I Have a Thing for Cats

I get up of a morning for work and my cat is always waiting outside the bedroom door for me. I groan and talk to him as though he is human and can understand every word I'm saying. I'm usually nagging him because I want to have a chance to unwind.

I groan. "For God's sake Bob. Give me a chance." 

I open the door knowing he wants to go out for a minuet or two. As I come out of the bathroom he is scrapping the door with his paw to come back in. I do so, because he will not stop if I don't. 

In he comes, meowing and I must feed him first before I can do anything else, or he will keep meowing at me. Its best to sort Bob out first and then he'll buzz off and lay down somewhere.

All said and done, I would really miss Bob if he was gone. There is just something about cats that I love. They'll hang around for food and the odd bit of affection now and then - as kittens especially. As the kitten grows older into a cat, the animal will become adjusted and resolute to the way of the household and fit in as and when. If it does not work, they'll just up and leave. No qualms as they are rather fickle creatures.

You have to be dependable to the cat and they'll come and go on a routine basis that works for both, I find. They are very independant but also need to know that you have these dependable qualities that they recognise too.

The Flooded Fen and the Willow Warbler.

Its amazing to know that the entire lake will be gone in a few weeks time. The fields will be back and the cattle grazing. Even now, the various water fowl are going. There seems to be many hundreds of water birds less than before.

The whole place looks fantastic and we sit in the bird hides drinking coffee and talking about all sorts of things. Its always a nice way to spend a few hours. Something new always seems to happen. I took lots of photos. Most are no good, but odd ones are. I have put some on the two blogs before this one, but I did not know where to put the little Willow Warbler upon the reed that bent to a throw amid the wind. I wonder how this little bird viewed the area. This is all something very natural to the little creature. These birds like damp marshlands and reeds. I imagine this is the whole universe to the little being and the rest of the world is not worth knowing about.

New Years Day Looking out Across Flooded Fen

New Years Day at the Manea bird hides was an interesting jaunt. We had a dabble with the camera and camcorder. It's all messing about stuff, but in between we got some good shots on camera.

I decided to put some of the kestrel shots on camera here too. The whole place to and from Manea is full of these small birds of prey. They sit upon cables overlooking the ditches and are always hovering along the perimeters of the fields. They seem to be everywhere.

Short Eared Owl Chased off by Crows.

New Year’s Day 2016! Another bygone year to tuck away in memory and a new one to start. I got up and went straight to my blog to check the traffic. I did the various other sites and was pleased to know I had sold another book during the night in the UK or Ireland. Probably Ireland because it was a historical story set there.

It was a nice winter morning and I suggested to Carole that we might go to the bird hides at Manea. As it is New Year’s Day, it might be very quiet. Well… It’s always quite, but more so than usual because it is a festive day.

We loaded up the car and off we set for the 10-minute drive across the farm fields towards Manea. Along the way, we saw lots of kestrels and a common buzzard. Upon reaching the hides, we were surprised to see a larger than the usual number of cars parked on there. More people than Carole and I obviously had the same idea.

The Fen before the long dyke with scattered bird hides was flooded, as is usual in the winter. In the distance was Ely Cathedral. In summer the fen is full of grazing cattle, but this time of year, the River Delph’s banks burst and overspill across the Fen creating a wonderful lake.

For once, the Marsh Harrier’s did not appear while we were in the hides, though one did fly directly over our car when going home.

The kestrels were out in force and there were loads of Reed Warblers and waterfowl out upon the vast flooded fen. We had our coffee and biscuits while searching the lake for various birds. Carole is much more knowledgeable about the birds then I am. She knows most of the breeds, especially those that dart about upon the reeds. I’m more interested in the more vicious birds – birds of prey. For me, they have an awesome beauty.

I got a few shots of Willow Tits and, what we presumed were Sedge Warblers.  I’m sure we also got a Grey Wagtail too. My attention was caught by a Kestrel that was hovering between our hide and the next along. Something upon the dyke’s scarp had caught its attention and it kept coming back to the same spot.

The best part of the few hours visit came on the way home. We were just driving out of the car park along the river when we saw an owl land on a post. This was on the other side of the dyke opposite the flooded fen. I stopped the car and got my camera out. I began snapping away just as the crows homed in. They get very agitated over any bird of prey. I’ve seen them gang up on Marsh Harriers and now they were after the owl.

I was certain it was no Barn Owl because I had got a look at the face. I thought perhaps a Tawny Owl but the crows spooked the bird of prey and moments later it took to the air as two carrion started to harass the bird in flight. It twisted and turned as the crows swooped and squawked.

I knew I had some decent shots but it all happened so fast that I was unsure what type of owl it was. Owls are nocturnal, but Short Eared Owls hunt in daylight and like low flat marshlands. Bingo!

We looked at the photos on the computer and then put them in the grouping in our UK birds’ manual and found the short-eared owl matched this photo in every way. Face, feather patterns and white underbelly, plus location and time of day.

Carole and I were so pleased. It was the first time I had seen a short-eared owl in the wild.

Always Look Out for New Science Fiction Books

New Sci-fi books are always looked out for. Good sci-fi books are in the realms of the reader opinions. For good or for bad, best new sci-fi books can only be hoped for by the author. Therefore, keep readers happy and hope for good sci-fi book reviews.

For one of many such top sci-fi books Click Here

War of the Worlds Adaptation Retro Science Fiction Novel (The Last Days of Thunder Child)

The story sells well in the USA, but I've always wanted to see how it would do in the UK. 

Under EU law the pastiche can't be published until September of 2016. 

This pastiche SciFi story was inspired by H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds set in Victorian Britain in the year of 1898. I suppose it crosses a number of genres in this day and age. Obviously Science Fiction, but also Alternative Reality and even Steampunk. 

I went on a journey of discovery trying to imagine what H.M.S. Thunder Child might have looked like and fell fancifully in love with the first revolving turret ship without sails. It was H.M.S. Devastation - blogs of which are featured here. She also had a sister ship called HMS Thunderer.

At first, these revolving ship's had muzzle-loading guns with short stumpy barrels that barely protruded from the gun ports. I wanted to keep these on the ship of 1898. Even though they were obsolete by such times. I used poetic license to do such a thing and used a credible excuse.

The whole endeavour of this written work was done during an evening school writing class and it sort of developed from there. It was a wonderful project that I found most absorbing. I got it edited properly and a front cover picture from an artist living in Cambridgeshire.

It cannot be published in the UK or the EU until September 2016, but the USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND are selling the novel now.

Read H.M.S. Thunder Child's adventure against the Martian tripods. Victorian Britain is now a dystopian land. The world has gone mad and the British Empire is exposed for all the weakness it has against an alien technology it cannot compete against. One small outdated ironclad steps up to the mark with a brave crew. In the River Blackwater, Thunder Child makes a defiant stand. Follow the crew and her last voyage.

My Pastiche novel about H.G. Wells' fictional battleship H.M.S. Thunder Child (The Last Days of Thunder Child) was based on H.M.S. Devastation. In my imagination, I could see this design for Thunder Child going into battle against three Martian tripods on the River Blackwater in the county of Essex, England, the UK in 1898.

Muzzleloading guns went obsolete around 1889. All Royal Navy ships, including Devastation, were converted to Breech loading. However, I invented a political excuse to keep Thunder Child antiquated and still retaining the short stubby muzzleloading guns inside revolving turrets. 

This was to give Thunder Child a feeling of being behind the times, but still plucky when the occasion demanded. The diagram above was found in a library book and then I was fortunate enough to find it online. This gives a great internal view of the working of H.M.S. Devastation and I used this plan for my vision of H.M.S. Thunder Child in The Last Days of Thunder Child by C.A. Powell. 

The book is only on sale in the USA at the moment but will be able to be sold in the EU and other places in 2017. On USA kindle, the novel is available for download and it can be bought in print too. Check out the advert below.

Never Let Them Kiss You - Adult Fairy Tale (Novella Coming Soon.)

Nothing in the world will ever be the same again. Depression and paranoia kicks in and the kissed host will begin to despair. They are compelling and alluring. People can't resist the charm of a look, or an innocent smile when glimmered by such strange and mischievous beings.

Once kissed, forever smitten. Such naughty impish little mites. Selfish and unconcerned after the ruinous kiss. Gloating upon the misery that such small favour will prompt. Discarding of the attention induced, and feeding off of the forlorn and hopeless dream they have inspired. This is why you must never let them kiss you.

You will welcome the catastrophic approach. You will scream 'NO!' inside the inner alcove of your mind, but none save you, will hear.

"Look, look into the eyes that make stars look dull in night time skies." This is what they say, in their devious impish way. 

A simple kiss is all they do. That's all they need to get to you. This is why; You must never let them Kiss you.

What Could Go Wrong in this Futuristic Utopia?

  

 I wonder if humans will ever go to other planets or learn the art of terraforming worlds. Imagine planets the size of Earth or bigger - so many that each planet only has a population of say; 20,000 people. Also indulge the thought of having vehicles, like in the above picture. We would fly everywhere and leave the Eco system alone as much as possible.

Could it ever be done? Would we be smart enough to do it? Definitely maybe?

Sometimes I look at great images like this and dream on. A city with no roads going to or from and the wilderness can continue. Perhaps the agricultural fields growing all the food are on giant wheels in space - revolving cylindrical platforms with artificial light from giant solar panels. Here such agricultural needs could be produced without too much damage to the environment. I don't even want to imagine man made fields on this lush, wild and untamed planet. 

It does make one realise that large groups of people require vast areas of land just to feed ourselves. I think that's why I'm fantasising that there are cylinder ring worlds for growing food, leaving planets free from too much people infection. Maybe there are robotic crews tending the fields with a skeleton crew of humans doing the maintenance work. You know – fly out of the city and up into space to the agricultural cylinders with the robotic combine harvester and robotic fruit pickers etc.

Creating the vision is the foundation of ideas, but plans never always work out the way we view them on a drawing board. There is always some unforeseen factor thrown in. I keep thinking that this wonderful city in the wilderness of an untamed planet needs fields for food - huge areas of cultivation - something man made and scaring the landscape - corrupting it to feed the inhabitants of the picturesque city.

What things could go wrong? What things are being neglected in this fine image of Utopian and futuristic beauty?