Must be wonderful to find all that food and be able to just slither around slowly and eat; however I bet they have to worry about birds who might fancy a big fat slug.
These patterns are like expressions of chaos theory.
Si
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Greedy Sluggies are at it Again
This time, they've been finding algae to graze off on the library windows.
Must be wonderful to find all that food and be able to just slither around slowly and eat; however I bet they have to worry about birds who might fancy a big fat slug.
These patterns are like expressions of chaos theory.
Si
Must be wonderful to find all that food and be able to just slither around slowly and eat; however I bet they have to worry about birds who might fancy a big fat slug.
These patterns are like expressions of chaos theory.
Si
Monday, 9 January 2017
Aconites at Last!
The light today, like the last three days, has been a uniform flat grey, like I've been living in dirty dishwater for the weekend. It may have cleared now at the time of writing, with Venus and the Moon blazing down, but earlier on it was raining and windy, and cold.
And I ran 10km in it, like the utter fool I am.
It was a twisty, winding run, trying to get the distance in without going too far in case the rain really pelted down. It didn't, not quite, and by the time I got to Friary Park to look for aconite around their favourite trees, it was really quite heavy.
At first I thought that as with two days ago, I'd draw a blank but no, as I trotted along I suddenly there was one right under my nose. And two more over there! And there, another 3!
Not many, but they are there, a first few little dots of yellow within the wet greenery.
I wonder how plants will do as the bad weather hits us this weekend.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 09.01.17
And I ran 10km in it, like the utter fool I am.
It was a twisty, winding run, trying to get the distance in without going too far in case the rain really pelted down. It didn't, not quite, and by the time I got to Friary Park to look for aconite around their favourite trees, it was really quite heavy.
At first I thought that as with two days ago, I'd draw a blank but no, as I trotted along I suddenly there was one right under my nose. And two more over there! And there, another 3!
Not many, but they are there, a first few little dots of yellow within the wet greenery.
I wonder how plants will do as the bad weather hits us this weekend.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 09.01.17
Sunday, 8 January 2017
Running to Hawton Church
Thought I'd bring you a bit of proper old history today, utilising a route that takes in some of Newark's Civil War History too.
Indeed I ran one of my usual routes, across the Grange Road fields, but halfway along took the left turn that leads to the Middle Beck.
It was proper cross country running today, lots of mud. A little egret looked at me from a distance, wondering who this other stupid wader was. I decided to avoid his contempt by taking the right turn along the Beck.
The Middle Beck actually marks the boundary of the Civil War encampment that General Poyntz and his Roundhead chums set up at Hawton Village, about two kilometres from the Queen's Sconce away to the North where Royalist cannons were situated. Within the fortification the church of All Saints would have already been standing, built as it was in the 13th-14th centuries.
The grounds were enchanting, for the simple reason that the grass was so soft and springy, it was almost like a bog but without the wetness. It was delightful, it really was. On inspection, this seemed to be because it was full of a sort of green lichen of some description. In turn the gravestones, some of them so old as to be illegible, were a home for other lichens of various shades from coppery green to a rusty orange.
The whole thing reminded me of the cover from REM's classic "Murmur" album that Guy Garvey was joy of joys playing on his 6 Music show at that very moment.
The church itself is famous for is carvings, from the gargoyles on the tower to the sculptures of two very royal and Plantagenet looking characters on either side of the porch. Looks too kingly to be the local landowning worthy - wonder if its Henry IV?
I ended up doing 8.5km in the end, a decent little run indeed!
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.01.17
Indeed I ran one of my usual routes, across the Grange Road fields, but halfway along took the left turn that leads to the Middle Beck.
It was proper cross country running today, lots of mud. A little egret looked at me from a distance, wondering who this other stupid wader was. I decided to avoid his contempt by taking the right turn along the Beck.
The Middle Beck actually marks the boundary of the Civil War encampment that General Poyntz and his Roundhead chums set up at Hawton Village, about two kilometres from the Queen's Sconce away to the North where Royalist cannons were situated. Within the fortification the church of All Saints would have already been standing, built as it was in the 13th-14th centuries.
The grounds were enchanting, for the simple reason that the grass was so soft and springy, it was almost like a bog but without the wetness. It was delightful, it really was. On inspection, this seemed to be because it was full of a sort of green lichen of some description. In turn the gravestones, some of them so old as to be illegible, were a home for other lichens of various shades from coppery green to a rusty orange.
The whole thing reminded me of the cover from REM's classic "Murmur" album that Guy Garvey was joy of joys playing on his 6 Music show at that very moment.
The church itself is famous for is carvings, from the gargoyles on the tower to the sculptures of two very royal and Plantagenet looking characters on either side of the porch. Looks too kingly to be the local landowning worthy - wonder if its Henry IV?
I ended up doing 8.5km in the end, a decent little run indeed!
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.01.17
Saturday, 7 January 2017
Aconite Fail in the Mist
Another lethargic start today, but not really! I did get out for a run, on a day where the shade of grey never changed from dawn to dusk and rain occassionally sprinkled down like monochrome hundreds of thousands.
I was on the hunt for the bright yellow blooms of winter aconite, surely they'd be on view now in their usual place in Friary Road park. But they aren't, same as the snowdrops haven't progressed in the cemetery apart from that one little clump.
What there was was another day of mist on the water, with the shoveller back doing their strange heads down dance on the shrouded surface.
It looked like an early morning scene from a horror film.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.01.17
I was on the hunt for the bright yellow blooms of winter aconite, surely they'd be on view now in their usual place in Friary Road park. But they aren't, same as the snowdrops haven't progressed in the cemetery apart from that one little clump.
What there was was another day of mist on the water, with the shoveller back doing their strange heads down dance on the shrouded surface.
It looked like an early morning scene from a horror film.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.01.17
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
Tic and Stim Confusion
So, I've been having another outbreak of Tourette's and Asperger's confusion that has become a little bit of an odd obsession the last couple of days.
I'm trying to work out how much of each thing is inside me - is it Tourette's 100-0? Or 0-100 Asperger's?
I really can't tell. Both TS and AS share similar co-morbid conditions - OCD, ADD and various other flavours of behaviour, but they are also different, and this is where I've been going a little crackers.
Tics are in the provenance of Tourette's. Stims are autistic behaviours. Stims are things like flapping of hands, rocking back and forth - I've just been rocking back and forth just now while thinking about rocking back and forth. Tics are uncontrollable, only they are not...they satisfy an urge, wait so do stims, sometimes, but in a different way...
The only really consistent thing I pick up is that tics tend to be more centrally located down the centreline of the body, while stims are more symmetrical and found at the extremes. But even then I'm not sure about that. I do tic vocally, usually quiet little names or phrases of interest quietly burbled and usually taking on slight different, clipped forms, but the real yelling, and the most convulsive, violent, flappy tics come when I'm extremely upset or stressed by something I read or think about.
Then, at other times I think stimulating thoughts and my hands begin to flap and do a sort of clapping without moving thing.
Then sometimes my left foot has been arching within the shoes, and my left leg likes to do a sort of strange stretching thing, like a slightly demented cat.
So today, everytime by body has done something, I've tried to classify it - stim, or tic?
I've tried to classify me. Tourette's, Asperger's, or both?
For some reason this became very important, and I'm not sure why. Knowing what percentage of my behaviours is caused by one or the other doesn't change very much, they are all still there and nothing will ever change that.
Even as I write this, a tense bit of "Silent Witness" comes on, and my right arm bends over the top of my head, hand towards my left ear. At the same time, my left side tenses and pulls my body over like an anti-stretch.
Incredible thing, the brain, and body. I don't know how the heck anyone ever works it out.
Si
All text copyright CreamCrackeredNature 03.01.17
I'm trying to work out how much of each thing is inside me - is it Tourette's 100-0? Or 0-100 Asperger's?
I really can't tell. Both TS and AS share similar co-morbid conditions - OCD, ADD and various other flavours of behaviour, but they are also different, and this is where I've been going a little crackers.
Tics are in the provenance of Tourette's. Stims are autistic behaviours. Stims are things like flapping of hands, rocking back and forth - I've just been rocking back and forth just now while thinking about rocking back and forth. Tics are uncontrollable, only they are not...they satisfy an urge, wait so do stims, sometimes, but in a different way...
The only really consistent thing I pick up is that tics tend to be more centrally located down the centreline of the body, while stims are more symmetrical and found at the extremes. But even then I'm not sure about that. I do tic vocally, usually quiet little names or phrases of interest quietly burbled and usually taking on slight different, clipped forms, but the real yelling, and the most convulsive, violent, flappy tics come when I'm extremely upset or stressed by something I read or think about.
Then, at other times I think stimulating thoughts and my hands begin to flap and do a sort of clapping without moving thing.
Then sometimes my left foot has been arching within the shoes, and my left leg likes to do a sort of strange stretching thing, like a slightly demented cat.
So today, everytime by body has done something, I've tried to classify it - stim, or tic?
I've tried to classify me. Tourette's, Asperger's, or both?
For some reason this became very important, and I'm not sure why. Knowing what percentage of my behaviours is caused by one or the other doesn't change very much, they are all still there and nothing will ever change that.
Even as I write this, a tense bit of "Silent Witness" comes on, and my right arm bends over the top of my head, hand towards my left ear. At the same time, my left side tenses and pulls my body over like an anti-stretch.
Incredible thing, the brain, and body. I don't know how the heck anyone ever works it out.
Si
All text copyright CreamCrackeredNature 03.01.17
Monday, 2 January 2017
Venus and the Moon
Back to work tomorrow, but of course, I'm never off duty, always with my eyes open trying to find interesting things to show you!
As I'm sure many of you have noticed in the early evening after sunset, planet Venus has become an increasingly dominant sight lowish in the south-west; tonight a two day old crescent moon was there to partner it, with mars as a rather fainter bonus a little way away in the opposite direction.
During my 11km tonight, starting at 345 and finishing an hour or so later, I was able to watch a perfectly clear sky darken, and have some magical views over the local landscape.
Initially, as I ran along the cycle path, only the moon was visible, but soon the sky darkened enough for Venus to come into view, and then the two objects dominated the south-western aspect. Mars, at 10 o-clock, was rather fainter and is not visible in these shots.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.01.17
As I'm sure many of you have noticed in the early evening after sunset, planet Venus has become an increasingly dominant sight lowish in the south-west; tonight a two day old crescent moon was there to partner it, with mars as a rather fainter bonus a little way away in the opposite direction.
During my 11km tonight, starting at 345 and finishing an hour or so later, I was able to watch a perfectly clear sky darken, and have some magical views over the local landscape.
Initially, as I ran along the cycle path, only the moon was visible, but soon the sky darkened enough for Venus to come into view, and then the two objects dominated the south-western aspect. Mars, at 10 o-clock, was rather fainter and is not visible in these shots.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.01.17
Sunday, 1 January 2017
New Year, Wet Weather
For some crazy reason, despite some late night visiting of a "Steampunks versus Zombies" event for New Year, I was awake at 630am and wondering if a pre dawn walk might be a good idea.
As it turned out, it was hammering down with rain, the bubbling puddles illuminated in the lights that enver go out at the old folks' home at the back of my flat. I spent another 3 hours being unable to get back to sleep listening to Radio 4 extra, and then when I decided that rain or no I was getting up and going out, I finally fell asleep.
So, the rain had lessened by the time I finally got out at about 11, but it was still an occasion for the full wet weather gear, sexy kag and waterproof fetish trousers. As such I walked for about 3 hours, not very quickly, looking for winter aconite and taking in the large numbers of chaffinch that were active today.
Foir some reason, the wet weather had attracted a 4 cormorant to the Blue Lake for some reason, although they didn't seem to be fishing, just mooching around.
I'd decided the main focus of my interest today should be the old sundial in the cemetery. Seemingly dated to about 1901, the copper plaques on it have achieved a beautiful green patination, a stunning, but massively unnatural green compared to the grass around it.
Tomorrow, back on the running trail I've been busy on the roads and tracks over the festives, but I need to lose some excess timber.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.12.17
As it turned out, it was hammering down with rain, the bubbling puddles illuminated in the lights that enver go out at the old folks' home at the back of my flat. I spent another 3 hours being unable to get back to sleep listening to Radio 4 extra, and then when I decided that rain or no I was getting up and going out, I finally fell asleep.
So, the rain had lessened by the time I finally got out at about 11, but it was still an occasion for the full wet weather gear, sexy kag and waterproof fetish trousers. As such I walked for about 3 hours, not very quickly, looking for winter aconite and taking in the large numbers of chaffinch that were active today.
Foir some reason, the wet weather had attracted a 4 cormorant to the Blue Lake for some reason, although they didn't seem to be fishing, just mooching around.
I'd decided the main focus of my interest today should be the old sundial in the cemetery. Seemingly dated to about 1901, the copper plaques on it have achieved a beautiful green patination, a stunning, but massively unnatural green compared to the grass around it.
Tomorrow, back on the running trail I've been busy on the roads and tracks over the festives, but I need to lose some excess timber.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.12.17
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