What if the hammering of fossil fuel facilities across the Middle East persuaded the energy companies to develop and release the alternative technologies they've been sitting on?
One of the pleasant things about spending a couple of nights away was stepping out in the morning not to the screeching of herring gulls but to the song of a single blackbird,
Not that I dislike gulls- on the contrary- but it was a nice change.
How do you characterise the blackbird's song? It's like water droplets hitting water, like the chiming of a glass bell, like... well.... like nothing but itself.
When we first moved to the coast (four years ago almost to the day) Ailz said she wasn't sure she could live with the noise the gulls make.
"You'll get used to it," I said.
And she concedes I was right.
It's like living next to a railway line- which both of us have done. After a while you just don't notice the trains going past.
Not that I dislike gulls- on the contrary- but it was a nice change.
How do you characterise the blackbird's song? It's like water droplets hitting water, like the chiming of a glass bell, like... well.... like nothing but itself.
When we first moved to the coast (four years ago almost to the day) Ailz said she wasn't sure she could live with the noise the gulls make.
"You'll get used to it," I said.
And she concedes I was right.
It's like living next to a railway line- which both of us have done. After a while you just don't notice the trains going past.
I was thinking I'd write a summary of what we know about the War in the Middle East, but it would have been speculation and guesswork and deductions based on information designed to mislead so I'm not going to. The madness continues, whizzbangs fly in every direction, the US President is demented, Bibi Netanyahu may be dead.
Here in Britain, we notice a steep rise in the cost of fuel......
But otherwise the Spring weather is (intermittently) glorious, the daffodils are in full spate, I'm feeling (intermittently) energised and want to be making things. In a dream last night I wanted to be making a model railway layout.
Yesterday we had lunch with Miriam and Edna at the Hiker's Rest in East Dean. Afterwards we took their dogs for a brief walk in the wood called Butchershole just up the road from Jevington, where my mother used to keep her racehorses. Anna, who trained and managed those horses, has retired now. Nice woman, gave my mother a lot of fun, helped her lose/throw away a great deal of money.
There are two villages in Sussex called East Dean, one in West Sussex, one in East Sussex. They are both very pretty. People get them mixed up. Here are some pictures of our East Dean- east East Dean if you like, taken around midday with the light at its most magnificently harsh and unforgiving. The pub is called The Tiger, the church is dedicated to St Simon and St Jude......
Finally for all you lovers of the Romanesque, here is a close-up of the carving on the church font:
Here in Britain, we notice a steep rise in the cost of fuel......
But otherwise the Spring weather is (intermittently) glorious, the daffodils are in full spate, I'm feeling (intermittently) energised and want to be making things. In a dream last night I wanted to be making a model railway layout.
Yesterday we had lunch with Miriam and Edna at the Hiker's Rest in East Dean. Afterwards we took their dogs for a brief walk in the wood called Butchershole just up the road from Jevington, where my mother used to keep her racehorses. Anna, who trained and managed those horses, has retired now. Nice woman, gave my mother a lot of fun, helped her lose/throw away a great deal of money.
There are two villages in Sussex called East Dean, one in West Sussex, one in East Sussex. They are both very pretty. People get them mixed up. Here are some pictures of our East Dean- east East Dean if you like, taken around midday with the light at its most magnificently harsh and unforgiving. The pub is called The Tiger, the church is dedicated to St Simon and St Jude......
Finally for all you lovers of the Romanesque, here is a close-up of the carving on the church font:
[MULTIFANDOM] vampiremedia's April Drabblethon!
Wednesday, 18 March 2026 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maevedarcy posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomcalendar Picture Diary 125
1. Bye bye, blackbird
2. The first touch
3. Dryad
4. At the gate
5. Was that an owl?
6. Having got this far I might as well go on....
1. Bye bye, blackbird
2. The first touch
3. Dryad
4. At the gate
5. Was that an owl?
6. Having got this far I might as well go on....
I dreamed I was watching a movie scripted by J.K. Rowling starring John Lennon. Lennon- who wasn't really Lennon but an AI approximation that looked more like Daniel Radcliffe- was a conscientious British police officer who was being hauled in to be disciplined after insisting on arresting an American woman who was so highly connected as to be above the law. While he waited to be seen- and probably sacked- a small, rat-like alien creature was squirming on the floor and throwing a knife at him. He threw it back and hit it twice. The third time he lost patience and leant down and sliced its head off.
In the dream that followed I was working in a hospital where all the staff wore bright pink uniforms. We weren't supposed to sit in the windows in case the sight of men in pink offended outsiders but we did anyway. "Look" I said to my co-workers, pointing through the window, "All the men out there are also wearing pink- (and they were- all shades of pink- and nothing else)- "and there's a man in pink who doesn't have a head...."
In the dream that followed I was working in a hospital where all the staff wore bright pink uniforms. We weren't supposed to sit in the windows in case the sight of men in pink offended outsiders but we did anyway. "Look" I said to my co-workers, pointing through the window, "All the men out there are also wearing pink- (and they were- all shades of pink- and nothing else)- "and there's a man in pink who doesn't have a head...."
Haikyuu: Miyacest Spring Break Week
Tuesday, 17 March 2026 02:16 pmslowlange posting in fandomcalendarMultifandom: Seasons of Fandom S02 - Sign ups open!
Tuesday, 17 March 2026 03:15 pmxwyndx posting in fandomcalendar The weather was fine over the weekend but we drove home in mist and heavy rain. I then spent 24 hours suffering from what I think was food poisoning. I blame the sushi.
I was wrong about Annie. It didn't take place in a village hall but in the Sue Townsend theatre in Leicester town centre. The staging was dynamic and the kids all spoke with what sounded to me like authentic Noo York accents. Ivy- who is 14- and is looking to become a professional actor- had me conviced I was watching an adult. She was playing Miss Hannigan- juciest role in the show.
We didn't go to Fritchingly for Quaker Meeting because our Friend Xanthe invited us over to Oakham and we went there instead. Their Meeting House is early 18th century. The Friend I was sitting next to was talking about the drawbacks of having to care for a listed building. "See that ceiling? Looks like plasterboard, doesn't it? But when we replaced it we had to use wattle and daub- and find someone with the skills to do it...."
Oakham is a healthy Meeting- 15 adults in attendance on Sunday- plus a baby.....
Here's a picture of the building.
I was wrong about Annie. It didn't take place in a village hall but in the Sue Townsend theatre in Leicester town centre. The staging was dynamic and the kids all spoke with what sounded to me like authentic Noo York accents. Ivy- who is 14- and is looking to become a professional actor- had me conviced I was watching an adult. She was playing Miss Hannigan- juciest role in the show.
We didn't go to Fritchingly for Quaker Meeting because our Friend Xanthe invited us over to Oakham and we went there instead. Their Meeting House is early 18th century. The Friend I was sitting next to was talking about the drawbacks of having to care for a listed building. "See that ceiling? Looks like plasterboard, doesn't it? But when we replaced it we had to use wattle and daub- and find someone with the skills to do it...."
Oakham is a healthy Meeting- 15 adults in attendance on Sunday- plus a baby.....
Here's a picture of the building.
Multifandom: V for Victory Exchange
Monday, 16 March 2026 10:09 pmsiderealdei posting in fandomcalendarFlash Fiction Ex: Noms and Signups Open
Sunday, 15 March 2026 09:27 pmembraidery posting in fandomcalendar镇魂 | Guardian: 520 Day Reverse Exchange 2026
Sunday, 15 March 2026 08:09 pmtrobadora posting in fandomcalendargalorechallenge | Round 14 is now open!
Saturday, 14 March 2026 11:06 pmflareonfury posting in fandomcalendarMultifandom: Worldbuilding Exchange Sign-Ups Open
Sunday, 15 March 2026 08:05 amflaskbringer posting in fandomcalendarPerforming some traffic maintenance today
Saturday, 14 March 2026 01:04 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
mark posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceHappy Saturday!
I'm going to be doing a little maintenance today. It will likely cause a tiny interruption of service (specifically for www.dreamwidth.org) on the order of 2-3 minutes while some settings propagate. If you're on a journal page, that should still work throughout!
If it doesn't work, the rollback plan is pretty quick, I'm just toggling a setting on how traffic gets to the site. I'll update this post if something goes wrong, but don't anticipate any interruption to be longer than 10 minutes even in a rollback situation.
Supernatural: Gabriel's Big Bang
Thursday, 12 March 2026 05:21 pmleatacreates posting in fandomcalendar I cut the grass. Or, rather, I cut some of the grass and then the lawnmower fell apart.
So we went out and bought a new one.
The old one was a push mower- no motor of any kind- and the new one is electric with a cord. I had a bad hour or two mulling over what this transition said about my physicality but then I shrugged and succumbed.
I'm not learning anything I didn't know but there's some part of me- the ego perhaps- that doesn't want to admit to the world that I'm growing weaker, tireder, less resilient.....
So we went out and bought a new one.
The old one was a push mower- no motor of any kind- and the new one is electric with a cord. I had a bad hour or two mulling over what this transition said about my physicality but then I shrugged and succumbed.
I'm not learning anything I didn't know but there's some part of me- the ego perhaps- that doesn't want to admit to the world that I'm growing weaker, tireder, less resilient.....