Skyline

  If you arrived here thinking this post is about the entertaining but ridiculous film about brain sucking aliens (or the car made by Nissan), you're going to be disappointed.  Sorry.

 

The Chapelfield Spire sits atop what is now known as Chantry Place shopping centre

 

 

 No, this post just concerns (some of) the skyline of the city of Norwich where I work (and used to live).  I took these photos last June and remembered while constructing this post why I didn't post them back then: I got caught up in researching the various buildings and architecture - so much so, that what was supposed to be a quick, easy post turned out to be all consuming (which happened again this time around, but I managed to break free.  Just). 

 Also, this was going to be a Four Photos post, but I couldn't whittle down the photos I took to just four.  

Frock or Smock?

  I'm not sure what to make of this ghastly print t-shirt dress or whatever it is?  Mitzi, have you seen the like on your forays oop North?

Tying Up Loose Ends

 It's taken me a week to get over the Ten Day Blogging Challenge thingy but before I move on to business as usual, I have a couple of things to say and a couple of loose ends to tie up.

 Firstly, the 10DBC has given me new found respect for the likes of Jon (who was the unwitting inspiration behind the challenge), Mistress Maddie, and Mr Tonking who can often be found teetering at the top of my Sideboard thanks to their daily blog posts.  Their commitment to blogging and, therefore, entertaining us each day, cannot be underestimated - they are an inspiration!

 Secondly, big thanks to Ms Scarlet who was the instigator of the 10DBC - taking up the mantle of the Daily Blogger when Jon departed for sunnier climes - and to Savvy who took over when Ms Scarlet's ten days were up.  Your efforts were the motivation I needed to see this through myselves.  Thank you.

 Now, on to those loose ends:

  1. I do NOT work in Warhammer.  Although, I think The Very Mistress might have posed for one or two of these little sculptures unless I'm very much mistaken?

 

Apologies for the poor image clarity.  I couldn't get any photos without loads of reflections and this is the clearest I could make them after messing around with the contrast and shadows etc.

Can It Be?

 

Well, this is now the second day of sunshine with another due tomorrow, so maybe?

 

On my way to work I saw...

 ... Crown shyness

 I saw some other things too:

St. Clement the Martyr's church with the crown shy tree on the right

Thoughts for the Day

 Spotted in the same charity shop as last month's Invisible Dick.  What do you think?  Pornography or art?  (Not Chester Brown's take on Mary's foot fetish...)

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]

Breaking the Circle

 Enough moping around and using "all" (see previous post for barely any explanation whatsoever) as an excuse for not blogging.  I am determined to, if not make a grand return, then at least dip our toes back in and go from there.  I must admit, we have almost returned several times, but something always cropped up that was an easy target to use as an excuse for not returning.  And if we leave it much longer, everything that we've missed will become too overwhelming, and we'll never come back.

 

 Anyway, yesterday evening while having tea (the late afternoon meal, not the hot drink) I took to my bookmarks and selected a blog I hadn't looked at in ages: Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs, "a blog about the science, art, and pop culture of Mesozoic life" that I find to be witty and educational, plus it contains dinosaurs!  After reading a couple of the recent posts, I slowly scrolled down to see if something would catch my eye, and something did.  I recognised a photo of a family of Triceratops ambling past Dippy's Pizza & Fries and clicked the 'continue reading' thingy.  

Nieces about to be gobbled up like Children McNuggets

 My suspicion was confirmed: The photo was taken at ROARR! the dinosaur park right here in Norfolk that I ended up at for my nephew's birthday back in August 2019, so I read - and very much enjoyed - the article.  So much so, in fact, that I was moved to leave a comment.  And it was then that I remembered I had featured some photos of the park right here on this very blog that I could link to!  So, I found the requisite post - and very quickly became subsumed in our back catalogue of adventures Over the Cusp...

The Blob! (and other Unusual Suspects at Pensthorpe)

 In an effort to get away from it all*, me and my sister Inexcuseable took a trip to Penisthorpe (as she likes to call it - and so now does her son, Count Podgekinson, 5!) yesterday.

 After an underwhelming welcome from a handful of ducks, geese, and a few black headed gulls, we headed out into the reserve.  Much to our surprise/digust/horror, one of the first things we came across was an iridescent alien egg sack (which we later discovered was only a slime mould, Enteridium lycoperdon - the false puffball).

Well, of course we poked it (those are Inexcuseable's fingers, not mine)

Newly hatched ducklings

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:

Migration Time

Not quite as dramatic as the stripes seen here.

 As it's my day off work, I got up a bit later than usual and made my way down to the seafront around the time the sun was rising.  Of course, it was far too cloudy to actually see the sun, but I did see something else...

"There's a firey star hidden out there somewhere."

Splash!

Feeling Blue (with the Unusual Suspects at Pensthorpe)

 Another dull, drizzly, cold May day meant another wander around Pensthorpe Natural Park with Inexcuseable and Count Podgekinson.  I didn't take so many photos of the ducks, geese, and other water fowl this time as they're all pretty much the same as those seen in the previous link and this one.  However, I couldn't resist this handsome little Mandarin duck on the right!

Unlike the previous Pensthorpe post's mother mallard's ten ducklings, this one only had one

This greylag goose couple were out and about with their three goslings

"I don't think that's a tower full of cows..."

 After the Garden Photos Event announcement and various Star Trek-related scribbles, sketches, and photo-comics, I thought it was time to get back to a post full of photographs.  And, unlike many photos displayed here over the past few years, you may be surprised to discover that some of them are of subject matter never before seen on this blog!

 First of the unseen-til-now is the lake at Felbrigg.  I was dragged across fields and countryside by my sister, Inexcuseable, her husband, and Count Podgkinson (although he spent quite a lot of time in his pushchair... lucky sod), on a boiling hot day back in mid-September.  It was all right, I suppose...

There were cormorants!

Not the DeVice Mansion Gardens

 I visited Urban Jungle near Norwich on Thursday (last seen two years ago, here), and the Old Vicarage gardens at East Ruston yesterday.  Four plants came home with me on Thursday, and just one yesterday.  However, I also acquired a pocket full of various seeds!  Unlike Thursday at Urban Jungle where I took photos of the plants that I liked (and that were suitable for the DeVice Mansion gardens) along with their labels (so I wouldn't have to try and remember/guess what they were later), only by chance did a couple of photos from East Ruston match up to some of the seeds I appropriated.
 The seeds were all stuffed into a pocket of my bag, and when I got home, I spent an age racking my brain to remember which plants they came from, and then another eternity scouring the internet trying to find out the plants' names.  I've done quite well, I think.  Only one seed pod is completely unknown, and another (the one that looks like a bottom) I have a general idea of.

 I began by separating and sorting the seeds, then writing a brief description of the plant they came from (if I remembered). Then, after much some research, I wrote the actual plant name with seed propagation info (if found).  Spiralling inwards (clockwise) from top left:

1. 

   The completely unreal looking fruits of Dianella caerulea

   No description because the bright blue fruit was very memorable - discovered to be Dianella caerulea, aka flax lily. 
2. Again, no description because of its uniqueness.  This is the one I only have a general idea of - I think its from some sort of Crinum, or other similar lily-like bulb.  
3. "Peanutbutter plant" is the description, but I can't remember the proper name.  I used to have one in the gardens of Castle DeVice which, when the leaves were lightly crushed/bruised, would smell of peanut butter, hence my description.
4. "Popping seed plant.  About 1m tall, leggy, in shade, white and purple 'bonnet'-like flowers." - This, I discovered, is an invasive species, Impatiens glandulifera 'Himalayan balsam'. I've written "Don't grow!"
5. "Unknown" - Except, I remembered what plant these seeds came from soon after writing that: The dried flower head of an Allium.
6. "Grass - wispy seed heads about 50cm tall" - I'm not buggering about trying to find out what sort of grass as its grass.  It'll grow.
7. No description as I knew what plant these were from: Echium!

8. 

   Camera has done its usual sterling job of focusing
   everywhere but at the ruddy great thing in the foreground
   that was the obvious subject of the bloody, buggery photo!

   "Column of blackberries"  These attractive, edible-looking black berries (so therefore they must be highly poisonous) yielded small, bean-shaped, shiny black seeds.  It took some research, but I eventually found out that these are from Phytolacca acinosa, aka Indian pokeweed.  And, yes, it's poisonous.
9. "Unknown plant - about 1m tall, leggy, in shade." - Yep, this is the completely unknown one.  It came from near the entrance to the gardens, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about the plant.  The seed pod does look a little like an Aquilegia seed pod, but with only three lobes.

It's just a jump to the left...

Hmmm... I think I'll take the scenic route instead

That's a strange looking newt.

Bloody seagulls!

Cows and Copious Moist Ejecta

 First the cows:

 These photos were taken last Thursday on Coltishall Common.  I'd gone to meet a couple of old friends for lunch and, arriving early, had a wander around the green and pleasant cow-pat festooned lands of the common, complete with the pat producers.
 At one point, they had blocked my way back, the only calf standing right in the middle of the path staring at me.  So, to prevent spooking them and getting gored by their rather pointy horns, I had to walk all the way around to return to the gate.

Cathedral City Cormorants and Coastal Conveyancing

 Disclaimer: This is not an attempt to cause Ms Scarlet more cormorant-related anguish.

 Well, maybe a little...

 In keeping with the recent general theme of birds - and, in particular, Mistress Maddie's more specific cormorant-containing posts - the first part of this post is my most recent cormorant sighting.
 The photos are a bit crap because they were taken with Phone, not Camera, as I was walking through the city on my way to work.  Yes, through the city!  These cormorants were perched atop the Norwich University of the Arts*, lording it over the mallards and Egyptian geese that were grubbing around on the riverbank beneath them.

You can just make out their distinctive silhouette

 I must point out, that these were taken in February, and I haven't seen a cormorant since.  Perhaps Ms Scarlet has a point, and that England's cormorants have flown across the pond since then?

* Although, when I attended, it was known first as the Norfolk Institute of Art and Design then, in my second year, as the Norwich School of Art and Design. 

oOo

 And now on to other things.  The following are just a few photos from the Bank Holiday weekend's leg-stretchers.
 First up - Saturday (and what a difference from this time last year):

Unusual Suspects at Pensthorpe

A rather striking shelduck

 To save you from looking at that Star Trek stuff in the last post for too long, I have thoughtfully sorted out some photos from Thursday's trip back to Pensthorpe.  Yes, I was dragged back there by Inexcuseable, with Count Podgekinson in tow, for a lovely family day out.
 It was OK, I suppose...

A mallard couple

Moorhen

Not #adecadeago

 In a rare moment of desperately attempting to appear "on trend", I thought I'd have a go at Ms Scarlet and Jon's #adecadeago meme.  You know, the one in which ancient bloggers who haven't moved on to new forms of social media (or have, but gave up because it was all so petty and overwhelming) look back at their dusty old archives, and dredge up whatever it is they were blogging about a decade - 10 years! - ago.
 Well, after the successes of the aforementioned Ms Scarlet (AKA The Duchess of Devonshire) and Jon (the Official Plant Spotter of Castle Device and its extensive Witchdom), as well as LẌ and Mitzi, my foray ten years into the past was a disappointment to say the least: an excuse for not blogging, rudely interrupted by that interfering old baggage, Audrey (who has since been expunged from my consciousnesses - sub, or otherwise).  I think Tim said it best when he proclaimed me a "slacker".

Although, he's a fine one to talk.
Quite.

 Anyway, not wanting to let the side down, I came up with a new way to play: travelling back in time by two years to 2017, and then eight years to 2011, which brings us to a grand total of ten years.  Clever, eh?  And, between them, both cover the (not really a) requirement for an old meme and some art work.

 So, two years ago, on the 1st February 2017, we arrive at another meme started by Ms Scarlet: the "Book on a Chair" meme, or #bookonachair as it would be known in today's modern hashtag parlance.

By this point in the proceedings, we were really reaching...

 And eight years ago, on the 1st February 2011, we land slap-bang in Star Trek territory, on the second stop of a voyage that never was, replete with sketches of starships.

oOo

 Because I don't think any of the images from my two #adecadeago posts linked to up there are particularly worthy of reposting here, I thought I'd share a couple of photos I took from Count Podgekinson's bedroom window on the morning of the last day in January:

Look! You can see the birds roosting in this close-up - wood pigeons, I think?

Lifeboats and Chalk Rafts

 While chatting with Dinahmow (and later seeing her new header image), I remembered that I'd taken some photos down on the beach last weekend.  So, as I don't have anything else planned, here they are - the first photos from 2019's first proper beach walk (or "drift"). 
 Despite the clear skies, it's about 25° cooler here than Dinah's neck of the woods...

RNLB Lester on manoeuvres