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!"

Enough Moping - Time For Gardening!

While I dried off, this stone spiral 'happened'

 After a week of moping and mourning, this weekend's wet and blustery turn was rather a let down.  So, instead of dwelling on that and before we get to the gardening bit, here are some photos taken last weekend when I ventured down to the beach for a swim.

My sea swim spot

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Nine For A Kiss - AKA: Arse & Artichokes

 I had quite a few titles in mind for this post, and couldn't decide between the magpie rhyme reference and the title of Gordy Ramsbottom's Delilah-baiting cook book (thank you, Ms Scarlet) so I went with both.  The runner up was "Smile You Twat" from, well, scroll down and you'll see.

This Mischief of Magpies delights in clattering over the roof of Hexenhäusli Device and its neighbours, making an incessant racket as these photos from 29th August illustrate!

 

A litle later that morning I went up to the allotment to see what needed picking:

The Elusive Flotation DeVice

 

 Before rushing out in a 'must-get-pictures-of-paths' related panic yesterday, I popped down to the beach for a swim and to see if I could summon my aquatic alter ego, Flotation DeVice, for Mistress Maddie.  

 Quite why Maddie wants to get acquainted with a pallid, gangly Cloverfield-like seamonster is beyond me, but each to their own. 

 Anyway, although FDV did put in an appearance, they ruined it with their squinting-in-the-sun/frowning Sam-the-Eagle face, fortunately!

Cloud Mouth

 Under threat of a Sideboard Invasion if I don't make an appearance before Friday, here I am!  (Although, I'm not convinced that the invasion won't go ahead anyway...) 

 I don't have much to say for myselves, so may I present a selection of photographs depicting some of what I have been up to this month: 

From the 3rd . . .

This huge cloud-with-a-mouth loomed over the garden, but moved on when I hid under the trees pointed out that my sister (who lives down the road) has more meat on her bones than me.

 

From the 13th . . .

I popped down to the beach for an early morning swim - the first of the season!

(I had to brighten this photo considerably in order to make it resemble how the beach really looked - Camera didn't like being pointed at the sun, I suppose...)

Happy Birthday Jon!

 I had my hose out watering the fuchsias when look who leapt out all wet and surly.  Yes, Tom Daley!  Quite what he was doing in the undergrowth, I don't know?  Anyway, I haven't got time to deal with him now, so perhaps one of you can get him out from under my feet?  Jon, I know it's an imposition - and on your birthday too - but would you mind?

Fuchsias from Madam Arcati's Back Yard

Tom Daley via Fabulous Magazine/Pyramid International

Highlights and Horrors of Hexenhäusli Device Gardens

 Hello!  I thought I'd better pop in as it's been a couple of weeks since I last surfaced.  I don't have very much to say for myself, but I do have some photos from the gardens here at Hexenhäusli Device.  

 Above is the second showing from that Hippeastrum in last month's Of Hawkmoths and Drag Queen Knock-Offs (you can see the first set of blooms in the photo below). 

 To the right, the first little 'pineapples' of my Pineapple Lilies (Eucomis comosa 'Sparkling Burgundy') sprouted earlier this month. 

 And below, rocketing up in front of the jasmine, clematis, and permanent pea (everlasting sweet pea), is a double white hollyhock (sourced from Delargo Seeds back in 2021).  I sowed it and its many siblings last year (along with some other seeds - as seen here), and while most found their way to a border at the side of the house and flowered that year, this one was a spare that I tucked in beneath the trellis next to the paysho.  It didn't seem to do very well then, but it was obviously establishing itself ready for this year.

This was taken on 2nd July.

The hollyhock is now even taller at just over three metres (that's nearly 10 feet)

A Garden Photos Event Announcement (massive, misshapen phallus not pictured)

 As promised last month, this is another official reminder to continue photographing your greenery (or, for some of you, to start, even) in preparation for... 

 

The House of

I N F O M A N I A C

Garden Photos Event 2022

 

... in November.

 Whether you have expansive rolling grounds, a tight back passage, or a precariously perched pot plant, get snapping to show off the results of your greenfingers (or brown thumbs) - we want to see it all!  No Brugmansia too big, no Soleirolia too small - anything goes.  And please include a brief - or verbose - caption/blurb with each photo/set-of-photos, ideally something that amongst other things (gardening tales, tips & observations, who your veiny, purple love cabbage reminds you of, for example) states what the plant is, because I'm not Jon (The Official Plant Spotter of Blogdom) and I don't want to do any more research than I have to!

I thought I'd use these photos I took...

 As well as photos of your current garden/courtyard/balcony/window box/pot plant/salad drawer, thanks to Dinah, this year's event will also include a 'Greenery of Gardens Past' exhibit.  To take part, please send in a photo or two of a previous garden that you tended, or a prized specimen that may no longer be with you (don't worry: this blog can support sepia toned and/or black & white photos - engravings and stone tablets are out, though).  It would be great to see how your garden has changed over the years, or if you've moved house, what your previous garden(s) looked like and what you grew.  For the old hands at this, if you can find something that hasn't featured in a Garden Photos Event before, even better! 

... up at the allotment yesterday morning...

 Finally, Terrifying Triffidery is still a thing so, just like last year and the year before, please include a photo of a monstrous or weird specimen for the Hallowe'en GPE prelude.  Or, if you don't have something like a corpse flower or a massive, misshapen phallus arum hanging around, a plant taken from an odd angle/closeup/while drunk will do just as well.

 Photos should be emailed to me by Saturday 29th October - my blog gmail address is in my Blogger Profile (there look, on the right at the top of the sideboard).  Or, if you have my personal hotmail address, use that instead.

... to illustrate this post.

 For any of The Very Mistress's old guard Bitches, or any lurkers or only occasional/sporadic visitors here who would like to take part - please do!  If you're not sure what this is all about, please click on my Infomaniac Garden Photos Event page (at the top of this blog) for info & a little history, and for links to previous years' gardens.  Oh, and don't worry if you haven't ever commented here before, and don't concern yourselves with not knowing who we are/us not knowing who you are - the more the merrier!  If you have any questions, thoughts or ideas, please leave them in the comments and I'll do my best not to ignore them.

 And remember: The Garden Photos Event is NOT a contest!  We're not looking for perfection and there'll be no judging - we just want to see how your garden grows, and maybe swap a few tips.

Happy Gardening!

Sea Cows at Sunset

 Had I been a minute or two earlier, and that annoying cloud bank not been there, last night's sunset is something like what you would have seen at the end of last month's Summer Solstice.  Although, preferably without the sea cows...

A Frisson Amongst the Flora

 Thursday was quite a day.  For me, anyway.  After a delightful swim with* an aesthetically pleasing young man - and the last fifteen minutes with a lane to myself which meant I could lark about underwater - amongst other things, I paid a quick visit (along with The Mother) to Felbrigg Hall walled garden.  Whilst there I experienced something I'd almost forgotten existed.  More on that in a bit - first, let's look at some photos of the garden.

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Oh!  Before I forget, here's Sophie Ellis-Bextor's latest, "Hypnotized"

(x @Wuh Oh, whoever that is?)

 Anyway, carry on!

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Norfolk has long been one of the sunniest and driest counties in England, and with the increasing temperatures of late, the gardens at Felbrigg have been planted with what would once have been unsuitable specimens.

"Oh, no! Fanny's exposed!"*

 Well, that's the second quarter of the year almost done and dusted - where is it going in such a hurry??  So, as is now traditional, here's what I've been reading and watching since the last update:

Read

∘  The rest of Typeset in the Future, by Dave Addey  (from Star Trek: The Motion Picture onwards - last seen here, and presented on the right by my little Box Fox, Rutherford, from Star Trek: Lower Decks)

∘  And I'm still reading Little, Big, by John Crowley (I'm just over halfway through, now.  I bought it on Kindle and thought it must be thousands of pages long as it's taking so long to get through, but I've just checked and it's 'only' 564 pages...) 

Watched

∘  Call Me By Your Name (Netflix)  - This reminded me of parts of my own teenage years.  Not that I was a cool, self-assured teen (far from it, in fact) who had a dalliance with an older man in Italy, unfortunately.  The fly on Timothée Chalamet's shirt right at the end stole the show, though.

∘  Cobalt Blue (Netflix) - My gods the artist lodger (played by Prateik Babbar) is handsome!

∘  Star Trek: Picard (Amazon Prime) - S2, eps 5-7 then I gave up on this incoherant mess, leaving eps 8-10 unwatched.  I should have known after the crushing disappointment of season one.

∘  A Monster Calls (BBC iPlayer) - Enchanting and sad.