine Quill (part 4)

 

Vworp  Vworp  Vworp

 As the Great Glass Elevator containing Norma-D2 and C3-Peenee faded from view, Mistress Maddie and IDV surfaced from the frothing gincuzzi.

 "Did you hear something?"

 "No.  And neither did you, so come on" Maddie said dragging IDV down again, the two of them disappearing beneath the spume-laden surface.

R E I N I T I A L I S I N G . . .

 "Oh, no" I muttered resurfacing, spitting a bow-tie from between my teeth - where did that come from?  "Not again.  Not now!" 

 

R E I N I T I A L I S A T I O N   C O M P L E T E.

S T O R Y   C H A N G E   I N   T H R E E . . .

 "What?  What's going on?" Maddie spluttered. 

 "The story's reinitialising!"

 

T W O . . .

 

 "So?"

 "So?!  So, I haven't quite got around to writing the next bit, yet!  If it doesn't have a new story to latch onto, the reinitialisation will flail around picking up any old bits of narrative that've been left laying around!"

 

O N E . . .

 

 "Well, I don't see that it'll be any different from any of your other efforts then, Tootes?"

 "Hmmph!"

 

M A R K.

 

A thrilled IDV

(not in shot, Maddie & Asriel)

 Like Venus rising from the waves - albeit it with more stubble - Asriel emerged from the foaming gincuzzi, a look of confusion on his face.  "Where...?  Where am I?"  The confusion turned to mild panic.  "Where are my clothes?!  And my bow-tie?!?!"

 "Oh!" I exclaimed.  "Maybe this won't turn out so badly after all?"

 Maddie clearly agreed as she assisted in pulling Asriel under, the faint grin of realisation that appeared on his lips was followed into the foam by his trademark raised eyebrow...

Gulls & Groynes Against Golden Glamour

The sunlight bouncing off the window frames of this building on the High Street looked far more dramatic and golden in real life.  Bah!

 Now that the Calamities are over with (for now, anyway), and the post I was going to publish has yet to be finished, I thought I'd fall back on that old staple of millions thousands nearly dozens of photos of pretty much the same thing over and over and over again (because I know you love like almost tolerate them).  Yes, it's sunrise time!

 And to accompany your incessant scrolling through this post, how about a little music.  This is "Rescue" by Röyksopp which, to my mind anyway, goes rather nicely with a long, drawn-out sunrise over the sea.  And it's only just over 10 minutes long - you might even get to the end of this post before it finishes!

 The photo above and the first nine below are from yesterday morning:

Cloudy With a Chance of Snowballs

 Like much of the UK (except Devon, it seems), Hexenhäusli Device and its environs has become encumbered with a blanket of snow - the most we've had since the end of Feb/beginning of March 2018.  Unlike three years ago, I didn't have to struggle to get to work (not that I struggled very hard, it has to be said) thanks to working from home for some reason...

 Anyway, here are some photos (which are very similar to those 2018 ones):

The leading photo and the one above are from yesterday's lunchtime excursion

 

That Old Back Passage Called Love

 Madam Arcati's latest Delargo Gardens post once again had me reminiscing about the tight, jungly confines of my own Back Passage when I lived in Norwich twenty-odd years ago.  So much so, in fact, that I found myself trawling through reams of old pictures on a USB stick trying to find some photos.

 Well, I did find some, and rather than let all that time and effort go to waste, I thought I'd pop a selection of them up here (because I have nothing else prepared or even remotely ready in draft).  I also searched through my dusty old blog crypt for ancient posts that featured the original Castle DeVice's tiny garden.  Although I lived in Castle DeVice from the back half of 1998 to early 2009, I can only find photos from 2006 onwards (I think that this must have been the time I discovered digital photography)...

 While you explore my back passage, why not listen to Ella Fitzgerald singing about it (she misheard "Back Passage" as "Black Magic", but she is getting on a bit...):

Note: I spent ages getting all the photos in date order, from August 2006 to December 2008.  Then, as soon as I viewed them all together, I realised that they'd look better in month/season order to show the progression of growth, so that's how I've displayed them here.

Late April (2008) - Left: Halfway down my back passage and nearing my back door, an avocado tree (grown from a pit), arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica), various ferns, a hanging basket in need of a good sort out, and some bamboo.  

Middle: Just inside the entrance to my back passage are a couple of New Zealand flaxes (Phormium somesuch), heuchera, a tufty old bit of blue-green grass, and some daffs.  

Right: The paysho - or staging area to my back passage - repleat with a potted box (Buxus), rose, bluebells, geranium, daffs, scylla, and violas.

Drunken Shags with Wonky Groynes

 It's that time of year again...

 Many happy returns to Dinahmow today! And to Mistress Maddie and Rimpy* on Sunday!

 Oh, and what else?  Ah, yes, apart from being Hallowe'en, the 31st is also the beginning of the House of Infomaniac's 10th Anniversary Garden Photos Event!  And, remember, this prestigious event is being held here rather than at The Very Mistress's this year, so you'll need to email your green-fingered photos - including any Terrifying Triffidery you may have happened to snap - to me (email address in my Blogger Profile) by Wednesday 28th October.  Mark it on your calendars!

* Sorry Rimpy, the calendar had already been printed by the time I discovered that you had an October birthday, too.

Lurkers

 The last couple of days have seen some unusual suspects lurking on the cusp of Hexenhäusli Device's sphere of influence.*  There have also been some entirely usual suspects but, before we get to them, the first of the unusual: a buzzard!

 

 Buzzards are a regular occurance around here, but they're usually found circling high above with only their tell-tale cry a giveaway that they're about.  They roost in some of the tall trees behind Hexenhäusli Device, but this one looks like it stopped for a rest in the sycamore tree overhanging the garden, which is very unusual.

 

A Perfectly Cromulent Excuse

I know I haven't been around much lately.  I've been dealing with something...

Show yourself, whoever you are!

Beaky Babies

 As you can tell, this is not a geologically fascinating chalk bed (non-geological fascination may vary and is not guaranteed) as alluded to in my last post, but an alert blackbird of the "you little turd" variety.
 Yes, the vile little bastard has spawned yet another brood of unspeakable evil as the following photos will illustrate.  The only good news is that they seem to be running Beaky ragged!

The little git has resorted to eating pink food like some common or garden tit!

I have to admit, he's getting quite good at it.  Much better than in previous years - not even a flash of cloaca.

Tears of a Clone

  From the extensive gardens of Château DeVice this very afternoon... 

Uh, oh.  A stand off.  But which one's the real Beaky?

"Ooh!  Gladis, look!  I think there's going to be a fight!"

Not Beaky. Mostly...

 I know it's only been ten days since Beaky was last inflicted upon you - and some of you may still not be over the shock of seeing Beaky brazenly bathing, baring all - but, apart from the headline photo, all the rest are Beaky-free.
 Well, except for one as I couldn't resist humiliating the strident little pest!

 The following photos were taken this morning:

A male chaffinch pecking up scraps

A greenfinch.  It's good to see a greenfinch as, last year, most of them around here suffered from some sort of disease that killed them off.  There were sad little greenfinch corpses all over the place.

Still Twitching

Continued from It's That Time of Year...

(which was itself continued, sort of, from In Space, No One Can Hear You Peep)

 "You're dithering again."

  "I am not!"

 "Procrastinating, then."

  "How dare you!"

 "Then how do you explain the crappy constellation post from a couple of days ago?"

  "Well...  Um...  You see..."

 "Ha!"

  "Oh, shut up.  You're just as bad as m-  Look out!!!"

 Broom violently lurched to starboard almost unseating the bickering witch sitting astride it.  Passing to port in their previous flight path sailed a heavily laden flying carpet piloted by a small human of the female persuasion and an even smaller and very excitable dog.  The woman, oblivious to the narrowly averted collision was struggling with a scarf that seemed intent on smothering her and, in the process of disentangling herself from the scarf, elbowed a precariously perched box off the carpet.

 As they gathered their scattered wits, the witch watched as the small black box disgorged dozens of square, black envelopes, most of which fluttered slowly towards the ground.  A few, however, fell with rather more gusto.  Clearly they contained something with a bit of weight to them.  Then realisation struck: They were-

 "My After Eights!" the magic carpet woman shrieked as she came to a halt.  Her distinctive voice brought the witch to his senses.  As did her yapping, bouncy dog.

 "Ms Scarlet?!?" he asked, unable to contain his incredulity as he manoeuvred his broom towards her now hovering carpet.

Ew! This sounds, horrifyingly, like a lewd euphemism.

Urgh.  It does, doesn't it?!  Well, we're not going to change it now.

 "Mr Devine!"

 "What are you doing up here?  I was just about to collect you."

 "Well, I wondered where you were - you're very late, you know - and thought I'd better make my own way there."

 "Oh.  Yes.  Sorry about that.  I got a bit caught up with constellations and rampaging jelly babies et cetera et cetera.  You know how it is?"

 "I suppose so" Ms Scarlet grudgingly agreed, trying not to think of gold leaf, smelly green shorts, and attic-bound nieces.

 "I didn't know you had a magic carpet?" IDV asked trying to get a good look at it beneath all Ms Scarlet's paraphernalia.  "Where did you get it from?"

 "Ah.  Um.  It's, uh...  I got it from..." Ms Scarlet blushed with shame as she tried to avoid answering.  "Oh!" she shrieked as Broom dropped a few feet giving IDV an unimpeded, but highly improper view of the underside of her 'carpet'.

 "It's a...  It's a..." IDV stuttered in disbelief.

 "Boots the chemist" Ms Scarlet muttered.  "Yes, it's an octopus sucker bath mat!"

BRAZEN BEAKY IN BARE-ALL BIRD BATH BOMBSHELL!

Snowbirds

  Two inches of snow might as well be two feet.  As far as Château DeVice is concerned, this is enough not to risk going to work.  The fact that the main roads may be relatively clear is neither here nor there - I'm not walking up the road to check them just in case they are clear.  Although, Château DeVice has been invaded by sisters, nieces and nephew, so I've escaped upstairs to construct this post, and I'm actively considering going to work to get away from it all once this has been posted!
  Anyway, here are the snowbirds: 

Here's Beaky lurking amongst the plant pots

Not the Usual Suspects

 While making a cup of coffee on Thursday morning, I absently gazed out of the kitchen window at the birds as they went about their business in the bijou garden of Château DeVice.  Reminded of Mistress Maddie's Usual Suspects series of blog posts, I thought this was a good opportunity to do one of my own, and set about taking some photos of the garden visitors.  While not quite as colourful as some of Maddie's visitors, the birds of Château DeVice are no less entertaining.

 Until a certain arrival spoiled everything...

House sparrows enjoying a bath