Sunday Picture Post: By Water, Fields and Woods

Posted on March 6, 2022 by crispina kemp

Our walk of 23rd February, Part Two. Maintenance work on Lound Lakes Reserve force us to change our route. We emerge onto the road and here stop to take a few water shots…

23rd February 2022 

Thence to climb the hill that overlooks the last of the lakes…

23rd February 2022 

In summer it’s not so easy to see the lake, but this time of year the trees are bare, except for the pines…

23rd February 2022 

Pines are not native to Norfolk. I love to see their misshapen forms

23rd February 2022 

And their towering elegance

23rd February 2022 

Looking back…

23rd February 2022 

Everyone knows I’ve a passion for pylons…

23rd February 2022 

Back on flat-land and a short walk by road to the next woodland

23rd February 2022 

The recent storms have left these mostly intact…

23rd February 2022 

This is Bluebell Woods, but this early the floor is carpeted in snowdrops

23rd February 2022 

With the promise of daffodils soon to bloom

23rd February 2022 

And we’re out the other side, away to the bus stop and home. It’s been a good day

23rd February 2022 

Hope you’ve enjoyed it as much we did. See Tuesday Treat for the finer details.

 

Posted in Photos | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Shy

Posted on March 5, 2022 by crispina kemp

28th February 2022 

This tiny Long-Tailed Tit is exceedingly shy. But here he’s teasing me, “Come try to capture me.”

Peekaboo, another title from the list Maria Antonia has given us for #2022picoftheweek

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Can of Worms

Posted on March 5, 2022 by crispina kemp
Ep27_Incarceration

image by Crispina Kemp

I found this wand. I didn’t know that’s what it was but my kiddish brain thought it the right word. The markings on it I have since discovered are runes (Nyd Is Hægl. Rad. Wynn Rad Eoh Tir Os Nyd). But they’re not the Younger or Elder Futhark that are used on modern rune-sets. Good old Google helped me find them. They’re from the Anglo-Frisian Futhark, brought to England by the earliest Germanic settlers and found in Norfolk from CE 450 on. I’ve tried to read them but Google Translator hasn’t yet an option for Anglo-Saxon.

96 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Rune

I admit to cheating. This is an excerpt from Can of Worms, a story in The Spinner’s Game series which I posted here in serial form back in 2017

Posted in Mostly Micro, Mythic Fiction | Tagged , | 13 Comments

CCC173: King of the Castle

Posted on March 3, 2022 by crispina kemp

Guys, listen up. Hey, you, yes you, I’m talking to you. Let me give you a little tip to help you get a grip of your life-lessons.

DO NOT, I said NOT SQUAWK INTO THE FACE OF ALL AROUND YOU THAT YOU ARE THE KING OF THE CASTLE AND THEY ARE DIRTY OLD RASCALS.

They don’t like it, they feel offended.

Who are they? Them’s everyone in this world.

Got that message? Cos, I’m telling you, there’s no quicker, surer, guaranteed way to end up all alone. Like me.

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, Mostly Micro | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #173

Posted on March 2, 2022 by crispina kemp

Here’s how it works:

Every Wednesday I post a photo (this week it’s that one above.)
You respond with something CREATIVE

Here are some suggestions:

  • An answering photo
  • A cartoon
  • A joke
  • A caption
  • An anecdote
  • A short story (flash fiction)
  • A poem
  • A newly minted proverb, adage or saying
  • An essay
  • A song—the lyrics or the performance

You have plenty of scope and only two criteria:

  • Your creative offering is indeed yours
  • Your writing is kept to 150 words or less

If you post a link in the comments section of this post I’ll be able to find it
If you include Crimson’s Creative Challenge as a heading, WP Search will find it (theory)
by ‘Searching’ in the WP Reader (fingers crossed)

Here’s wishing you inspirational explosions. And FUN

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, Photos | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Tuesday Treat: The Finer Parts of February

Posted on March 1, 2022 by crispina kemp

Photos taken of the first part of our walk (23rd February) to and beyond Lound Lakes

Quickthorn greets us!

23rd February 2022

We shouldn’t forget to look down by our feet. This is a bed of lichen and mosses

23rd February 2022

Spread over the hill like an expensive carpet

23rd February 2022

Always, honeysuckle is the first out with her leaves

23rd February 2022

Moss…

23rd February 2022

Fern…

23rd February 2022

We have named this “Honeysuckle Woods”, growing so abundantly here

23rd February 202223rd February 2022

Gorse… flowers almost all year round. Looks best against a deep blue sky

23rd February 2022

23rd February 2022

23rd February 2022

And as we started, so we finish, with Quick-thorn… aka Black -thorn.

Hope you enjoyed. I wonder what I’ve got for you next week?

Posted in Photos | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Sunday Picture Post: By Wood and Water

Posted on February 27, 2022 by crispina kemp

At last the storms have gone away. We hop on a bus to Hopton. We’re going to Lound Lakes. This is the first part of the walk. You’ll need to dress warm but it’s not too wet.

Here we join the footpath… it’s not far along the quiet country lane

23rd February 2022

Passing the paddocks, see the lie of the land

23rd February 2022

Just into the woods a small stream runs. Or so it seems. In fact this the tail end of Lound Lake which, despite being in Suffolk, is one of the Norfolk Broads (i.e. flooded medieval peat diggings). I’ve a feeling this end was once a duck decoy. A footbridge sees us safely over the water

23rd February 2022

Draining water from the short end to the long end…

23rd February 2022

23rd February 2022

This is a managed woodland… which means trees are chopped down and new ones are planted, and first one area then another is opened up to the sun. This is good wildlife management

23rd February 2022

Man and Nature here march in harmony

23rd February 2022

Pines aren’t native to our land, they always strike me as having alien beauty

23rd February 2022

We’re not able to get close to the main lake… maintenance work has closed off a walkway (should have checked ahead of visit!) Yet I manage this distant shot

23rd February 2022

Another “swamp”; this one seems disconnected to the whole.

23rd February 2022

A tree-lined track leads us back to the road. A short hop & skip and we’re back into the reserve. But that’s for next week

23rd February 2022

23rd February 2022

I leave you with this… the beauty of a bright day in February

Hope you enjoyed. More next week

Posted in Photos | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Honey Suckling

Posted on February 26, 2022 by crispina kemp

23rd February 2022

Silhouette, another title from the list Maria Antonia has given us for #2022picoftheweek

Posted in Photos | Tagged , | 16 Comments

The Mighty Quin

Posted on February 26, 2022 by crispina kemp

image by Gerd Altmann on pixabay

“Dummy!”

Melissa swung her eyes round.

“Dummy, here!”

It took an effort to move her head. She wasn’t doing that till she knew who was calling. “Who are you?”

“I am the Mighty Quin.”

She laughed, though she kept it inside. How embarrassing if she cracked. “The what… Quin? What’s that?”

“That is my name.” He sounded offended. “Quin son of Conn.”

“Oh, you’re of Irish making?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I thought you more likely Chinese.”

“Quin son of Conn of the House of Mannequins.”

85 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Mannequin

Posted in Mostly Micro | Tagged , | 30 Comments

CCC172: Best Buddies

Posted on February 24, 2022 by crispina kemp

The moon is full
It can’t hold any more
Put another drop in
It’ll fall to the floor

That’s why the moon
Is best buddies with me
I hold out my arms
And catch it, you see.

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, Photos, Poems (Some Silly) | Tagged , , | 18 Comments