Category Archives: pleasures

Weekly Photograph

Pussy porn again this week …
Meet the latest two additions to the household: The Tuxedo Twins.
Born: 6 April 2016
Arrived here: 3 June 2016
Mother was rescued, very pregnant, and cared for by our local animal rescue group, Guardian Angels Animal Support. These two were our choice from the five kittens. Needless to say our existing cat, Tilly, is not impressed. Well not yet anyway!

Tuxedo Twins (Primrose and Wizard) Enjoying a Lie-in and a Radiator
Tuxedo Twins (Primrose and Wizard) Enjoy a Lie-in and a Radiator
Greenford; June 2016
Wizard (Tuxedo Boy) Practices his Ninja Moves
Wizard (Tuxedo Boy) Practices his Ninja Moves
Greenford; June 2016
Primrose (Tuxedo Girl) Attacks the String
Primrose (Tuxedo Girl) Attacks the String
Greenford; June 2016
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Weekly Photograph

Apologies for the hiatus last week, I got buried in various pieces of urgent work.
This week we delve once more into the archives. This is from one of our 2010 visit to Rye and environs. It is a detail from the garden at Prospect Cottage, the late Derek Jarman’s home at Dungeness. The stone circle is probably just under 3 feet across.

Prospect Cottage Garden Detail
Prospect Cottage Garden Detail
Dungeness; August 2010
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Weekly Photograph

A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of one of my Phalaenopsis orchids, all of which are in flower. And now, this week, one of my Dendrobiums has come into flower on the study windowsill. Not prolifically, but nice nonetheless.

dend2
Dendrobium in Winter Sun
Greenford; February 2016
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Oddity of the Week: Playboy

According to the Weird Universe website, quoting the Houston Chronicle of 12 August 2010 …

Playboy magazine has long published an audio edition, and the Library of Congress produces a text edition in Braille. However, as a Houston Chronicle reporter learned in August [2010], a Texas organization (Taping for the Blind) goes one step further, with volunteer reader Suzi Hanks actually describing the photographs — even the Playmates and other nudes. “I’d say if she has large breasts or small breasts, piercings or tattoos,” said Hanks. “I’ll describe her genitalia. I take my time describing the girls.” “Hey, blind guys like pretty, naked girls, too!”

Weekly Photograph

For lots of reasons this week and next we’ll be taking our weekly photographs from the archive. First off here’s one from almost exactly five years ago. Eeek! Is it really that long? It seems like only a few weeks ago.

Holy Stone
Holy Stone
Rye Harbour; August 2010
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Ancestors and Mussels

Yesterday we had a day out hunting my ancestors — my father’s direct line — in Kent. And what a splendid day, despite not making any new discoveries.
We trotted off from home about 7am and arrived in Goudhurst about 9.30; just in time for coffee and apple cake.
Having been refreshed we pottered on to Benenden from where, if the connections I think are there are right, my family lives for several generations in the early 18th century and probably earlier. Benenden is such a gorgeous village with houses and the church round a large village green which doubles as the cricket ground — just as it should be.


Benenden Church

Then onward the few miles to Rolvenden, where I had higher hopes of finding evidence. What we found first of all was a small farmers’ market in the church. Yes, in the church. Excellent. This is how churches should be used; the more they are used the less they will be vandalised and the less they need to be locked. We were needless to say beguiled and stocked up from a lady selling mostly smoked meats etc., including some Oak Smoked Mussels. We also succumbed to some bread, tomatoes and a tub of fresh Lemon & Coriander Pesto.

Rolvenden Farmers’ Market

Following this and a look at the interior of the church we adjourned to The Bull for an excellent pub lunch and a pint. Staggering out we looked around the churchyard without luck, as almost every headstone was unreadable. But as we were leaving I did identify the house where my great-grandfather (Stephen Marshall, born 1849) was born and brought up.

Great-Grandfather’s birthplace in Rolvenden

Next we diverted to Smallhythe where I suspected a connection; and indeed we found a Marshall grave but of a later generation. Smallhythe is delightfully non-existent: about six houses, a vineyard, an early 16th century brick church and Ellen Terry the actress’s amazing Tudor house (now in the care of the National Trust) which was sadly not open. This is a far cry from the days of Henry VIII when he River Rother here was a wide estuary and the local industry was shipbuilding. All that ceased when the river changed course following the great storms of the late 16th century.

Samuel Austen (GGG-Grandfather) grave at Tenterden

Next on to Tenterden where we managed to find the grave of one Samuel Austen who is one of my ggg-grandfathers who died in 1838. Tenterden is full of Austens, and Jane Austen’s family originate here. Luckily the monuments in Tenterden churchyard have all been recorded as we would have been hard pressed to read the entirety of the headstone.
After a look in the church we were all running out of steam, so a quick drive on to Biddenden in the hope of easier parking and afternoon tea — both achieved. Following tea and cake we were disappointed to find the church locked; the only locked church of the six we tried during the day.
Leaving Biddenden we drove through Sissinghurst and retraced our steps to Goudhurst for a look at the church there and another pint. At this point there was a sudden realisation it was 6pm and we had a 2+ hour drive home round the M25.
OK, I was disappointed not to find obvious evidence to connect my ggg-grandfather Marshall further back, but that was really quite a long shot. It was also disappointing to find a locked church and nowhere selling Kentish apples or plums. But overall an excellent, and very tiring, day.
So now, today, we have a problem. What to do with those Oak Smoked Mussels and the pesto? Thoughtfully I procured a small pack of large prawns at the supermarket this morning (do not ask how we achieved the supermarket before 10.30 this morning!). So this evening I did one of my quick pasta dishes. 150g each of mussels and prawns makes a good feast for two, thus:
1. Cook some pasta; when cooked drain it and keep it warm.
2. Sweat some finely chopped onion and garlic in a little oil until translucent.
3. Add the mussels and prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the pesto, stir together and cook for another minute or two.
5. Then add the pasta, stir to mix and coat the pasta and cook for a couple of minutes to ensure everything is hot through.
6. Serve and enjoy with a bottle of white wine.
And boy, was it good! The smoked mussels were to die for. As Noreen observed “I’ve eaten much worse in restaurants”.
Cheers, to the ancestors! We’ve come a long way since their days as farm labourers before 1850.

Ten Things #7

So, here’s my list of ten things for July.
10 Trees in My Garden:

  1. Apple (an old tree, which we think is James Grieve; it may be as much as 80 years old but still gives us some fruit every year!); also two ornamental crab apples
  2. Silver Birch; and the closely related Downey Birch
  3. Spruce (not sure the exact species as they were potted Christmas trees)
  4. Rowan
  5. Hawthorn (self-set)
  6. Liquidamber (grown from seed by me)
  7. Cherry — an edible cherry as well as a couple of ornamentals
  8. Pedunculate Oak (that’s Quercus robur, our native English Oak; self-set probably from an acorn cached by a bird; now 20 years old and growing slowly; hopefully a lasting legacy when all the others are gone)
  9. Pittosporum
  10. Holm Oak, Quercus ilex

Pine Cones
Cones on one of our Spruce trees

Yes we really do have that many different species of tree — and a few more — in our (not over large) suburban garden. And we’ve planted/encouraged them all except the old apple tree which was here when we came 30+ years ago. They’re all a bit crammed in and many quite young (under 20) so not all are yet huge trees but the birches, the English Oak and the Liquidamber are as tall as the house. In the past we’re also had a pear tree, ash tree and an elder tree.
The neighbours don’t understand why we like trees. They don’t like anything that grows over 3 feet high. They must like looking at the backs of the houses in the next road.
But we do like trees. They add shade, make dividers between “rooms” in the garden and they encourage wildlife. Because we have a woodland glade we get lots of birds and squirrels as well as woodland edge butterflies like Speckled Wood which wouldn’t be here otherwise.
We need more trees, and suburban gardens are actually a good place for them (just not too close to the foundations). If more people planted a couple of trees it would help clean the air and encourage wildlife by providing small green corridors for them to move along.
Something else we can all do is to encourage our local councils to plant trees in the streets and on verges. Most councils are open to people suggesting a site for a tree. And if you want one outside you house, and are prepared to fund it (our council charges £250 for the tree and planting), the council is more likely to plant that tree.
We need trees. We need to encourage wildlife diversity. We need to keep England green. And you feel good for giving something back to the environment.

Weekly Photograph

This week another from the archives. This is a montage of individual shots of the ten Queen’s Beasts statues outside the Palm House at Kew Gardens. They’re magnificent statues some 6 feet tall.
In fact these are replicas in Portland stone (commissioned in 1958 by Sir Henry Ross, then Chairman of the Distillers Company) of the original plaster versions. The originals were commissioned by the British Ministry of Works from sculptor James Woodford to stand in front of the temporary western annexe to Westminster Abbey for the Queen’s coronation in 1953. The originals are now in Canada.

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Queens Beasts at Kew
Queen’s Beasts at Kew
May 2010; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The ten heraldic beasts represent the genealogy of Queen Elizabeth II. They are (from L to R):

  • White Greyhound of Richmond
  • Yale of Beaufort
  • Red Dragon of Wales
  • White Horse of Hanover
  • Lion of England
  • White Lion of Mortimer
  • Unicorn of Scotland
  • Griffin of Edward III
  • Black Bull of Clarence
  • Falcon of the Plantagenet

Weekly Photograph

In celebration of the lovely summer weather we’ve had for the last few days, I thought we would have a rose from our garden. This rose isn’t in flower yet this year, but it won’t be long before it is and some of the others are already in full bloom.

Click the image for larger views on FlickrRose: Buff Beauty
Rose: Buff Beauty
Greenford, June 2010

Pussy Porn

I thought we’d have some more pussy porn, after all the internetz is reserved for pussy innit. So here is Tilly the Kitten — some kitten at 24 weeks! — reclining this morning on my desk. She has a promising career ahead as a paperweight — when she’s not being a demolition specialist, that is!

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Tilly as Paperweight
I can look quite cute and asleep when I want to
Tilly Washing
Let’s just have a quick wash
Tilly Green Eyes
And now here’s my regal portrait