Bitey on the Beach

  I'm on holiday this week.  I made some plans - something to do every day so as not to waste the time - and thought I'd have plenty of time for catching up with your blogs and updating my own.  The universe had other plans, however...

 

  Still, I managed to go to the Old Vicarage Gardens in East Ruston on Saturday, window shopping in Norwich on Monday morning, a long walk & paddle on the beach with Bitey on Tuesday, back down to the beach for a swim (which turned out to be a very deep paddle - more on that later) then gardening and allotmenteering yesterday, and here we are on Thursday already!  I've been swimming (in a heated pool) and done some tidying up in the garden and then came indoors because the forecast is for rain.  

 

  It is not raining.  Rather than put my shoes and socks back on to go back outside, I thought I'd use this opportunity to do some blogging.  So, here are some of the photos from Tuesday's foray down to the beach:

 

Approaching the End-of-the-Line

 

The End-of-the-Line

Four Photos: Wishful Thinking?

A hummingbird hawk moth drinking from one of the buddleias in the Hexenhäusli Device gardens this afternoon.

 

Oh my gods!!!  They're almost holding hands!  They're going to do It*!!!!!!

(Two of my three favourite** lowest of the Lower Deckers - Fin*** the super-hot, pretty boy human med tech and Charlie**** the adorable Andorian engineer - from the first episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, "Twovix".  I took this photo back in April as I couldn't take a screen shot and couldn't find one online [I have found one since then, though] - I wanted it for research purposes, the end result of which will probably be posted here at some point.)

 

Bitey on the beach on Wednesday evening.

 

Someone in this house had this for tea on Wednesday - and it certainly wasn't me!

 

 

* According to First Officer Jack Ransom (in "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place"), the Cerritos is the "horniest ship in the fleet" (and doesn't have any married couples on board).

** The third is Buddy the Vulcan, as featured here with the other two.

*** He's not named in the show as he's just a non-speaking background character, but he looks remarkably like my backup lifeguard at the pool I swim in, so I've given him the same name.

**** Again, unnamed in the show, but someone has named him Charlie.  I'm going with it for now as I haven't thought of anything better.

Four Photos: 4

Male broad-bodied chaser dragonfly

 

 

A Triffid!!!  Agave montana flower head

 

 

End-of-the-Line

 

Friday evening

"Access at either end remains open"

 Just popping up some photos of last weekend's beach walk before I get distracted with something else and another month flies by. 

 I'll probably take Bitey down to the beach again today because the weather hasn't changed since last Saurday: sunshine and blue skies all the way (although it appears to be reverting to the normal clouds and rain from this Tuesday, so that's a comfort).

 

Bitey Gets Ignored

 It has been near enough freezing all day, so I've been indoors mainly working on my entry for this month's Star Trek fan art challenge.  However, at about half one I felt the need for a stretch and some fresh - if cold - air, so I gathered Bitey up and took him down to the beach.  And here are the photos to prove it!

 Oh, in a couple of photos time (after the jump) there is a scene that sensitive viewers may wish to brace themselves for.  All I'll say at this point is that you should count yourselves lucky you weren't here to smell it!

 Anyway, the main thing is: the photos.  Oh and this tune (which I know from the film, Evolution):

The Winter sea has scoured away much of the sand exposing large swathes of the underlying chalk bed.

 

Approaching the End-of-the-Line

 Hold your noses and stomachs for what's next:

The Foulness of Catching Crabs

 I remembered to take Camera with me on this morning's Bitey walk into the village.  I did this with one thing in mind: to take a photo of the "visitors' guide to Overstrand, past and present" map because it answers some questions that dear Mago asked last month.  I have still to look through the history books downstairs for more info, but I've made a start at least.

 Before we get to the map, here are some photos of the North Sea:

Old Knobs and Groynes

 Bitey and I went for a lunchtime walk in the drizzle and found ourselves surrounded by knobs at what's left of the End-of-the-Line.  Bitey didn't seem fussed, but I was thrilled, let me tell you!  And I'm sure at least one of you will be, too.

Before we reached the End-of-the-Line, I tutted disapprovingly at Cliff's slovenly posture.

"Just spun in a web made of moonlight"

  Another clear sky yesterday which means more photos!  And a timely release from Sophie Ellis-Bextor with "Freedom of the Night" as an accompaniment.  Yes, I know: I spoil you.

First glimpse of the Moon emerging from the hazy clouds over the North Sea horizon

Tails and Orbs and Fairy Rings

 Just dropping off some photos from a couple of Bitey walks (as vaguely requested by The Very Mistress, here): the sun setting over the trees set are from Saturday, and the fairy ring and sea set are from lunch time today.  The musical accompaniment - "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars -  is only featuring because it popped into my mind while swimming this morning.

Orb!  Or Camera artefact...

Cormorants!

 I know I said at the end of the previous post that I'd probably do a Garden Photos Event reminder next, but I took Bitey along the beach (what little there was of it due to the high tide) to the End-of-the-Line this morning and: Cormorants!

Out and about with Bitey

 I was just thinking how lovely and easy it is to upload photos to Blogger and pop them into a post in a specific order,* and that it could stand to be far more difficult and annoying.**  Fortunately the Google Blogger gnomes heard my thoughts and intervened.  Hooray!***

 Anyway, now that my patience and copy-&-pasting fingers have had a work out, here are some photos from a few perambulations up Toll's Hill to Skylark Field where Bitey likes to run around and stick his nose in everything.  And also catch rabbits and chase small deer.

Golden Towers

 Yes, I know at the end of the previous post I said I may return the following day, but I also said that "normal service may resume" which, as you all know by now, means days if not a week or two between posts.  And, if you hadn't already gathered, this post includes the previously mentioned space shuttles and golden towers - I'll do the Bitey walk and Norwich skyline photos another time.

 So, why are there space shuttles and golden towers on the beach, I hear you clamouring - or at least tutting indifferently about?  Well, it was all for June's Star Trek art challenge which had a "World(s of Star Trek) Buildings" theme.  I had intended to construct a little cardboard castle or palace to represent Lwaxana Troi's family home, but despite collecting various cereal boxes for the raw material, time escaped me (again).  So, in a last minute panic, I rushed down to the beach last Thursday evening with a carrier bag full of coffee jar lids and a small model shuttle.  The photo above and those at the end of this post are the result. 

 I also took some non-Star Trek photos for those of you who couldn't give two figs about such things (i.e. most of you) - and these are them:

That's either the sun setting or everyone in Cromer forgot they left the gas on as they lit a fag.

'Tis Done

Who doesn't enjoy a battered old groyne surrounded with spume to start their evening?

 Well, 'tis done.  My Ten Day Blogging Challenge that I didn't advertise or commit to or even admit to doing ends with this post.

 What?  Your ten day challenge?  I did most of the posts!

 Pish posh.  It's done now.  No one will care who did what.  Although, they might care to know that it was I who took control of your button pushing finger while you were swinging Camera around and snapped the photo on the right.  I had to time it just right to get the horizon and sea wall to line up with the railings.  Pretty good, eh?

 Bah!

Yeah, bah!

 Oh, don't you start.

 I'm off to bed.

Falling

Not only was it grey and overcast when I took Bitey down to the beach this morning, but after days of high winds and rough seas, everything was coated in a film of dried spume scum!

The End-of-the-Line has never looked so dingy.

 

Uh, oh...  What's this?

"A Surefire Winner!!"*

* Or so Ms Scarlet says, anyway.

 

 Actually, I'm not sure this phone box counts because it no longer has a phone in it (and isn't even used as a urinal - as far as I'm aware, anyway). 

 So, on to other things.  Namely photos from today's Bitey walk around Northrepps and back via the allotment.

 It was a bit misty here this morning and through lunchtime - and not the moody, atmospheric mist that can make photos look better, just an insipid, half-hearted haze - so I cannot compete with Ms Scarlet's 'Weather!' photos. 

 Also, there are no sheep, just Bitey photobombing.  Oh, and a roe deer.

This photo - and the leading one - were taken as we walked up Toll's Hill out of Overstrand

Cold

A prickly Mahonia up my side return

 Somehow, a cold virus or somesuch has managed to get through the Host's bodily defences and take hold.  I don't know how it happened because his immune system has been trained over the last few years with dirty, germy urchin nephew & nieces jumping all over him and smearing their filth & pestilence everywhere!  I am not amused.

 

 Anyway, after the paracetemol and ibuprofen kicked in earlier this morning, I took Bitey out for a walk and we ended up wandering along the prom - from where I took the photo above.

 

 The rest of the photos are from the grounds of Hexenhäusli Device, and show what few flora - and fauna - can be found at this time of year.

A male muntjac on the embankment behind the South Lawn

A female muntjac.  Sorry about the poor quality - this was taken through dirty glass

Snowdrops (and sprouting daffodils behind them)

Hellebore somethingorother

 Oh, almost forgot: The point of the flowers in this post are as a little prompt to get you thinking about this year's Infomaniac Garden Photos Event.  Is there anything Event-worthy in your garden - be it a frozen wasteland (Very Mistress?) a boggy mudscape (Ms Scarlet?) or tropical jungle (Dinah?) - at this time of year that it's worth taking a few photos of now before it's too late?

 Don't worry if not as I will be nagging haranguing reminding you about the GPE regularly througout the year!

Yes, You Did Win Yet!

 Well, with nearly three of you esteemed Blogorati taking part, I declare the "Did I Win Yet?" Grand Quiz of 2024 an unmitigated success!

"Success"?  Is that the word we're going with?

Yes.  It is.  And just leave it at that so we can get on with this, hmm?

Fine.

 Before we get to the winner, here's a reminder of the questions, with the answers (almost all of which were from 2023's end-of-year round-up The Year of Looking Glam Even Without Nail Varnish) provided by The Host:

 

1. In which month did LẌ visit The Very Mistress from beyond the grave?  And for a bonus point, which two posts was he first at?

The answer is February.  And if you'd clicked the link to The Very Mistress's Infomaniac blog, you will have seen that the two posts were "Keep Your Pants On" (22 March 2010) & "Filthy Friday - Holiday Photos" (18 March 2010) and would have gained a bonus point.

 

2. We all know that Dinah looks glam even without nail varnish, but what couldn't she do without in order to look like movie star, Joanna Cassidy?

This one may have flummoxed those of you who have not seen 1982's Blade Runner.  Joanna Cassidy's character, replicant Zhora, is an erotic dancer and performs with a snake.  And so, in April's photo of Dinah wearing nail varnish, it's the carpet snake that she needed.

 

3. How many freckles are there on-  No, just kidding!  How many men did Mistress Maddie-  Ha!  Kidding again. 

 Really this time: How many ducks - rubber or otherwise - feature in The Year of Looking Glam...?

"Did I Win Yet?" Grand Quiz 2024

 Happy New Year to you all!  We hope you had a splendid night whatever you did - whether you went out celebrating, stayed in and slept through it, or had your head down revising for this "Did I Win Yet?" Award/Quiz/Competition/Event/Festival thingy!

 I was at my sister's - Indescribable's - with a couple of friends drinking gin & cherry vodka and playing some convoluted card game.  However, I didn't drink so much that I wasn't able to drag myself out of bed and pop down to the prom this morning to make sure the New Year arrived on time.  It did, as you can see in the photo below.  I've got some more photos (of course) which I will share in a few days time as this post is all about the "Did I Win Yet?" Grand Quiz in honour of our dear, departed friend, LẌ.

 

 

 The "Did I Win Yet?" Award/Quiz/Competition/Event/Festival thingy can take any form, but I have chosen to do a quiz again because it's quick & easy (easy to put together, that is - although you might find the actual quiz is easy, too), and I left it too late (as per) to come up with something else.  (Ms Scarlet's The 'Did I Win Yet?' Competition/Award back in January 2021 had a quiz bit and a creative bit, for example). 

 

 As with my original 2020 quiz, almost* ALL ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND IN THE YEAR OF LOOKING GLAM EVEN WITHOUT NAIL VARNISH POST WITHOUT HAVING TO CLICK ON ANY OF ITS LINKS OR WADE THROUGH THE ENTIRETY OF MY POSTS FROM 2023, but you may need to embiggen one or two images.

 

* One answer can be found in a November post, and one bonus point answer requires clicking a link in The Year of Looking Glam... to find.  The other bonus point has no "right" answer - the point will go to the most amusing/creative/smutty response.

  There is no prize as such, but the winner will have the honour of hosting the next "Did I Win Yet?" thingy whenever they see fit.  Oh, and Ms Scarlet did create this elegantly calligraphed quote by LẌ which the winner will have the exclusive right to display on their blog sideboard.

 Right, I can tell you're all eager to flex your mental muscles and get on with the quiz, so here it is:

 

1. In which month did LX visit The Very Mistress from beyond the grave?  And for a bonus point, which two posts was he first at?

 

2. We all know that Dinah looks glam even without nail varnish, but what couldn't she do without in order to look like movie star, Joanna Cassidy?

 

3. How many freckles are there on-  No, just kidding!  How many men did Mistress Maddie-  Ha!  Kidding again. 

 Really this time: How many ducks - rubber or otherwise - feature in The Year of Looking Glam...?

 

4. Who has a sideboard even more beautiful than mine?  (Bah!)

5. In which comic strip does Suzie Derkins feature?

 

6. On what page can the instructions be found?

 

7. What did Jon go all the way to Sitges for?  And for a bonus point, what do you think [the answer] was describing/measuring?

8. What is Full Moon Fan Dance Rutherford's cybernetic implant set to?

 

9. Which super powers did Ms Scarlet gain at the expense of no longer having birthdays?

 Please email your answers to me by Saturday 6th January, either to this blog's gmail address which can be found in my profile on the Sideboard, or to the Host's personal hotmail account.  You can also leave your answers in the comments if you like, but then everyone will be able to see what they are...

 Good luck, and Happy New Year!

"She doesn't want to see Fanny on camera"

 Just popping in to drop off a few things before returning at the weekend to wrap up the year and stuff it in the Sideboard along with all the previous years.

 

 First up from the 21st, I had a wander down to the promenade where the North Sea waved to me rather enthusiastically: