GPE 2024 : The Finale

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GPE #10 : Savvy is the Idea Person/Supervisor

I will have lots of photos for IDV's Garden Competition* Exposition. It will always be a competition for me. (RIP LX) said dear

 

S A V V Y

 

The MITM is a very enthusiastic by default the gardener (because I'M the idea person/supervisor) and has been doing a splendid job! We'll have more pictures as our container garden grows! (OK, when  HE plants some more.)

 

IDV, I will be submitting all of these and more photos for this year's Gardening Contest**!! Be prepared!

 

However...

Due to emotional fallout from a most unfortunate event involving a lumpen, orange, loud-mouthed oaf, dear Savvy has not been in the right frame of mind to fully participate in this year's Infomaniac Garden Photos Event.  But, she did give me permission to use the photos she'd already posted on her own blog to construct this GPE post on her behalf.  Which was just as well, as I'd already bookmarked the relevant posts should Savvy have reverted to type and forgotten/ignored/got-lost-in-time/fallen-into-an-alternate-universe etc. and not been able to take part.

So, back to Savvy and the results of her ideas and supervision:

From the ROSE GARDEN here!!!

 

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!

The Year of Looking Glam Even Without Nail Varnish

 As you may have noticed, we haven't been around much this year.  Certainly not as much as I'd've liked, and not even as much as in last year's Lazy Baggagery!  So that means that our grasp on the year's happenings and your reportings thereof is weak at best.  Sorry.

 However, there was certainly enough memorable stuff (and things I'd thought to make a note of when they happened) to create this end-of-year extravaganza!

 Extravaganza?  That's pushing it, don't you think?

 Nah.  A sprinkle of glitter (thanks to Jon) will cover the cracks and gaping holes in this rather haphazard (as always) round up and turn it into the Event of the season!

 If you say so...  Shall we get on with it, then?

 Yes. Oh, hang on!  I've got to add a bit at the end about the return of the "Did I Win Yet?" Award/Quiz/Competition/Event/Festival thingy!

 Well, you'd better hurry because I'm launching this thing now.  Be ready with your Champagne flutes all you glamorous Blogorati!

 

 Oops!  Wrong signage.  Try this one:

 Strap in.  Here we go!

January

Quote : "My smut well has almost dried up." ~ What a way to start the year: The Very Mistress answering a question nobody asked.

Event : The 6th January was National Cuddle Up Day, apparently.  Although I'd want to cuddle up to those freckles EVERY day!  Adorable. 

 

 Thank you for bringing this auspicious occasion to our attention, Mr Tonking.

 

 

Art : Nouveau, of course.  I love the fantastical, soft intricacy of Art Nouveau, and don't indulge myself in it as often as I should.  Fortunately, Maddie popped up with a themed Mood Board this month which hit the spot.

 

Hot Totty : When it's cold outside, guests at the House of Borghese are offered furs with something hot inside. 

The Infomaniac Garden Photos Event 2023

 To those who made it through the Terrifying Triffidery pre-show relatively unscathed* - and to those who sensibly avoided it - welcome to the 13th annual Infomaniac Garden Photos Event!

 This year the totally non-binding and entirely voluntary theme is wildlife and we have quite a few creepy-crawlies in amongst the foliage and flora for you to cast your eyes upon - as well as one or two rather larger specimens! 

 But before we begin, a big thank you to everyone who has submitted photos - and to those who have yet to do so but will do in the next few days (there's bound to be at least one - maybe two?) - without you, there would be no Garden Photos Event. 

 And big thanks also to The Very Mistress for allowing me to continue with the GPE in her stead.

 Speaking of, the first garden photo that was submitted this year - which does include wildlife - was from The Very Mistress herself: 

 

 And here's what she had to say about it:

The Infomaniac Garden Photos Event 2022 Finale

The

 

I N F O M A N I A C

 

Garden Photos Event

 

2022 Finale

 Oh!  You're all here already!  I wasn't expecting you so soon.  I was just dismissing the Official Hexenhäusli Device Woodsman.  He won't be long - he's just wiping off the excitement of having tended to my wood...

 

 While he sorts himself out, why not have a scroll through this round-up of 2022's Garden Photos Event?

☙❧

 

Programme of Events

 

Monday, 31st October

Terrifying Triffidery: The Orangery of 'orror!

 

Tuesday, 1st November

The 2022 Infomaniac Garden Photos Event kicks off with dandelions and ducks

 (well, a duck, anyway)

 

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!"

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."

IDV's Wonderful* Winterval Panto! (Part 1**)

* lit. full of wonder at how this travesty of cliches, assumptions, and lazy writing came into being.

** Fortunately for you, there are only two parts to this.

 

Continued from A Pink Prelude...

 

... And for that 'Grotbags' comment I can do the narrating

reclined on my fainting chaise in the wings?

For the last time: Yes!

Good.  I can't be arsed with navigating shoddily constructed scenery while flouncing about in ridiculous costumes - I've seen what's in store for Jon in wardrobe.

I just want a bit of a lie down with a drink.  Or twelve.

There's a barrel of Jameson's and a straw all set out back.

Now, if you would kindly take your place?

Script!  Where's my script?

Christ!  It's on the chaise!

Please, Very Mistress, the cast - your Infomaniac Drinking Team - and audience are getting restless.

All right.  Keep your knickers on, IDV!

Just remember who you're talking to.

Yes, Very Mistress.

Right.  The narrator is all set.  Places everyone!

Curtain up in five, four, three...

 

In a lightly thronged rural village marketplace-

 

Can half a dozen people be classified as a 'throng'?

Some of them don't even appear to be real people.  Are they cardboard cut-outs?

Of course they're made of cardboard, Very Mistress.

You know the budgets for these things are practically non-existent.

Well, we did have the budget for Savvy to appear in person here,

but she's late as usual, so that's 25 quid down the drain...

We haven't got time for that now!

Very Mistress, if you could continue narrating, please?

Oh.  Yes.  Where was I?  Ah, yes:

In a lightly thronged marketplace we find a young woman- 

Man!

Man?  Is he?  [squints]  Oh, yes, of course.

I forgot that in panto the principle boy is usually played by a female actor.

If we can get on, please?

Just before I do, the script says "a young man" - how young is that then?  20s?  30s?

I only ask because - and I'm not saying that I think she's too...

experienced for the role - isn't that Ms Scarlet?

[sigh] Yes.  It is.  Fortunately, as I'm sure you remember, Ms Scarlet is at least ten years younger here over the Cusp than her birth certificate would have you believe, thanks to that time-travel nincompoopery that occurred over her birthday earlier this year.

Now, if you please?

Of course.  Of course.  Where were we?

Oh, yes, 'thronged marketplace', 'young man':

Anyway, his name is Jack and he's here with his overbearing - and rather garishly dressed, if you ask me - mother, a Dame of some repute, to sell various mud-based artisinal products and some dubious beauty treatments made from butter...

GPE #13 : The Finale

The

I N F O M A N I A C

Garden Photos Event

2021 Finale

It's hot work being a gardener's boy!

 Yes, we have reached the end of this year's Infomaniac Garden Photos Event, and what a year it's been.  Your gardens, vases, and dog-bums have been eye-opening, enviable, and a little bit sick-making!  Thank you so much to everyone who took part - whether you opened your garden (outdoors or in), provided snacks, or just visited & commented - I hope you enjoyed it and that you've been inspired to undertake another year of gardening, whatever your skill level.  

 And an especially big thank you to The Very Mistress, without whom we wouldn't have a Garden Photos Event!  A potted history - complete with links to Events past - can be found at last year's 10th Annual Lady Garden Presentation Anniversary premier, with links to all the 2020 gardens included in that year's finale, up my, I mean, in my, I mean at the rear.  Oh, you know what I mean!

 Anyway, let's get on with with wrapping this thing up, shall we?  We have the links to this year's gardens followed by some interesting stats to get through.

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...)

Overheard and Wonky Words

 I think my old Back Passage has been on display for long enough, but as I don't have anything prepared to succeed it, I thought I'd share something overheard along with some wonky words.

 First, the wonky words: The effervescent Ms Scarlet is hosting the "Did I Win Yet?" Award/Quiz/Competition/Event thingy after she won the said award back in January, here.  As well as a quiz bit - consisting of as many as two (!!) questions about our dear, departed blog friend LẌ - Ms Scarlet has come up with an inspired creative bit in which one must write out a favourite quote and photograph it on a chair! 

 After much roiling and churning of ideas in my overexcited mind, I have settled on a quote, and begun writing it out in an attempt to decide how best to display it.  Here is a little teaser of one of the ideas:

~o~

 Now, on to the overheard.  As I walked down to the beach this morning (for a walk into Cromer), I passed a house undergoing some building work.  From the open front door came a trio of male voices ranging - in order of appearance - from exasperated, to fed up, and finally cheeky:

The Very Mistress's 10th Annual Lady Garden Presentation*

Oops!  I mean:

is now open!

 First, a little history of this auspicious event: Back in 2011, everyone's favourite Lazy Baggage (thank you, Beast), The Very Mistress (then known as MJ), decided that she couldn't be bothered to make any further effort on her blog, and swanned off to Montreal to get away from it all.  Just before she left, she tasked her Infomaniac Bitches to send in photos of their gardens or other greenery that she could display upon her return, probably thinking that there'd be two or three photos that she could just paste into a blog post, add a couple of captions, and publish while she collapsed with a Jameson's or twelve.  

Little did she know how popular this would be, however, and returned to garden photos from 21 of her faithful Bitches.  With what I imagine to be an enormous sigh, an over-dramatic eyeroll, and no small amount of swearing/drinking, The Very Mistress got to work collating the photos and organising them into a tasteful (ahem) display for her Bitches' voyeuristic enjoyment, and the first Infomaniac Garden Photos Event was born!

 With the event a resounding success, The Very Mistress brought it back the next year, and the year after that, and every following year.  And now, ten years later and true to form, the Lazy Baggage The Very Mistress gracefully demured from hosting the Garden Photos Event herself and palmed it off bestowed it with great honour upon her throng of gullible suckers attendant Bitches.  

 Which is why, in this tenth anniversary year, you find the Infomaniac Garden Photos Event being held here at Inexplicable DeVice rather than at Infomaniac.

🌻

First Photos of the Year

 I feel like I'm at a loose end, despite having various things to do.  Probably because I have various things to do, actually - I can't muster up the enthusiasm to do any of them.  And I've felt this way since before hearing the sad news that we've lost LẌ (which has only made me feel more "meh").
 So, forgetting everything else and going against my not-really-a-New-Year's-resolution to NOT clutter up the blog with meaningless photo-posts when I've got shit-all else to post about, I've flicked through the few photos I've taken so far this year, and plopped the "best" ones up here.  They're of the same old subject matter that I've subjected you to a thousand times before, so don't expect anything to write home about.

1st January: The first day of 2020 finds the cliff sacrificing itself to replenish the beach again just past the End-of-the-Line (and Camera reminding me to clean its lens...).

3rd January: A cleaned Camera lens later allows for a clear sunset and moon shot.

Did I Win Yet? Grand Quiz Results

 It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Well, the moment that a handful of you might have been idly speculating about...
 Yes, for the nearly five* of you who asked "Did I win yet?" it's time to reveal who actually did win the Dinahmow-sponsored Did I Win Yet? Grand Quiz held in honour of "A Friend", LẌ.

 First, let's have a look at the questions, and the answers as provided by the select Blogorati who could be bothered to enter:

1. We all know that LẌ was Chief Pillow Fluffer for The Very Mistress over at Infomaniac, but what other official service did he provide?

• Personal IT Consultant to The Mistress. (Oooh, this quiz is easy)
• IT services
• Mr von LAX is the Official I.T. Specialist of The Mistress
• LX served as the Mistress's body double in her ill-advised attempt at geriatric porn

The official service, of course, is:  Personal IT Consultant to The Mistress, although I will accept variations on that theme - i.e. those other two answers.  
I don't think LẌ's body-double services were ever "official"...

Have You Won Yet?

 For those of you who have not yet had time - and/or maybe not the inclination, either - to wade through the end-of-year Coven Awards (Ancient Groyne edition), may we present a reminder of the penultimate "The Did I Win Yet?" Award Which Is Masquerading As A Quiz!
 This award was proposed and sponsored by Dinahmow [and heartily seconded by Ms Scarlet and thirded by The Very Mistress] in honour of our friend of the ïmpössïblë ümläüt, LẌ.  However, due to Ms Scarlet's overexcitement for what was then a non-existent quiz, I reimagined the "Did I Win Yet?" Award into a quiz in order to kill two birds with one stone.  This Grand Quiz has taken the form of questions related to the aforementioned LẌ and the content of this end-of-year Ancient Groyne Extravaganza, so I hope you've been paying attention.

 Before you begin, please note: Aside from the LẌ questions (1 to 3, & 13), and number 5's bonus question, ALL REMAINING ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND IN THE YEAR OF THE ANCIENT GROYNE COVEN AWARDS POST WITHOUT HAVING TO CLICK ON ANY OF ITS LINKS* OR WADE THROUGH THE ENTIRETY OF MY POSTS FROM 2019.

1. We all know that LẌ was Chief Pillow Fluffer for The Very Mistress over at Infomaniac, but what other official service did he provide?
2. What is the title of LẌ's unofficial and unauthorised biography which featured in this very blog earlier in the year?
3. Who got LẌ to ask all those awkward questions (and did all his ageing for him since taking on his birthdays)?
4. Which comic strip couple were the inspiration (and basis) for my Not The Art of Star Trek entry, Disco 78?
5. Which two Blogorati appeared first in our adventure over the Cusp this year?  And for a bonus point, what method of transport did they transmogrify the TARDIS-a-like HVMS Infomaniac into?
6. Which member of the Blogorati introduced me/us to 2Cellos?
7. Who was Aljaž Skorjanec's dance partner on this year's Strictly Come Dancing, and which side of him should she be on?
8. Where did "Canable Man" feature?  (And how should it be spelled?)
9. Which month featured a "load of seamen" clogging up the rigging?
10. What does The Very Mistress claim is NOT a competition?
11. What's my favourite cake?
12. How many acres of block paving make up Mogs Mill?
13. Before the wind changed enabling LẌ to use a hot air balloon, what had he asked Ms Scarlet, Beast, Mago, and The Very Mistress to steal for him to fly home on?

(There was going to be a maths question along the lines of "What percentage of Mago's Sunday Musics actually occurred on a Sunday?" but I don't know if my maths is up to getting the right answer?  Perhaps it can be used as a tie-breaker question should the need arise...)

 You can leave your answers to the thirteen questions in the comments, or email them to me if you don't want anyone to peek - my blog email address is in my profile (but if you're one of the few who have my personal email, then please use that).  You have until Wednesday 8th January to submit your answers (although, if anyone needs a little more time, just let me know).
 By the way, I've already had more than one(!) set of answers - one of which scoring over eight points!

 The winner shall have the honour and responsibility of hosting the next Did I Win Yet? Quiz/Award as and when they see fit.  It doesn't have to be tacked onto a massive post like I did with the Coven Awards, or even held at the end of the year.  In fact, I'm not quite sure if it even has to include questions about LẌ (I think it just needs to be a quiz/award in his honour)?  I'll let the very gracious Lady Dinah - for it was she wot came up with the idea - have at it with the rules/suggestions/guidance in the comments (if she can be arsed, that is)...


* You may have to click on a few of the pictures to embiggen them, though.
  

~o~

 Right.  That's that out of the way.  Let's look at some New Year photos.  The first two are from New Year's Day, and the remaining four are from Friday 3rd January.

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).

The I.T. Wizard of Oz

Continued from... Visiting the Viridian Village

 "Look!" said Maddie as she hovered just below the clouds above the Viridian Village.  "There's the old Scarecrone outside the palace."
 "Where?" Jon burst out of the cloud, wings outstretched as he scoured the ground below.
 "There.  Heading towards the gates with the others."
 "Oh, yes, I see.  Come on" Jon beckoned Maddie and a couple of her nubile, young flying monkey houseboys, "let's go get her!"

~o~

 "I'm not sure how I feel about this?" Mago pondered.
 "About what, Mr Mags?"
 "About stealing IDV's broom for the wizard.  I just don't think it's right."
 "But that was the deal" Ms Scarlet said.  "The broom in exchange for wi-fi & satnav for me, courage for Beast, and the surgery required to get that tin foil hat off your head!  I don't think Mr Devine will give it up voluntarily, so we'll just have to take it."
 "Oh, nein.  It's not the stealing that concerns me.  I mean: I'm worried that that old broom will never get the Wizard all the way to south-east Texas!"

I think we probably should have featured Broom earlier, hmm?

Oh!  We could have used it to fly off on when The Very Mistress first turned up in Loompaland!

Bugger!  A missed opportunity.
Hang on a minute.  The wizard doesn't escape Oz on a broom, he uses a hot air bal-

 "Quiet, you two!"
 "Who are you berating, Very Mistress?  No one said anything?"
 "Oh, just IVD's and the Host's meddlesome, irritating SubConsciousnesses.  I've been able to hear them since their birthday last year.  I don't know how he puts up with them?"
 Thank you!
 "Wha-?  Who said that??"

Oh, shit.

Shhhh!  You're not the narrator.

Well, who is?  The writing's all in white, so it appears to be Witchface,
but it's all over the shop, so who can tell?

Anyway!  Back to the gates...

 In a flurry of feathers fit for the most fabulous of drag queens, Maddie, Jon, and a couple of minor flying monkeys carrying some sort of wooden contraption, swooped down upon the Blogorati.
 "Aaaaaiiieeeee!!!  They're in my hair!  They're in my hair!!" Beast shrieked like a little girl and ran around waving his hands above his head ineffectually.

 "Shut up, Baldilocks" The Very Mistress said scornfully, rolling her eyes "they're not here for you."  The flying monkeys set down and beckoned her to the sedan chair.
 "Ms Mistress!" Ms Scarlet piped up.  "Where are you going?"
 "The same place as you - to IVD's castle."
 "But...?" Ms Scarlet waved her arm towards the sedan chair and the waiting monkeys.
 "The thought of being stuck in a car for another journey with Beast and his flatulent arse was too much, so while you were seeing the wizard, I called for a lift" The Very Mistress explained as she got in the chair and the flying monkeys prepared for take off.  "Fortunately, there's only enough room for one.  Byeeeee!"

~o~