Tuesday 30 September 2008

Haiga, WOTD - fettle


fettle \FET-l\, noun:
A state or condition of fitness or order; state of mind; spirits -
- often used in the phrase "in fine fettle."

After Milton's poem:
the demon in fine fettle,
his companion, ill.

Last Day of September...

... and not a lot to show for a dreary, rainy day.

Here's a very yummy custard tart that Helen made for DK while she was up here for the weekend.

and a yummy little dog (not that I've tried eating her or anything).



Yummy fruit in the bowl...


and delightful conkers (Horse Chestnut seeds) collected by the age-old method of walking along and picking them up off the ground.




Perennial sweet pea seeds collected by Penny in Folkestone and sent to me. Thank you, Penny, I shall plant them in the spring.



and the only surviving Laburnum tree (the slugs ate all the rest) now three inches high on the kitchen windowsill.

Monday 29 September 2008

Book review - "Attention. Deficit. Disorder." by Brad Listi

Attention. Deficit. Disorder.

by Brad Listi


publisher: The Friday Project

ISBN-10: 1906321094

ISBN-13: 978-1906321093



Wayne Fencer spends the year following his former girl friend’s suicide struggling to come to terms with its impact on him. From the funeral he narrates the path of the year, from his discovery of her aborting his child to the cold realization that, unlike the epiphany many suicide attempt survivors record, Amanda wanted to die. Wayne wins a fortune on the stock exchange and spends it by embarking on a journey through Mexico and Cuba, where he hires a young prostitute as a traveling companion, to a marathon trek along the Appalachian trail hoping to find a point to his life.

This is a superbly written novel interspersed with snippets of biographies and dictionary definitions on words – somewhat intrusive at times, particularly when the words are well-known. It is a constant reminder that the reader is a voyeur into the protagonist’s story rather than being a confidante.

One of the devices one learns as a writer is that the protagonist, or hero, of a story must be either changed by the events within it or, after surviving and contemplating them, elect to remain unchanged. This is a story of the latter, although Fencer is at least comforted by the gradual realization that Amanda’s suicide wasn’t his fault..

The book has frequent references to the cinema, and the journeys that such stories take. Writers and film buffs might enjoy such discourses.


Attention. Deficit. Disorder. is a fascinating read, one which I enjoyed greatly. I was somewhat lucky to have won my copy, one of the limited edition rubber-bound covers which is a rubber fetishist’s dream. You can still get them HERE



Attention. Deficit. Disorder: A Novel

Last morning at The Edge

A week of superb weather continued as we packed up to leave. Here's the view outside the adorable landlady's house, and the lounge window of the cottage we were in. That's Rowan's bike - he generally cycles everywhere.








Shadows of the ash trees that surround the brook



and the log fire of the previous evening - made completely from wood collected from the nearby beach of Welcombe Mouth





Rusty saw blade against old wooden fencing


and, a little lower, a fern.

There are thousands of ferns in Devon. They thrive there.





The Last Breakfast.

Thank you Sue!

Haiga - WOTD - verbiage


verbiage \VUR-bee-ij\, noun:
1. An overabundance of words; wordiness.
2. Manner or style of expression; diction.

Random verbiage
in the tongue of the abyss -
Should I be worried?

Sunday 28 September 2008

Avebury - 26th September


We were racing the setting sun to get the the stone circle at Avebury.



Luisa has a peacock feather in her dash, though DK was driving...





The sun set a few minutes before we arrived, and the public car parks being closed meant that we missed the light entirely.

Avebury is a village enclosed by a stone circle, the scene of many a book and Hammer Horror film.






Do follow the link. It's fascinating.

Saturday 27 September 2008

Home Again - Happy Dogs

Beautiful -
fabulous blue skies
on our morning walk
Three happy dogs -
mum home from holiday
Sniffing to be done






Season of fungi -
These the size of plates,
feasting on decay

A stand of trees -
shelter not requires
under glorious sun





Lets have less fuss
about cemetery dog walking -
these kids (and their dad)
were destroying trees for the conkers.

Autumnal colours
creep into consciousness
almost by default.






Lonely bench
under morning sun
peaceful.

Haiga - WOTD

capitulate \kuh-PICH-uh-layt\, intransitive verb:
To surrender under agreed conditions.

Friday 26 September 2008

Art to the Supermarket

Rob1nson's Cardboard packaging have a whole metal fence with these decorated pierced panels every third post. This one is either a small boy creating his very own black hole or creatively urinating.



This one illustrates boxes, in case we didn't know what packaging meant.




This one celebrates 100 years of trains in Chesterfield. See the crooked spire?



Paint peeling off this bollard brings it from the mundane to the arty.

I liked it, anyway.











This was random - a piece of thick wire thrown up a tree, but the spiral effect was most pleasing.

Thursday 25 September 2008

Brick Outhouses, cats and dogs

These are the back alleys on the way to the park. Some lovely autumn foliage.

and what appears to be a birthday. I love these sheds built against the outer edge of the property. All the houses along here (all ex-council) had them.

I couldn't resist a photo of these two cats sunning themselves on top of the dustbins. They were a tad wary of my three dog, though.



The front of this house looked like an architectural scrapyard. I was tempted to see how much they wanted for those corrugated iron arches.


Real brick outhouses! Just like my grandparents had.

If someone said "he was built like a brick sh*thouse" this is what they meant. That's an old garage with metal concerting doors on the left, too.



See that gap in the wall?
Jack went after a squirrel in there. The trouble was, he was still attached to Trickster,
who was left dangling by the neck from the wall until I rescued her.

Haiga - WOTD


plaintive \PLAYN-tiv\, adjective:
Expressive of sorrow or melancholy; mournful; sad.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Drains

Rain, rain
down the drain


Littery drain
Is that a beer can inside?







Cemerery drain
Not clogged yet!
...though it may be soon.

Look! Feet!




This one will soon be clogged.

wet feet!
Two more drains by the cemetery gates.
Did Play School ever go through the round drain?