Granddaughters Millie and Rosie with Carole at the Crooked Cottage in Manea.

I forgot I had this photo on my phone. It was taken back in August on a rather hot day. Carole and I took Granddaughters, Millie and Rosie to the bird hides. We passed the rickety old cottage along the way and I thought it a good excuse to take a photoshoot on the mobile.

The Rain is Coming in the Fenlands.

As I was driving out of the village of Benwick in the Fenlands of Cambridgeshire, I turned down this country lane and was struck by the clouds as I looked out across the Fens. I stopped the truck and took a quick photo. There were different layers of clouds moving swiftly across the sky. It lent a fierce look and was followed by a fierce downpour of torrential rain. You can certainly see the weather coming in the fens. 😀

We Dug the Garden Pond Deeper and Now Want More.

We bought a new and bigger pond liner a few weeks back. Then we decided to dig deeper and widen the pond. We took all of the fish out and put them in a big black bathtub. My step-son Graham went on a mammoth digging mission. The surplus earth was displaced around the fence perimeters and more rock wall for the plant boundary etc. This I did with the wheelbarrow as graham filled it with soil.

Eventually, we were able to lay the new pond liner refill and then put the fish back in their new home. Graham went and bought two new Ghost Carp adding to the nineteen fish we already had. We sat down and decided that next year, we'll get a mini digger and some railway sleepers and make the pond double the size it is now. That way the Koi, Ghost and Israeli Carp will grow even bigger.

The frogs and newts have come back within days. They seem to approve. My wife and I move the small table and chairs and stare down at the fish. It is becoming rather therapeutic. 

All Hail The Eyeballs in the Sky!

I remember reading a British cartoon strip. I think it was in the Daily Mirror and I was working at the Royal Mail in London. I would often read various newspaper funnies. One such strip was the Eyeballs in the Sky. It was an off-shoot story of The Perishers and was by Maurice Dodds and Dennis Collins.

The Perishers cartoon strip had four children who had this old dog called Boot. When the family went on holiday Boot stayed back at the house. One of the dog’s little delights was to wonder to the garden rock pool and stare down through the still water at the pond life that lived below. The crab creatures would stare up at Boot and wonder. All these tiny living things could see was Boot’s eyes and nose. Eyes that peered down from Heaven. Consequently, this society of crabs fashioned a religion around the phenomenal appearance of the Eyeballs in the Sky. Religious crabs preached that there was life beyond the Pooliverse, etc. There were also scientist crabs who tried to discredit the Eyeballs in the Sky as being non-existent. The stories became on going with loads of splendid innuendo jokes. How so many stories could be invented from Boot the dog staring into the rock pool was an absolute delight.

I never wanted The Perishers to come back from holiday. Like the little crabs, “All hail the divine Eyeballs in the Sky.” Boot the dog would cause all sorts of mayhem and deep philosophy among the tiny creatures and walk off with his own oblivious thoughts. Usually leaving upheaval of biblical proportions in the rock pool.

The Diary of an Unknown Aviator - Elliot White Springs

I read this book many years ago. I found it in an old book shop. It was an orange cover at the top with a picture of a WWI aircraft. The account, as I can remember, was of an unknown American pilot. I remember it was poignant and sad towards the end. I presume the writer (aviator) never survived the harsh WWI and the memoirs were then published in later years by a friend. I remember that the writer seemed to be under some stress as he gave an account of the casualty rate. I also remember a justifiable resentment at the conflict and a sense that he would not make it through the entire campaign of the air. He seemed to have an understanding of the terrible odds stacked against him and many like himself. You are actually touching a condemned man's inner being. There is an inevitable sadness about this biographical account. You are reading a condemned man's inner thoughts and it was rather sad in many parts because you know what is going to happen and the anonymous writer knows too. His thoughts are up close and very personal and immensely sad from the readers perspective. This is worth reading. Even if you can only do it once, I would advise reading this sad memoir.

Puppy Rescue as Mother and People Dig to save the Young.

This was on LinkedIn. It was a wonderful story and the visual aspects will speak for itself. Watch this and feel warm and happy at the outcome.

The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian - 4 of 5 stars (My Goodreads Review)

The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With the usual period dialogue, we are transported back through time to stand upon the decks of HMS Surprise. Jack Aubrey's personally owned ship. It is not Royal Navy any more but a privateer with a crew of various types of seamen. The Royal Navy has a sort of secondment over the vessel and Jack Aubrey still hold his re-instated Royal Navy rank. The war with the fledgeling USA of 1812 - 1814 is still in process.

Midway through this story, there is a gripping naval action. The whole drama is bought alive before the reader's imaginative eye. Patrick O'Brian's method of drip-feeding the reader's story development via the dialogue between his superb characters is wonderfully subtle and I think this is what brings this ongoing saga to life. Splendid reading and, of course, I can't wait for the next story. Smashing stuff!

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Aboard HMS Thunder Child from H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

THE ALIEN FIGHTING MACHINE WAS TORN APART BY THUNDER CHILD'S FURIOUS GUNS.
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1. Did you enjoy the dreadful thought of the War of the Worlds Tripod Fighting Machines from Mars?

2. What About the War of the Worlds 1953 Radio Broadcast?

3. Or the Jeff Wayne War of the Worlds Musical?

4. Do you like War of the Worlds 2005 movie?

5. Do you like War of the Worlds 1953 movie?

From Mars, the meteorites shot through space-bound for Earth and conquest over all life forms that live there. The Martians were unfeeling towards mankind as humans are to sheep or other lesser creatures.

The meteorites land in fields and woodland. After a time, there emerges the terror of mankind. Colossal tripods, before which, humanity flees as the onslaught of the fighting machines begins. People are destroyed by heat rays and black toxic gas. Those that survive are forced to flee the pursuing devastation.

Aboard H.M.S. Thunder Child, the crew are blissfully unaware of the savage terror. Only the new Captain knows and only upon the journey, at sea, do the crew begin to learn the unbelievable news from semaphore stations.

War of the Worlds Pastiche.

Have you ever enjoyed H.G. Wells War of the Worlds, an all-time classic Science Fiction story written in 1898? It tells of a Martian invasion that begins in Britain in the County of Surrey just South West of London. Close to a town called Woking. In fact, if you ever visit the town there is a statue of a Martian tripod in the shopping centre. If you have read this story, you will know of the ironclad H.M.S. Thunder Child that is forced to defend the paddle steamer full of refugees. Do you wonder what it would be like to join the crew a few days before the event? You could follow the brave men on their terrible journey around the coastline and up the River Blackwater to Maldon and the final confrontation with three Martian tripods?

Has Anyone read the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O' Brian?

I have resumed reading the Patrick O'Brian Naval stories of the Aubrey-Maturin series. I am on novel 15 at the moment. It is called Clarissa Oakes in the UK. It is known as The Truelove in the USA. Many of the stories are set during the Napoleonic war, but a huge section of the this Aubrey-Maturin series takes place during the US/British and Canadian War of 1812 to 1814.

The stories unfold as a continuing saga. A little like Poldark at sea, The dialogue, of which there is a superb and rich amount, makes the reader feel they are there in the time of early 19th-century sail. The descriptions of ship, sea and tide are very compelling. The two main characters of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin show us everything we need to know as these dynamic stories sail on.

At sea, Jack Aubrey is a man of great substance. He has a knack of telling how a ship is upon sight. He can tell if the crew are seasoned by the way the enemy or a friend goes about the rigging. He can note an experienced group of seamen who have not worked together before. He notices every little blemish of vessel or crew. He is a Royal Navy officer who knows his trade.

Stephen Maturin is Aubrey's physician and is also a British government secret agent. He knows nothing of seamanship but is excellent friends with Jack Aubrey because of their shared interests in music. As a physician, he also makes for a competent ship's surgeon.

By contrast, Aubrey is a complete duck out of the water upon land. A bit of an idiot who seems to get himself into all sorts of financial problems when back home. Here, his trusted friend Stephen Maturin often comes to the rescue.

These Aubrey-Maturin naval tales are a complete delight. I think there are about twenty stories in the saga. Therefore, after this serious is finished, I'm thinking of the Alexander Kent, Richard Bolitho stories. What does anyone else think? I would like to hear from any person who enjoys a good naval yarn. 

Chatterton by Peter Ackroyd (My Goodreads Review)

Chatterton by Peter Ackroyd

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A very interesting story. I read it a long time ago. I had a fascination with Thomas Chatterton and had seen a documentary about the young man. Therefore, I bought this. The story jumps from Thomas Chatterton's final days and then forward in time to Henry Wallis, the English Pre-Raphaelite painter who is painting the famous The Death of Chatterton painting. The young man lying dead on his bed.

This painting was done in 1856 and the model was an up and coming novelist and poet named George Meredith. The young model's wife would run off with the painter, Henry Wallis. Debauchery and vagabond people of the world of writers, poets and painters. Worth reading.

I felt the story concentrated more on Henry Wallis and other people out of time than it did Chatterton. But it was still an entertaining story of Pre-Raphalites with Chatterton's story as more of a support role. Worth reading if you are interested in Henry Wallis the Victorian Pre-Raphaelite painter. The parts with Chatterton needed a little more in my humble opinion.

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