"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.

Of Hawkmoths and Drag Queen Knock-Offs

 First things first, the leading photo in this post is to address the disappointment of no actual sunset in yesterday's Summer Solstice post.  Poor Mr Tonking was so looking forward to it, so I hope this Big Gay Sunset (thank you, Jon) from out of my pit nest boudoir window on the 19th will suffice?

Now, on to the titular moths and knock-offs, also from the 19th:

This hummingbird hawkmoth (and friend/partner) was drinking nectar from the last of the Jasmine flowers.

This was the best shot I could get as they were zipping around so quickly.

There are some better photos back in 2020 and 2015.

I get up at four in the morning so you don't have to!

 Yes, the longest day is here, and didn't it come around quickly!?  Where is the year going? 

 Anyway, as I'm working today, rather than miss out on the extra few seconds of daytime because I'm stuck in front of a laptop, I thought I'd capture the day so I can experience it tomorrow instead (I have the day off!).  Of course, if any of you, the delightful Blogorati, wish to make use of this day after it's occurred too, then help yourselves!

 This is part one.  I'll post part two tonight, soon after it happens.

Late!  (And it's not because Camera's clock is six minutes fast...)

Ah. There you are!

White Cliffs of Over(strand)

Uh, oh...  This doesn't seem right?

 On Thursday, knowing that the temperatures on Friday were going to hit at least 30° and therefore any outside venturing then would result in heatstroke, and crisping of skin followed by complete desiccation, I slapped on some sunscreen, stepped outside and sloped off down to the beach to get some fresh air and have a paddle.

 

 

 Only it didn't quite go according to plan...

A sudden embiggening of the landscape alerted me to the fact that I had inadvertantly happened upon the Lilliputian Cusp interface again, promptly becoming debigulated.

Things That Can Fly...

Can you guess what it is yet?

 As I don't have anything else to post about, here are some photos of flying things that would otherwise languish on my hard drive.  While the cow below may be able to jump over the moon, I'm not convinced that it can actually fly.  Fortunately, there's a pheasant in the lower right corner which meant I can include this photo (it was taken at the beginning of June while I was cat-stting at my sister, Inexcuseable's house while she was away - as were the following three photos).

Moo!  Yes, I love being disturbed at 6:15 in the morning by a cow trying to eat from a bird feeder.

Creatures From the Black Lagoon* - And a Load of Tits

 

 While having a little break by the pond, I thought I'd try and take a few photos of some of the creatures that dwell within.  The frog tadpoles are quite big now, and have started to grow legs as you can see above. 

 They'll come in handy for certain spells... 

 We'll see about that!  And most of the young water boatmen (Greater waterboatman {Notonecta glauca} above and below) will leave the pond and fly to other bodies of water later in the summer.

This dragonfly nymph seemed to be attempting to get out of the pond...

A Paddle At Last!

 I've got to prepare for an invasion - I suspect The Little Witch and Vom Smallhäusen will appear any moment now - so, as I have just finished sorting out the photos I took on this morning's drift along the beach, I thought I'd pop the least boring up here for you to peruse while I'm battening down the hatches etc.  Besides, I haven't furnished you with beach pics for quite some time, so this will be a nice(?) change from Triffids and such (although there are some triffids here).

 I shall return once normality has descended upon Hexenhäusli Device once more...

To Hoe, Or Not To Hoe?

 Not to hoe, obviously.  I don't ride hoes as I don't want to be mistaken for a warlock (although I do wear hoodies).  Warlocks tend to be vain and self-aggrandising, and a little bit dim fortunately, otherwise - if they stopped thinking about themselves for a mere micromip - they could cause a lot more bother than they already do.

 Anyway, enough about those hoes, let's have a look at how the allotment is doing, shall we?  If you make it all the way to the end, I'll treat you to a couple of hoes, and there may even be a bit of a rake!

14th May

In the fruit cage are some horrible redcurrants.  They're so sour and pointless - I hate them!  Despite pretty much ignoring them, they just keep growing and cropping, growing and cropping.  Bah!

Behind the currants is a cherry tree and a row of raspberries

Young greengages

Not More Hats of Dame Barbara Cartland?!?

 Would you excuse me, please.  I'm just navigating from one disaster to another.  Having finally got to grips with The Great Comment Catastrophe, I now find myself without a suitable hat for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  I've already missed nearly two days of it because Liz threatened to revoke my Royal Garden Party invitation if I didn't attend at least one day out the four suitably attired.

 I've resorted to trawling through Dame Barbara Cartland's photo album* looking for inspiration because I couldn't find a thing I liked in her Collectors' Edition brochure...

You'll probably need to click then right-click and open in a new window to see this properly

 I quite like her witch's hat, but that's probably because it's very similar to my day-to-day wear.  However, I think I'm going to go for the swimming cap (although I may dispense with one of the masts and its array of sails). 

 Now I just need to get measured up.  Does anyone know if the Infomaniac House of Beauty is open today?

 

* More of the Pink Dame's photo album can be found here.

Damselflies Doing It!

 Aaaaarrrrgh!  I'm having the devil of a time trying to comment both here and on any other Blogger blog.  Blogger tells me I'm either not signed in (clearly I am as I've managed to post this!), or 'There has been an error.  Please try later."  Oh, shit off!

 I wonder if this is the same problem that Melanie was having last month?

 Wordpress blogs don't seem to be affected though, as I've just commented successfully at Ms Scarlet's...

 As I can't be arsed to deal with this nonsense right now (too hot!), here are some photos from my earlier escapades around the pond:

Common Blue Damselfly (Enellagma Cyathigerum) on a Primula leaf

Damselflies Doing It!!!  And right in front of me too...

If you don't sort yourself out, Google/Blogger, this could be you...

::

EDIT: 23.05.2022 19:09 - I thought it Blogger had sorted itself out, but after four comments, I got the dreaded "Failed to publish comment.  Please try again later" message.  [sad face]

 I'm not ignoring you, I promise!

EDIT: 23.05.2022 19:14 - It worked once more then decided that was enough.  Grrrrrrr....

My Small Red Bush* - A Garden Photos Event Announcement

* Which could never be confused with Ms Scarlet's Big Pink Bush™

 

 Prompted by Mr Tonking's recent seed spreading effort and Dinah taunting Us with her bat (also, to a lesser extent, Jon's pricking out) I bring you the first reminder (following February's general announcement) to get gardening and to photograph evidence of your efforts ready for: 

The House of

I N F O M A N I A C

Garden Photos Event 2022

 

 As with the last couple of years, this year's event will be held in November and will follow straight on from the now traditional Hallowe'en prelude, Terrifying Triffidery.  There is no theme for the main event but, inspired by a comment from Dinah, I would like you to search out old photos of gardens you tended - or even played in as a child - from years/decades/aeons ago and send in one or two (or more, if you feel so inclined) to be featured along with your efforts from this year.  Remember to provide captions and/or blurbs to go with your photos, too!

☙❧

 Right.  Now that's out of the way, here's how the Hexenhäusli Device Gardens are coming along:

 Above is the titular Small Red Bush (which was a free gift with last year's two bat flower rhizomes which came to naught.  Bah!).  And to the left, an orchid (that first featured here) that until recently was positioned on my bathroom windowsill, but once it flowers it drips sticky nectar/sap everywhere so it's now outside in my Gin Time Corner.  You can see it festooning a stem of a Himalayan Honeysuckle below.

Tunes on Tuesday Turns Back Time

 I half prepared this post as filler, thinking that I probably wouldn't publish anything until next weekend, but then I went and managed the previous Early Start post and never finished this one (which was inspired by some of the songs a work colleague plays first thing in the morning before the phone lines are switched on)!

 Fortunately, no further musings from me are necessary - I can just let the music play:

Aqua: Turn Back Time

Sydney Youngblood: If Only I Could

Shakespears Sister: You're History

Propaganda: Duel

Bass-O-Matic: Fascinating Rhythm

ABBA: Cassandra

Erasure: Drama!