Odds and Sods

We've not got much of note to say, but we do have an assortment of "stuff" from the past week to do something with.
  A slightly blurry Moon from the 26th (on the right, there), some early morning horizonal silhouetting from the 25th, a couple of Goldfinches from yesterday, and some music from earlier in April.

  So.  Here are those early morning photos - what I call "Post-Industrial Minimalist Silhouettes at Dawn":

Sparkling Seas ft. Special Guest!

 "Summer" didn't last long.  It is miserable here, now.  Raining, cold, windy-

More of a light breeze, really.

 Well, yes, but still a bit windy.  It's blowing the rain about too much.

I suppose.  I don't care anyway, as I'm tucked up warm and dry in your head!

 That's what you think!

* starts to think about waterfalls and rough seas and burst water pipes *

Hey!  That got me, too!

  While they're squabbling, may I present some photos from last weekend to take our minds off the current cold, damp squib.
  The following snaps are from Saturday morning, and include a special guest not seen for several months:

The view from behind Château DeVice not very early on Saturday Morning

I was about to descend the slapdash and rickety steps to the promenade in this photo

Hang on.  Who's that perched on the end of this extremely long groyne?

Return to Shark Mountain: The Molehill

A Peacock butterfly basking in the sun

 Last time on Inexplicable DeVice, the sun had come out and, despite the interference of Sisters and UFOs, we managed to get to the cliffs to view a calm sea twinkling in the morning sunshine.  Well, this post is a continuation of that one: Even Aliens Need Holidays.  
 After I'd got rid of Inexcuseable (no, I didn't push her down the cliff), I returned to the cliff and made my way down onto the beach.  Typically, the weather had changed a little: while the sun was still evident, it was a little hazy:

The view towards Sidestrand has lost its sparkle

And looking back towards Overstrand isn't any better

Oh, well.  We'll carry on anyway

Even Aliens Need Holidays

 At long last, the fog has lifted and the sun's come out.  And on my day off, too!
Making the most of the sunshine and soaring temperatures - at least 20°C, and set to get hotter - I wandered along to the cliff top here in Overstrand with my sister, Inexcuseable, earlier this morning.

 I took a few photos to mark this auspicious occasion, but when I got back to Château DeVice to sort them out, I discovered this:

 Yes.  A UFO!  Aliens are visiting Overstrand for their holidays.  Possibly...

 I wonder if they saw me taking photos of the stars behind Château DeVice last night?  

From left to right: Auriga, Perseus, and Cassiopeia.  The big glow in the bottom left corner is the Moon.

 I've yet to sort out last night's star photos, so I'll pop another post up featuring them another time.

Time For Change? Just Don't Forget The Past

 With many bloggers having a Spring Clean and updating their blogs with new, fresh designs and ideas (I am thinking about it myselves), it is important to remember where we came from, what we've accomplished along the way, and what didn't quite go according to plan so we can learn from our little mistakes in an effort not to repeat them ad nauseum.
 So, from the archives of certain bloggers, I have gathered a small collection of incriminating fascinating photos just in case they get "deleted" in their respective Spring Cleans...

LẌ looking glum in his homemade Ren Faire costume after being lumbered with Herr Mago's do-it-yourself Sunday Music paraphernalia

And here's Herr Mago himself!  Doesn't he look thrilled to be Princess's personal knicker elastic tester?

Foggy un oeuf?

  Another day of murk and moistness. Still, it didn't stop me from popping out for some fresh air.
  I ended up on the beach, as usual, but there wasn't a lot to see except for mist-swathed groynes and a multitude of egg cases.  And if I have to see them, then so do you!

[The dewy orb web on the right is from the window of Château DeVice]

::

Narwhal in a Spacesuit

  Having been besieged* with requests for a whale in a spacesuit, may I present:

an Inexplicable DeVice production

in association with Starfleet Cetacean Operations

and Quilted Shoulder Pads Inc.

  (Oh, OK, we'll stop now.  The whale is right at the end, so you're going to have to scroll through two or three sketches to get to it.  I'm not sorry)


  First, here is my take on an alternate timeline/universe version of the Starfleet uniform that was used from 2373 onwards (in Deep Space 9 and the Next Generation movies).  This was my entry for the February Art Challenge - "Alternative Trek":

  The uniforms are an unlikely combination of the 2260s Romulan Star Empire service uniform, the 2270s-2290s Starfleet "Monster Maroons", and the 2370s Starfleet standard duty uniform. The rank insignia are my own design as exquisitely modelled by @Scribble
  They came about in a universe in which Torias Dax didn't die in the Infinity transwarp test shuttle accident (because transwarp worked - not the space salamander version, just a significantly faster & more efficient warp drive) and the Romulans ended up joining the Federation (just in time to save it from a massive Borg incursion - but that's another story).
  Romulan models, T'Cael and Ry'iak are named after characters featured in Final Frontier by Diane Carey. You may notice that T'Cael's right hand is in a very awkward position for his fingers to be where they are on Ry'iak's hand. I'm wondering what he did for Ry'iak to hold him so uncomfortably?

Making Waves

  I indicated to Ms Scarlet that this post would feature the narwhal in a spacesuit that I mentioned having drawn (over at hers).  However, that plan has been scuppered (temporarily) after I "accidentally" went down to the seafront this morning with Camera.
  After the rain had cleared up and the sun had come out, of course.  The wind was still in full effect, though perhaps not to the same degree that Dinahmow may be experiencing (she was expecting a cyclone to touch down yesterday...).  

  Still, it was quite bracing.

As I was walking down the slope, I noticed people on the prom, so I headed East down the cliff instead.  But not before getting these three shots

Person in front of retaining wall: "Yaaaargh!  Run away!"

Person on wall: "Oh, crap.  I'm going to get wet, aren't I?"

Heavenly Action

  There was supposed to be a point to all this, but I can't really remember what it is now as it's been more than 24 hours since I started putting it all together.  Something to do with death and an afterlife, I think?
  Anyway, while I'm working on my next Star Trek themed post (ha!), here are the rest of the photos from Friday which do include death (mainly for Hound), and some heavenly skies. Oh, and Erasure's second UK single from which the title of this post is taken. 

It could almost be Summer, couldn't it?

Return to Shark Mountain: The Return!

  As Friday looked set to be quite a nice day, I took to the beach again. 

And took far too many photos of loads of things you've all seen before!

Which will be inflicted upon you if you scroll through this post.

  The SubCs are right, you know.  You've only got yourselves to blame for continuing.

It's got to be better than all that Star Trek stuff in the previous post, though.

 Quite.

Aside from the beach huts, the cliffs at the bottom of the promenade slope look quite dramatic

Recent storms and rough seas have scoured a lot of the sand away, leaving rubble and exposed groynes