Not the Aurora Borealis

 On Friday the 10th of May this year the Aurora Borealis was particularly spectacular over Great Britain (and other parts of the world) and no end of people witnessed its awesome show and captured photographic images for posterity.  I was not one of those people because I had no idea such an event was taking place until the next morning when it was too late.  Fortunately, it was scheduled* to put on an encore performance that night as well, although it wasn't expected to be quite so spectacular.  This performance suited me because I was to be at my sister's down the road for an evening of cards and gin with a couple of friends and my other sister, so by the time we finished, I could just step outside and see it all going on in the sky above.  Hooray!

 

 Except I didn't see it because the performance was cancelled!  Although I didn't find that out until we'd already staggered wandered down to the cliff top and stood around taking photos of the sky just in case we were too drunk (and in my case, too colourblind as well) to see it.  Apparently the cancellation was something to do with a curtain malfunction or blown light bulb or something according to the conductor of the Nightship (which appeared rather disconcertingly - and in a cloud of noxious fumes from its malfunctioning catlitter converter - right next to where I'd set up Camera & Tripod.  If I hadn't had that last G&T I'm sure I would have noticed the stop).  Bah! 

 

 Anyway, despite that disappointment, I managed to get something out of the experience: some fuzzy photos of a few of the brighter stars:

 The night air was a bit hazy, so these photos are not as clear as my previous efforts. 

 This is made all the more obvious by comparing poor Capella and Polaris - the brightest stars of their respective constellations, Auriga and Ursa Minor - with how they looked just over three years ago on a clear, cold April night. 

All Hands On Deck(s) - Star Trek: Lower Decks

SaveStarTrekLowerDecks.com

Calling all Lower deckers!  On April 12th Paramount+ announced the upcoming 5th season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will be its last.  The cast, crew and fans have all expressed a strong desire to go beyond this season.

 

As Mike Okuda, a graphic designer best known for his work on Star Trek, posted to social media:

 

One of the ways that the success of a streaming show is measured is by the number of minutes that each episode is streamed.  If a lot of fans replayed each episode a lot, it is conceivable that that could make a blip in the ratings.

 

Our goal is to make that blip!

Thoughts for the Day

  Ms Scarlet is doing an astonishing job of publishing daily blog posts while Jon's on holiday - really astonishing, considering.  However, for anyone looking for familiar Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle style content, may I present this homage to Thoughts for the Day (as found under Jon's Gay Gossip label):

[Spotted in a charity shop window this morning while on my way to work.

I deliberately didn't crop out the tat in the background in case Mitzi or someone else wanted a look/laugh]

"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

Bright Light Bright Light - Heartslap

 Back once I've found my crop top and short-shorts... 

 

I think I just heard someone throw up in their mouth.

The INFOMANIAC Garden Photos Event 2024 Primer

The 2024

 

I N F O M A N I A C

 

Garden Photos Event

 I thought it was about time to get up off my quince and do something about this year's GPE.  I mean, Savvy's already on it, for Christ's sakes!

 I am sure that you all know what the Infomaniac Garden Photos Event is and why it's held here rather than at The Very Mistress's hallowed blog, Infomaniac, these days.  But for anyone new here, or for any Blogorati/Bloggerati* having a senior moment or just waking up after a cooking sherry bender that began two days ago while making a trifle**, my GPE Page explains all.

 

 Anyway, forget the trifle for now (If you can.  Mmmmmmm... trifle!), this is all about the GPE.  There's no theme this year, not least because I've left it far too late in the year to foist one upon you, but also because I can't decide between the handful I've thought of.  So, all you need to be thinking about - and doing - is preparing your expansive grounds, modest gardens, compact courtyards, payshos, balconies (juliet or otherwise), windowboxes and/or indoor pot plants and taking photos of them in their entirety, and/or specific/favourite/interesting views, planting schemes, specimen plants/leaves/flowers, or any other aspect of your greenfingering that takes your fancy.

 As with previous GPEs held here, there will also be a pre-event Terrifying Triffidery exhibit at Hallowe'en, so be sure to take photos of any particular scary, unusual, or downright rude (because we know what you're like) plant, too.  Or, failing that, photos of a perfectly ordinary plant taken while drunk, close-up, or filtered/photoshopped to Hell!

 And remember, the Infomaniac Garden Photos Competition is NOT a competition, so there will be no judgey comparisons or winners/losers.  The Event is open to all no matter your gardening skill level or plot/pot size, and you can submit just one photo or many.  I usually ask for photos to be emailed to me by the end of October as the Event will be held throughout November, but I'll confirm dates & email address etc. later in the year.

 

 Finally, for any friends-of-friends, lurkers, irregulars, or newcomers reading this, it would be lovely to see some garden photos from you, too.  Lady Goldberg-DeWoofs, I know you've moved to a beach front house recently - Have you found some suitable specimens?  Sixpence, how does your garden/terrarium grow?

 Right.  Now that's out of the way, here are some GPE preparation photos from Hexenhäusli Device's grounds to get you in the mood:

Steps - Deeper Shade of Blue (Steps 25 Revisited Mix)

 Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to squeeze into a filthy, dirty ventilation shaft for no particular reason...

The Assistant Gardener

 Apologies for being somewhat absent lately.  Amongst other things, the assistant gardener of Hexenhäusli Device has demanded a lot of my attention...

 

 

 Normal service - should such a thing even exist anymore - will resume shortly.

 

Stella Botanica

 Have you ever wondered how all those starships and spacecraft in the Star Trek Universe are made?  Well, wonder no longer as I have discovered evidence that is sure to surprise you.  The starships are not painstakingly fabricated on a planet or in orbit, but rather their parts are sustainably harvested from the giant machine lifeforms that grow in the Lightspeed Lagoon Nebula as the following illustration shows:

This botanical illustration must have found its way back in time somehow for me to have discovered it 250 years before it was created.

I know.  Shocking, to say the least!

- - -

A Turn Around the Grounds

 I had intended to do some gardening today, but the West Wind is bitter (and, as I type this, it has just rained), so instead of getting cold and mucky outside, I have sorted out some photos from yesterday's turn around the grounds. 

 Above, the daffodils I planted on the embankment behind Hexenhäusli Device when we first moved in are in full force.  And below, my shade garden behind the garage has been brightened by blooms:

 There have been some changes since this time last year: I moved the pheasant berry/Himalayan honeysuckle (Lycesteria formosa) from its pot next to the table into the ground next to the square compost heap (you can see its tall, dark red stems at the back right of the photo above).  In its place I put the chocolate vine (Akebia quinata) which is going great guns and competing with the Pyracantha (behind the pheasant berry).  It's also flowering, as you can see on the right.

It's My Party And I'll Bore You All With Star Trek Fan Art If I Want To!

"Moopsy!"

 Mwah hah hah hah haaaaaa!!!  It's my birthday and I can do whatever I like!  Including publishing this self-indulgent Star Trek fan art post!  Which I did warn you about in the last post.  Well, I mentioned it, anyway...

 Yes, when I'm not blogging-

 So, most of the time, then. 

 You can talk!  This is supposed to be YOUR blog.  I'm only here to provide the necessary fingers & thumbs for all the typing and HTML jiggery-pokery.

 Hmmph!

 Anyway, when I'm not blogging in Witchface's stead, I can be found messing about with Star Trek related stuff, such as these monthly themed fan art challenges from the only other social media-type site I visit: Trek BBS.

 The following are my efforts since August last year, so strap in!

August: Movies

"Get your drinks in and prepare your popcorn because we're headed to the cinema!

Which Star Trek movie era will inspire you: TOS, TNG, JJ?  Or perhaps you'd like to imagine a movie for a series that never made it to the silver screen.  And how about those new streaming movies on the horizon, can you predict what we might see in the Section 31 movie or what could follow after it?"

 

 

 I'd intended to create another movie poster - Star Trek IV-B - like I did for February's challenge.  Unfortunately, useable free time for such things was in short supply back then, so that plan was scuppered and all I managed were some sketches and a bit of MSPaint art of the Whale Probe from ST IV: The Voyage Home.

Reasons Why... II

 I'm not sure how to start this post, so I'm just going to dive right in with this lightly edited response to a very kind email from Mr Mago:

 

 "There a few reasons for my blogging absence, but, sadly, bumping into Mr Adonis on the beach* is not one of them.  Time (as in "lack of") and work are the main culprits I think, and the Winter darkness hasn't been conducive to making any particular effort either.  Combined, these reasons have culminated in the loss of my blogging "mojo".   I've sat down with Blogger open now and again, but can't muster up the enthusiasm to write anything - even posting images seems like a big effort.   I've visited other blogs now and again - including yours, of course - in the hopes of getting the wind back in my sails, but I can't even think of anything to say in the comments.  Plus, I've missed so much that catching up with everything seems like a chore - and it shouldn't be!  (That's work's influence.  Work has been relentless for the past year or so, and sitting in front of my PC doing something other than reading feels like work, so I end up aimlessly following links until I get fed up then go and watch something fun on telly to get over it all - such as Bluey, those Australian animated dogs from my previous post.)

 "However, I have nearly two weeks off work from the middle of next week with no plans except for gardening & sorting out the allotment, so I'm hoping the extra time and the brighter days will help in getting that blogging mojo back!  I do miss it and you and the rest of our little community - and I even have some Star Trek art I can post until something else catches my attention that's worth blogging about."

 

 So, I sat down to finish this post which entailed opening up YouTube to get the code for a new song I like (see below), but that meant I had to listen to it all as well (and "Wicked Game" by Girls Aloud).  Then I remembered that Ms Scarlet had emailed me with some questions of a highly personal nature that I'm not going to share here, so I opened up my emails to reply before I published this post, but clocked a notification from Wonky Words about the NEW POST Ms Scarlet had threatened to publish in her email so I had to read that (I didn't send the rook, by the way.  I can manage a jackdaw and occasionally a crow, but rooks are out of my comfort zone).  And then the washing machine beeped its shrill annoying beeps to let me know it had finished turning my bed linen inside out (how does it do that?!?) and that I had to empty it RIGHT THAT MOMENT!  So, down the stairs I went to decant the pillowcases and duvet cover and the like from the washing machine to the tumble dryer - turning everything the right way around as I did so.  But as I type this, I'm thinking I should have left it all inside out because the tumble dryer also turns everything inside out - if it doesn't twist it all up into a hot, tight, damp little ball first (why does it do that?!?).

 Oh, and my coffee is going cold and is almost finished so I'm wondering if I should go and make another one or finish this post first?  While I'm dithering, here's that new music I mentioned:

Bright Light Bright Light & Ultra Naté - Every Emotion

* There is a Mr Adonis at the pool, though: The handsome, surly, golden-brown fox of a lifeguard who sits in his lifeguard observation chair looking bored and/or slightly angry and, therefore, very sexy.**  There hasn't been any bumping, though.

** Description taken from a previous post in which I made excuses for not posting, funnily enough.  Oh, and his name's Ryan.

P.S. While I was searching for that description of Ryan-the-Foxy-Lifeguard, the tumble dryer insistently beeped at me, so I had to go down and untangle the hot, damp, tight little ball of bed linen and set it going again!

P.P.S. I didn't reply to Ms Scarlet's email!  Must do that next.