The Birthday with an Inconvenient Year at the Beginning

 Yes, it's the end of the year again.

 Not the end of this year again - I'm not sure who'd want to go through that again!

 No, I meant the end of another year in general.

 Well, perhaps just say what you mean next time.  It would save an awful lot of confusion.

 I'm sure no one was confused.  And aren't you just picking in an attempt to pad the word count out a bit?

 What do you mean?  Of course not!

 So the fact that you must have noticed neither of our SubConsciousnesses have left us a splendid end-of-year round up that we can embellish with our gracious presences doesn't have anything to do with this pointless bickering?

 Hmmph.  No.  Where are the little sods, anyway?

 Well, mine is at the gin.  I have no idea where yours has got to.  

 Double hmmph!  Right.  We'd better get on with what little we've got, then.

  

 First up: Happy Birthday Savvy!

 Yes, many happy returns!  Sorry you've had to go through this whole year to get to your birthday award.  At least there were holidays and garden photos and Freakin' Green Elf Shorts along the way.

 

 

[ crickets ]

 

 

 And finally: "Rain Down Love" by the Freemasons. 

 (This is the only thing the dratted SubCs had left us!)

Happy New Year to you all!

 Oh, and:

... of course.

 

The Year with a Convenient Birthday at the End

 I'm sure it won't come as any surprise when I tell you that I've been somewhat slack with regards to blogging this year - both posting here, and reading all of yours.  And the Host hasn't been much better, either.

 Hey!

 Well, isn't it true?

 Yes.  I suppose so.  Except for June and November.

 Anyway, June and November aside, we've pretty much given up on our annual "Year of..." extravaganza, and instead focused on one very important award that always features towards the end of said extravaganza.  And that award is, the Most Inconvenient Birthday Award. 

 Only this year, it's the Most Convenient as it's saved us from exploding with frustration and exhaustion in an attempt to pack two or three days worth of work into just a couple of hours!

 And so, we'd like to present this golden, hazelnutty, chocolatey award to, none other than Savvy!

 

✮ ✮ ✮

Breaking the Circle

 Enough moping around and using "all" (see previous post for barely any explanation whatsoever) as an excuse for not blogging.  I am determined to, if not make a grand return, then at least dip our toes back in and go from there.  I must admit, we have almost returned several times, but something always cropped up that was an easy target to use as an excuse for not returning.  And if we leave it much longer, everything that we've missed will become too overwhelming, and we'll never come back.

 

 Anyway, yesterday evening while having tea (the late afternoon meal, not the hot drink) I took to my bookmarks and selected a blog I hadn't looked at in ages: Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs, "a blog about the science, art, and pop culture of Mesozoic life" that I find to be witty and educational, plus it contains dinosaurs!  After reading a couple of the recent posts, I slowly scrolled down to see if something would catch my eye, and something did.  I recognised a photo of a family of Triceratops ambling past Dippy's Pizza & Fries and clicked the 'continue reading' thingy.  

Nieces about to be gobbled up like Children McNuggets

 My suspicion was confirmed: The photo was taken at ROARR! the dinosaur park right here in Norfolk that I ended up at for my nephew's birthday back in August 2019, so I read - and very much enjoyed - the article.  So much so, in fact, that I was moved to leave a comment.  And it was then that I remembered I had featured some photos of the park right here on this very blog that I could link to!  So, I found the requisite post - and very quickly became subsumed in our back catalogue of adventures Over the Cusp...

Who 8 All the Ferrero Rocher?

Continued from . . .  Part 7 of the Epic Collaboration – A Revelation of Sorts

 

 I hastily stuffed the half-unwrapped Ferrero Rocher, the syringe, and the small bottle marked with complicated sigils under a couple of cushions as the door to the study opened - without having been knocked on first!

 

 "Haven't you heard of knocking?"

 "Hmm?  Yes, but this isn't your house" Dinah said, barging into the room, bottle glass of wine in hand, and taking an unwanted interest in the cushions - admittedly I was doing a crap job of trying to look nonchalant whilst concealing the evidence of my diabolical deed.  "What have you got there?" she asked.

 "Nothing.  I'm, um, just taking a break from all the noise and partying downstairs?"

 "Right" Dinah didn't look or sound convinced, but fortunately, she didn't press the issue as she had something else on her mind.  "Anyway, Mago's looking for you." 

 "What?!  Mago?  Don't you mean Aidan Turner?"  

 "No.  Mago.  He's broken character and says something about being an archaeologist and wanting to put some clothes on.  Oh, and Ms Scarlet's vanished."

 "Blast!  I'll never get my hands on that Bottle of Greed!"

 "What?"

 "Oh, er, nothing.  Listen..." I said, wondering just how many Ferrero Rochers Ms Scarlet had troughed down as I got up off the cushioned settee and headed to an ancient, whirring PC on the desk (a vintage MacBook Air, if I wasn't very much mistaken!), "I happened to find this open on a pair of peculiar websites that seem to be tracking our movements, making insulting generalisations, and exaggerating certain aspects of our personalities and habits, if not making them up entirely!  Do you know anything about this?"

 Dinah shrugged and took a gulp of her wine.

 "And people are leaving comments about us!" I continued.  "Although, the comments are tailing off the longer this has been going on.  We've got to do something!"

 "You mean like reporting it to the authorities?"

 "No!  We're losing the audience!  We've got to engage them again - if they ever were really engaged in the first place?"

 "Probably not" Dinah muttered.  "I know I'm fed up with it all..."

 "I know just the thing!" I said, ignoring Dinah.  "Follow me."

 From the study I headed out across the landing, down the sweeping staircase - avoiding what looked like a mouse wrapped in a red napkin on the way - and made my way towards the rear of Mogwash Manor.

 

 But Dinah wasn't the only one following me to the orangery...

To be continued in...

 

 T e r r i f y i n g   T r i f f i d e r y !

❦

[For anyone yet to send me their photos for this year's Terrifying Triffidery you only have another couple of days to do so - I need your Triffids by the end of the day on Saturday 29th October.  Because I'm such a soft touch, I'll allow a few more days for your Infomaniac Garden Photos Event pics - Just in case anyone happens to find any lost photos of the marigold persuasion, for example...]

 

[P.S. While we're on the subject, the deadline for Melanie's 'Leaves' Photo Submissions is the 31st, so get snapping/sending!]

Death by Chocolate/Asphyxiation/Explosion*

* Delete as applicable

 Just a quick post so that I don't forget how.  As I've STILL got nothing of substance to blog about, I thought I'd present my birthday haul:

 Let's start with the most exciting gift: the Lego International Space Station!  My sister Indescribable and her family got me that (you'll note that the space shuttle has already been built - my nephew, Count Podgkinson (4) "helped" me with it). 

 My niece, The Little Witch (8), made me the pretsles prestons out of pipe cleaners (she was closer the first time, but insists that they're called Prestons), and the other niece, Vom Smallhausen (5) coloured in the My Little Pony on the lower right.  I'm not sure why they thought I'd like a MLP card (nevermind two of them), but at least the more professional looking one has got rainbow hair and a Star Trek cutie-mark.

 Other than the two Co-op bars, all the chocolate has been devoured.  Well, except for the last three truffles and that Ferrero Rocher (the boxes are empty - the unseen FR box is propping up the Lego set).

 With some of the money that The Parents gave me, I bought Typeset in the Future - because I love Dave Addey's website;  Jupiter Ascending - because I love the ridiculously bonkers premise and the amazing worldbuilding - and Channing Tatum isn't bad, either;  and As I Try Not To Fall Apart by White Lies - because I can't help but love the 80s-esque songs that my favourite glum, beardy, miseryguts and his band belt out.  In fact, here comes one now:

 

IDV's [redacted] Winterval Panto! (Part 2)

Continued from... IDV's Wonderful Winterval Panto! (Part 1)

No.  I'm not doing anymore narrating.

You'll have to get someone else to do it.

But, Very Mistress...

No!  There was more to do than you led me to believe,

and having to do it all in italics as well is too much!

Well, who else can I get on such short notice?

Who hasn't had a part yet?  Ms Nations?  Rimpy?  Melanie?

I bet Upton would be very good? 

Americans?!  Has that Jameson's gone to your head already?

The Great British public won't have bloody Americans

narrating a panto!  No. They can be the Audience.

You snob!  Well, what about Mago, then?  He's just had

his eyes done so reading the script will be a good test.

And Dobbin's not really in this part, so he's free.

Mago...?  Hmmm... Yes.  Mago!

High above the land in a castle floating amongst the clouds, lived a giant.

In diesem Moment in the castle's great hall, the giant was enjoying a breakfast of Ferrero Rocher freshly laid by his golden goose foil-covered droid while being half-heartedly seranaded by his golden robot harp.  The castle's Very Mistress, Fetchsleep, was ensconced in her fainting web, trying - und failing - to get a bit of shut-eye...

 

 "Ah, isn't Jack beautiful?  I just want to eat him all up!  When do you think he'll get here?"

 "Sigh... I really couldn't say - I'm not the one sat in front of the crystal ball!  And when I said no more narrating, I didn't mean for you to cast me in the story instead.  I need my beauty sleep to be ready for legions of punters once I don the Infomaniac Mistletoe Belt Buckle.  So, has he discovered the Cobaeanstalk?"

 "No, not yet.  I've been watching him for hours and haven't even caught a glimpse of his maypole yet!"

 "I'm not surprised - It is December, after all.  What's he doing now, then?  Like I care..."

 "It looks like he's lolling about in bed.  Or riding some sort of sea monster?  It's difficult to tell as the picture in the 'ball isn't very clear."

 "Well, wake me when something interesting happens."

 "Righto.  Golden Harp?  This music is a bit lacklustre - can you play something else, please?  And nothing Christmassy."

 "Oh, 'play something else' he says!  If only it was that easy.  Where are my muses, hmm?  Where are all the big, dumb, muscular lunks to stimulate my creativity?  Oh, that's right - you ate them!  If you want me to play with myself and pluck my own strings, then I'll need the stimulus to do so.  'Play something else' indeed.  Easy for you to say having swallowed all my men.  I don't know why I bother?!  Golden Tinfoil Goose droid agrees with me, don't you?"

 "Beep boop."

GPE #5 : Ms Scarlet and her Pulsating Pink Bush!

The Great Blogging Gardening Show

presents

M S   S C A R L E T

and her

Pulsating Pink Bush!

 Ms Scarlet renamed The Infomaniac Garden Photos Event to "The Great Blogging Gardening Show" (possibly due to a bout of overexcitedness.  Or forgetfulness...).  But, whatever it's called, it wouldn't be complete without a showing of Ms Scarlet's Big Pink Bush™ so, for your delectation, here it is in all its pulsating perfection:

 Now, let's hear what Ms Scarlet has to say about her gardening efforts, shall we?

 Dear Mr Devine,

 As you are aware I am not much of a gardener, I don't like getting my hands dirty, nor do I like unearthing live electricity cables [commonly found beneath the gardens of Devon], despite this I have done my best to provide enough pictures of my back yard to have a post all to myself.

 Firstly, some pretty flowers, freshly bought from the garden centre - to be honest it might have been kinder to rent them as I think they are dead now.  I believe they fell victim to the enormous slugs.

Isn't It Drafty In Here?!

 It was while dragging a draft post about books into 2021 and getting it fit to be published, that I noticed that there were 1300 posts on this blog.  But, upon closer inspection, 16 of them were drafts, so it'll be at least a couple of months before I hit that nice, round 1300 published posts.

 I pondered deleting the drafts as some of them are bloody ancient, but I thought I might actually finish them off one day and publish them.  Then I got to wondering if anyone else has a load of half-finished (or less) posts languishing in their "drafts" folder.  So, do you?  If I show you mine, will you show me yours?  I hope so, because here are mine:

 Out of these first five, I'd just about managed to get "Books" in some sort of order, but I've ruined it with some questionable font/size choices, so that's going to take some unravelling.  Then, I'm preparing for this years "Coven Awards" as I had an idea for a revamp which means taking note of things as they happen, rather than trying to remember stuff in a panic half-way through December.  There's also some preparation for a trip over the Cusp for "Ms Scarlet's Birthday" in March - but the rest of that post depends on whether we get this pandemic under control and the Cusp opens its borders.  Obviously, "Isn't It Drafty In Here" is this post, which just leaves "It's a Faake! prose" - which I will probably delete it as it's only a half-arsed Star Trek story that, despite the Jan 3 date, has actually been hanging around since at least Feb 2019 (which is the penultimate time that I edited it).  The only reason it's still hangning around is that I've been using it to upload images to my Blogger gallery, and Jan 3rd was the last time I did that...

The Year of Ferrero Rochering Dangerously

 Good afternoon, and welcome to the 2020 Coven Awards!  We hope you've all been to the loo and got yourself a drink and some snacks, as this does go on a bit.

 I'll say.  I've worn my fingers down to mere nubbins with all the keyboard clacking I've had to do to prepare all this!

 Oh, stop complaining.  You love it really.

 Well, it does keep me from getting bored, I suppose.

Let's hope the same can be said for the poor Blogorati that have to wade through this

miasma of muddled memories and self indulgent claptrap!

 I say!

 Shall we get on with it before this devolves into unrecoverable unpleasantness, hmm?

 Hmmph! As long as you can keep your SubC under control.

 Fine.  Carry on.

 Right.  Here we go: Well, this hasn't been the best year, has it?  However, we're not going to dwell upon the bad as amongst all the toothache, shingles, and Mondays, there were fuchsias, Freakin' Green Elf Shorts (sort of), and Ferrero Rocher!

 

Despite appearances (you know, if you squint a lot and have had a gin or twelve...)

this is not Ms Scarlet, Intergalactic Global Ambassador for Ferrero Rocher.

This is, in fact, a decoy.  Ms Scarlet is cunningly disguised as the youthful,

rather vertically challenged Ambassador's handmaiden, second from right.

(One of the other two at the back might be Charmaine...)

Uh, oh...

I'm just dealing with... something.

Back soon.  I hope... 

P.S. I hope you all managed to enjoy part, if not all, of your day yesterday, and are continuing to do so today?  I shall be visiting your blogs as soon as I trap these little nylon nasties, and round up the others!

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!

Art Trek: Princessium and the Po*

 Yes, it's time for another Star Trek art post!

 My starship arboretum got the most votes in April's art challenge, which meant I got to choose the theme for May.  And here is that theme (as approved by Captain Janeway's Queen Arachnia on the right there):

133 years from now, Princess Kaitaama will ascend to the throne becoming First Monarch of the Sovereign Dynasty of Krios Prime.  This anti-time anniversary has inspired the theme for this month's Fan Art Challenge: Royalty!

I'd like us to explore Star Trek's links to royalty - however tenuous they may be.  People, places/palaces(?), objects, alien assimilators, starships... All of these and more feature in the Star Trek Universe.

And if you're not fussed by TNG's Princessium (symbol Di - yes, really!), DS9's Queen's Gambit, VOY's right royal knockout: Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People - all of which I'm sure Daughter of the Fifth House (etc. etc.) Lwaxana Troi, would have something to say about from her state room on board a certain Sovereign-class starship - then feel free to come up with your own Royal Trek idea.

Here are the rules for the competition:

The artwork you submit should be created during the month of the challenge

Only one final image can be submitted (although it may contain multiple views)

Your final entry should be posted in this thread (although dedicated WIP threads are appreciated)

And if you don't follow the rules: Off With Your Head! (sorry - I had to get a TAS reference in)

As always, you have until the end of the month - i.e. midnight (or thereabouts) Sunday 31st May - to come up with a Right Royal Star Trek something.

* as in Po (had to get a DSC reference in, too!)

 Despite coming up with the theme, I didn't actually have an idea for what I was going to do.  In fact, it wasn't until mid-May that inspiration finally struck after someone posted a picture of our current queen in a starfleet uniform.
 The British Royal Family do love dressing up in the fanciest of uniforms, so I did a hasty little sketch of 23rd century British Royal couple, HRH Prince Nikesh & HRH Princess Ayonparine (Andorian) decked out in their Starfleet dress uniforms. 

Secrets and Rocher: A Delilah Smythe Debacle

 Desperate for some good publicity after the "Marmalised Marmalades" BBC swearing scandal in 1988, diabolical deviant, Delilah Smythe, approached equally desperate (and weak-willed) Royal, Prince Edward, with a "fool-proof" idea: an It's A Royal Knockout rip-off substituting the mid-ranking royals with celebrity chefs.  She'd even roped in Jane Asher, the Swedish Chef and Martha Stewart as team leaders.

A Royal Rocher wrapper??

 However, at a royal charity dinner, the Queen, in no uncertain terms, put the kybosh on Edward's involvement, and without Edward, Delilah's idea was doomed.  As fate would have it, while on her way to pilfer some cutlery during the dinner, Delilah just happened to overhear something she shouldn't when she stooped to pick up a discarded Rocher wrapper near to a hushed conversation between Michele Ferrero, philanthropist and owner of Ferrero SpA, and Dame Christopher Biggins, Official Pantomime Dame of Great Britain and the Commonwealth realms.

A Write Panic Reference: Things on Chairs

 This post is an accompaniment to the A Write Panic blog post, Things on Chairs (which was gathered together and written by me).  It's just a little reference list of the items that feature at the end of my part of the story.
 If you haven't already done so, I urge you to go and give A Write Panic a read.  It is a collaborative blog from the mind of Ms Scarlet (she also set it up and organised it, too!) which features ten talented and enthusiastic bloggers - oh, and me.
 There are no spoilers in this post, so the story won't be ruined if you read this first.  Particularly as these objects are what I imagined were the "things on chairs" at the end of my latest A Write Panic post, but as I didn't describe them with any definition (well, except for the fondant fancy and the Ferrero Rocher), someone else may depict them in a different way.

The spindle shaped vial containing that blue potion, is none other than the Elixir of Life as featured in the film Death Becomes Her.

[image missing]  Unfortunately, I can't show you the pink fondant fancy as it got et.
(I can tell you, however, that it wasn't a Mr Kipling cake, otherwise it would have been a French Fancy)

The towel - a spare on loan from the Beeblebrox Estate - a very useful object (and 100% Egyptian cotton, no less).

The "old clay pot with mould growing inside it" is Daughter of the Fifth House, Lwaxana Troi's, Sacred Chalice of Rixx.  I'm sure the Holy Rings of Betazed were on another chair further down the corridor...

The collection of sea glass is, of course, the glass island that featured at Ms Scarlet's.

The Bottle of Greed is another one of Ms Scarlet's creations, featured here.

The universe cannot be photographed convincingly, so may I direct you to Ms Scarlet's Portrait of a Universe, instead.  A far more comprehensible and erudite interpretation.

I couldn't get a good photo of the Ferrero Rocher because it was so awesomely perfect that Camera could only manage to capture the golden glare from it's exquisite foil wrapper.

And as for the books:

The Days Are Just Packed, a Calvin and Hobbes collection by Bill Watterson, featured here.

Fucked-up Fondues, by that spiteful cow Delilah Smythe, featured here.

neue mobel 6, by Gerd Hatje, featured at Mago's, here.

The Visitors, by Sally Beauman, featured at Ms Scarlet's, here.

::

Read the continuing story of A Write Panic here.

Ms Scarlet with the Trolley on the Mezzanine

 "EXCUSE ME????"  Ms Scarlet was aghast.  "Fight over the starring role???  Are you insane???  I am a natural leading lady.... See how the light follows me wherever I glide... See how the camera loves my glowing complexion.  Fight over the leading role?!  Oh, you are awful, Mr Devine."
 "Look, there are two starring roles, and you've already nabbed one of them" I sighed, gesturing at Ms Scarlet in her wheelchair.  "I was only suggesting that Jon and The Very Mistress might audition to see which of them might be more suitable for the other role."

 "To be a star is to own the world and all the people in it.  After a taste of stardom, everything else is poverty" Jon declared with his nose in the air as he attempted to gaze out of an age-clouded, corrugated plastic skylight.  "Besides, I think 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jon?' has a nice ring to it."

 "'Whatever happened to Baby Jon?'!?"  The Very Mistress nearly choked.
 "Yes.  Baby Jon.  What?  You think 'Whatever Happened to Baby MJ?' is more realistic?  No one will believe you were ever that young."
 "Well, what about this then??" and The Very Mistress pulled out a copy of her unauthorised and unofficial biography and waved a picture of herself from her youth at him.
 "Perhaps we should take a break, hmm?" I said glancing over to the little kitchenette tucked away at the back of the mezzanine.  We were rehearsing the dreadfully delayed Christmas panto - now repurposed as Ms Scarlet's Birthday Panto - in the tight space of the upper level of the Mogwash scout hut (which was currently doubling as the village hall due to there not being one on the map).  The main space below was in use by a member of the Littlehampton Confectionary Display Team who had booked it following the destruction of their previous venue near Southend pier by a tornado of trampolines.  "I think we could all do with a nice cup of tea and a fig roll before we go any further?"

Prophecies of Green and Gold

 I have just discovered that it has been a month since we last plopped something up on the blog.  A month!  The Ms Scarlet Approach has got out of control somewhat...
 We have got so many things that we have "almost done" and "nearly finished" and "not quite got around to yet", but nothing in a state worthy of a post.  Well, not on their own-

Oh, get on with it!

Yes. Get on with it!

 Oh, all right!  Here are some of the many things that have kept us otherwise occupied in the last month that will likely be expanded upon into posts of their own at some point:

 Between Christmas and New Year (and even afterwards) we fannied around with some new designs for a blog header.

 This is the best of what we came up with, but I'm not overly enthused with it, so it will probably change later in the year.
 Hey!  I quite like it.  The font, anyway.

::

The Year of the Ancient Groyne Coven Awards

 Good evening, and welcome to the 2019 Coven Awards, with me, your host - but not The Host - Inexplicable DeVice.
 And me, your other host, and Witchface's actual Host.

And us, the oft ignored- 

And unfairly maligned! 

Yes.  Exactly.  Yes.  And us, the unfairly maligned SubConsciousnesses.

 A bit like the title image up there, what little we can remember of 2019 pokes above the surface of muddled confusion, only to be slowly subsumed by the tides of disremembrance.
 So, before it all drowns under the tides of forgetfulness, here are the bits we can remember - i.e.this year's Coven Awards!

Cor, that was a bit purple, wasn't it?
I'll say.  Hey!  We haven't argued yet!

Don't worry, this thing has only just cranked into being.  We've got plenty of time for squabbling.

 Before we begin proper, I would just like to bring your attention to a slight change with some of the awards: Like great ships being launched, some of these increasingly bizarre awards have been sponsored by Ladies of Significant Note (and other creatures) in Blogorati Circles, so watch out for airborne alcohol (what a waste) and flying glass.  Oh, and there's a quiz at the end, so pay attention!
 Hang on a minute.  Remember what I said last year: "And what about the Weirdest Crush, and Most Mesmerising Monster awards?  Not to mention Peenee's Muscle Pussy and those Corgi's that Norma lets shit everywhere."?
 Calm down.  They're all included in some fashion somewhere along the line.  I think...
 Spendid.  On with the show!  Oh, and strap yourselves in as it's going to be a long and bumpy ride...

January: 2019 began with fireworks, and a rediscovery of airborne whales; He of the impossible umlaut was less than flattered by the publication of an unauthorised and unofficial biography; we took our first walk on the beach of the year, and the end of the month saw us in the bloody Midlands(!) which was only saved by a visit to Chatsworth.

February: My take on the #NotADecadeAgo meme lacklustrely launched February.  Two weeks later saw the first of the year's Star Trek fan art posts, followed by some bathroom spying, and getting the keys to my very own gingerbread house!

March: Not much going on here, except: Corduroy covered tubular steel - you'll be green with envy!  A catch-up of things I didn't blog about, and an introduction to Hexenhäusli deVice, aka the DeVice Mansion.

 Thank you for the reminder of the first quarter of the year here, Witchface.  Now, here are the first few awards:

Crikey!  This is all very cordial.

I'm sure it won't last... 

I made some delightful and diverse discoveries this year,

from books - Witch Hat Atelier and

Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue

to TV - Fringe and Steven Universe

and Men: of Muscles - Loponder7;

& Allotments - Rob's Allotment;

 & Music - 2Cellos (thanks Jon).

It's that Time of Year...*

Continued (sort of) from In Space, No-one Can Hear You Peep

 Ms Scarlet sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time, peeled back the cuff of her mitten and looked at her watch.  Again.  He was now even more late.
 "Hmmmm..." she said, then having given the sky another once over, Ms Scarlet turned on her Wellington booted heel and went back indoors.  Sidney followed her with an expectant look on his face.  The look soon faded when his mistress disappeared into the bathroom rather than the kitchen - there weren't any treats in there.
 After an almost dainty grunt followed by what sounded like dozens of spoonfuls of trifle being scooped out of a bowl in quick succession, Ms Scarlet came out brandishing the octopus sucker bath mat.  Sid's ears drooped.  Definitely not a treat.
 "Some birthday this is turning out to be.  I shall have to find my own way to Lake Como now, Sidney" she said, laying the bath mat down on the carpet.  "I hope this thing works."

There's a witch in the house, and she's living there still...

 ...Yes, that's right. I'm still here!



 Sorry for the sudden disappearance. The Host and I decided to shut-up-shop for a little while due to some unusual happenings. You see, certain posts were getting an inordinate number of page views from France which started at the same time as that horrific attack in Nice, which was worrying.

Eek! Leave me alone, France. Don't make me take out a restraining order!

The 2015 Coven Awards - A Year In Review

 Welcome to the 2015 Coven Awards, and thank you for enduring yet another year at Castlette DeVice.
 Yes, although we've celebrated ten years of this blogging lark, this is only the seventh Coven Awards ceremony due to three rather slack years.

 Yeah! We're looking at you 2011, 2012, and 2013. 

 You may be pleased to know that this year's awards show will not be as drawn out as last year's tedious affair.

 That's what you think!

 Yeah! We got our second wind when creating the award headers and now there are loads of them!

 Oh, dear gods... We'd better get on with it then, I suppose. As usual, I'll recap our blogging efforts through the year.
 And I'll present the various awards.
 Right. Take a deep breath and don't look down as away we go: