Still Stormy?

Although Ciara and her successor Dennis the Menace are long gone, the prom remains in something of a state:

I guess there's no point clearing up if there's more storms to come . . .  but looking forward to some summer sunshine now!

Down the Drain

After suffering a 'blockage' at the weekend, extracting the drain rods from the garage, failing to clear said 'blockage' and managing to leave at least three drain rods inside the drain (adding to the problem), we thought we'd better call in the professionals . . .

Soon had everything 'moving' again - they then put a camera down the drain to locate the missing rods, but unfortunately couldn't get their gizmo to attach to the end of the nearest drain rod, so had to leave them in situ.

Update 16 February
Bought ourselves something called a 'drop scraper' and some new drain rods (which screw together properly) and went 'fishing' - and hurrah! - drain rods retrieved.  Phew!

Storm Ciara

February hasn't been with us for long, and the weather has taken a turn for the worse, with the advent of Storm Ciara . . .  not that Aberystwyth fared that badly:

This is still a far cry from the damage we saw in January 2014, and other areas of the country have seen much worse.

Hopefully that's it for 2020!

Back to Work . . .

With time on his hands Martin has built up quite a photo portfolio over the last few months - and has even sold a few through online stock photo sites - not enough to make our fortune (at 25p a time) but far more than I'd actually expected (what do I know!).

Then this weekend, while visiting with family and flicking through their Daily Mail we found that one of his photos (a seagull tucking into a polystyrene food carton) had hit the big time (as part of a wider article on cleaning up Britain) . . .

We waited with some anticipation to see what they'd paid for it - £11 - so no, we won't be living off his photographic efforts quite yet!

Monday will also see Martin return to working life proper - so less time for snapping that next headline photo . . .

In 2019 I Mostly Read . . .

The reading list for 2019:

December 2019 - something new (a kindle bargain), Francesca Hornak's Seven Days of Us, a Christmas-set family drama. Kept me occupied, but I probably wouldn't re-read.

November - December 2019 - ill with the lurgy, so back to Georgette Heyer and some old favourites - These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, The Masqueraders, The Talisman Ring and The Corinthian.

July - November 2019 - finally got started on the Dresden re-read ahead of the publication of the latest, Peace Talks (took a break after no.10 as publication isn't due until April 2020).

Storm Front- in which we meet our hero Wizard, Karrin Murphy, Susan, Marcone and a bunch of others, as Harry battles an evil sorcerer.

Fool Moon - introducing the Alphas, as Dresden does the werewolf thing.

Grave Peril - introducing Michael Carpenter and family, and the Knights of the Cross, the Red Court vampires - death and loss.

Summer Knight - Dresden meets the Faerie Queens - and faces off with the White Council.

Death Masks - all manner of mayhem, with the Red Court, and uber-baddies the Denarians.

Blood Rites - White Court machinations, and (no spoilers) we get to know Thomas Raith . . .

Dead Beat - necromancers and a zombie dinosaur.

Proven Guilty - horror movies coming to life, and black magic at work in Chicago.

White Night - Dresden tries to track down a serial killer targeting magical practitioners among more White Court shenanigans.

Small Favour - the Denarians hit town again . . .

June 2019 - a re-read of Good Omens (having watched the tv adaptation) good stuff, but think the book is better!

May - June 2019 - more Georgette Heyer - Black Sheep, Arabella, Cousin Kate, Venetia and Frederica (all old friends) - while waiting to start re-reading the Dresden series (apparently book 16 is nearly finished after nearly 5 years!).

April 2019 - on to something scientific, Hannah Fry's Hello World! Good read so far . . . although never did finish it!

April 2019 - needed to take my mind of my finger, so picked out an old favourite, Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy - great set of characters, really enjoyed it!

April 2019 - another new one, a free Kindle offering Moonshine & Murder: Moonshine Hollow #1 - can kind of see why it was free, easy enough to read, but no depth to it at all - even though it didn't resolve anything I doubt I'll be reading #2.

April 2019 - something new, The Night Raven by Sarah Painter - a supernatural family detective story, with a ghost for a flatmate. Enjoyed this - will be looking out for the next in the series.

January - March 2019 - back to all things supernatural, this time with Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus series. Again some serious re-reading to do before getting to the new stuff. Really enjoyed these second time round, and the new ones too.

January 2019 - on to one of my kindle purchases, Derren Brown's Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine. I liked this - some interesting stuff on philosopy, and some good advice on living your life without letting things outside your control get you down. Worth a read (especially if you ever fancied being famous!).

January 2019 - continuing with the Rivers of London books . . . one unread novella The Furthest Station (an amusing aside), a re-read of The Hanging Tree, and finally the latest full-length offering Lies Sleeping. Goodbye 'faceless man' and looking forward to whatever comes next. Have also indulged in the purchase of the 'graphic novel' additions to the series.

Sunset and Starlings

A sunny Sunday and another extended walk along a busy prom - people paddling, fishing, and stone-stacking . . .

. . . jackdaws strutting, and starlings gathering for the night on the pier:

Then on the way back to the car, glorious pink sunset skys behind an Aber roofscape . . .

Lovely!

A Bird By The Beach

Well actually, lots of birds by the beach - gulls, crows, starlings, etc. and one (slightly) more exotic Purple Sandpiper.








Didn't see the kingfisher today, but the sunset produced an angelic silhouette over the pier . . .