Not Quite a Blue Moon

There was a blue moon on Friday night, being the second full moon of the month.

I didn't see it on Friday night, as it was too cloudy, but it was there, very clear and beautiful, last night.

Changing seasons

I think autumn is here. This morning was clear and sunny, but with a definite bite in the air, and as I drove to work, under skies full of hot air balloons, I realised that it has all been creeping up on me without my noticing

The hedges are full of purplish-red unripe blackberries, the leaves on the beech trees and horse chestnut trees are starting to turn every shade of yellow and brown. It's going to be a bumper year for conkers.

I have the same drive to work every day and it is easy to focus only on the irritations - the everlasting roadworks, for instance, or the drivers who think tail-gating is a good idea, but I do drive through some lovely bits of countryside.

This morning, I saw a little animal run out from the hedge and across the road - my first thought was 'squirrel', then 'rat', but when I got to look a little more carefully, I reaslised it was a Stoat - they tend to be quite elusive and I can only remember seeing one about 2 or three times in the past.

The guy behind me hooted at me for having braked but I'm glad I did. (I wouldn't have wanted to run over it even if it had been a rat)

It ran into the opposite hedge just under a magnificant Rowan tree absolutely loaded with berries - very dramatic againt the pale blue sky.

I didn't have my camera with me so the pictures are from a trip to Westonbirt Arboreatum, last autumn. I think maybe it's time I went back there.

In Which there are Pirates, Poppets and a giant Cherry

Had a very quiet day on Wednesday, the last of the out-of-town Fiends (except Nathalie & I) being on their way home. I slept a lot. Then headed out to Stillwater once again as I had hear this rumour that Paul and Lorraine would be playing there. Admittedly it was a rumour from a pretty good source….
There was an old car show and they were playing as part of that. Which was interesting. Nathalie and I took a look at the cars, and played around taking pictures of weird reflections in them.

And, of course, listened to the music. I don’t wish to boast,(what am I saying, I long to boast!) but during the set break we got to hang out backstage with the band. Mm (nods)
Admittedly, in this instance, ‘backstage’ means ‘ the part of the parking lot behind the stage rather than in front of it’, and there was a tragic lack of laminated passes, but still…! I’m sure that with a little more practice I too could be a groupie.

Then Today (Thursday) I went hunting for a giant spoon, having heard rumours that one was to be found in this city. To my utter amazement I managed to find my way from the hotel to the Sculpture garden without getting lost., even once. Someone should take notes, because that probably isn’t going to happen again any time soon.
To cover my confusion, I spent a long time looking at the giant spoon and cherry. It was good to see something even less rational.
There were some other sculptures, too. I enjoyed the Henry Moore, although this too had a slightly surreal feel, as the last time I saw this sculpture it was in Kew Gardens. I had the Poppets with me, and decided that the request not to climb on the sculptures probably didn’t apply to poppets.

Another of my favourites was Frank Gehry’s giant glass fish., and the glass house in which it lives.
After inspecting the sculptures, and filing to identify some large and no doubt extremely common birds, it was time to try further navigation. Lured by promises of tea, I had agreed to go over to see Quiche and bring Nathalie back to the Big city in order to catch her flight home. Given my proven ability to get lost in almost any circumstances, my failure to do so on this occasion can only be attributed to the fact that I was following directions provided by the Fabulous Lorraine.

There was tea, and some bees, and some more tea. That tea was *good* tea.

And we only made one teeny mistake driving to the airport when a junction came too suddenly (Sure, I *could* have cut across 3 lanes of traffic to go there, I just didn’t happen to want to just then) But that was quickly fixed with a U-turn and other then that the trip to the airport was uneventful and as far as I know, Nathalie caught her flight successfully.

As I arrived back at the hotel I could not help but notice that there was a sudden increase in the ambient concentration of pirates in and around the hotel. Some might attribute this to the fact that ‘Convergence’ is taking place in the hotel next door. I suspect that this may merely be protective colouration, and that the Pirates may have more sinister plans in mind. If this hotel is boarded and sets sail for the Caribbean you will know who to blame.

The elves in the elevators may or may not be in on the plot. That is currently unclear.
I’m pretty comfortable with assuming that the Starfleet officers belong with the convention, however. I doubt *they* would throw their lot in with Pirates.