@mootParadox

This is a simplified render of my Mastodon profile. Click the date to open the original toot, and hashtags will link to related posts on the host server.

Let's hope this is not a genuine review... 😲

Rating: *****

K917 Dog Deterrent Spray
Review by bob 20/04/2022
this spray is amazing, | walk down the street and spray any dog that
comes near me, aggressive or not, ensuring they stay away.

I think I heard was a 'thing'... this is a tree at Planetrees from this afternoon. πŸ“·

Silhouette of a tree, with moody cloudy sky as a backdrop.
monochromemarchPhotographyNorthumberlandmonochrome

St Oswald's at Heavenfield, from today's wander. πŸ“·

Rural scene, a chapel on the horizon, sun catching the grass and trees, despite to brooding skies.
PhotographyNorthumberlandSilentSunday

Another shot from Sunday afternoon, in the dene behind Halton Castle, near the hound kennels. Catkins, presumably a hazel tree? πŸ“·

Catkins... possibly a hazel tree?
PhotographyNorthumberlandcatkinsspringmaybe

Last one for today!! πŸ˜… It's another mandatory photo-stop if the light is anywhere close to decent! You can see my 1/8th ProMist filter kicking in here where the sun catches the Halton Chapel bell. Typical hiking setup: Sony A7c2, Viltrox 20mm prime, and the mist filter.

The view is Halton Castle across the village pond.

A fortified manor reflected in a village pond.
PhotographyNorthumberland

Ah- yes. I obviously can't go for a walk without taking a picture of a tree against a sky! πŸ“·πŸ˜‚

A tree with spidery branches against a bright sky.
PhotographySilentSundayNorthumberland

Snowdrops near the chapel at Halton... and spot the cat!! It's always hanging around, usually in the bushes at the back of the church, but it'll come and investigate if you stay still. πŸ“·πŸ±

Snowdrops in a churchyard, old chapel in the background.
PhotographySilentSundayNorthumberland

Some flowers near Halton Castle this afternoon. πŸ“·

Snowdrops, and some purple and yellow things... I don't know, I'm not a botanist! And there are some old farm buildings and part of a church wall in the background.
PhotographySilentSundayNorthumberland

Having discovered that piano lights are stupidly expensive, I've improvised by removing the base from this Β£20 floor standing LED lamp, and attaching it to the abstract canvas above my piano... solved! πŸ˜ŽπŸ‘Œ

I'm currently working on the closing part of the middle section from Prelude 15, "Raindrop". Fiddly, although not as bad as I'd expected!! 🀣

LED goose-neck lamp positioned above a digital piano.
PianoLightHacks

Tiswas t-shirt in the style of the 1970s TV show. Never a day to miss 'coz... 🀣

Not sure whether to label this post as a sign of age, or a blast from the past? (Possibly accompanied by a blast from a foam cannon!!)

Tiswas t-shirt featuring the logo with the phantom flan flinger...

Sewingshields trig point from this morning... trying not to look cold!! 🀣 It was just fingers (mainly thumbs) that were the problem, and this could be related to a combo of strong/cold winds and Pacer-Poles? Fabulous route though, from Housesteads to Sewingshields, looping up around Haughton Common, and joining the Pennine Way back to the Wall. Beyond Housesteads, we only met farmers and sheepdogs all day! πŸ˜…

Hiker dude standing beside a white concrete trig point.
hikingNorthumberlandHadriansWalltrigpoint

Gallow Hill, north of Corbridge this afternoon... whilst sneaking in a final 2025 (short) walk! πŸ“·

Trees silhouetted against a cloudy winter sky.
PhotographyNorthumberland

I suppose I can't exactly claim this photo is much different to my last photo, but it 'IS' a different tree. πŸ€£πŸ“·

Winter sunset behind the silhouette of a tree.
PhotographyNorthumberlandHadriansWallSunset

Yesterday afternoon's boxing day walk became a bit of a race against sunset! This is with my current default setup: Sony A7cII and a Viltrox 20mm prime fitted with a 1/8th black pro-mist filter. I find the filter very subtle most of the time, but here you can definitely see light spilling around the tree.πŸ“·

Tree silhouette against a winter sunset.
PhotographyNorthumberlandHadriansWallSunset

Chopin's Prelude no 6. Exquisite composition, goes without saying... insofar as I can attempt to do it justice anyway. πŸ˜… From opus 28, composed somewhere between 1835 and 1839.

I like the nickname Hans von Bulow gave to it: "Tolling Bells". The melody mostly stays with the left hand, but you have that recurring melancholy note in the right hand accompaniment. (I perhaps ought to slow it down, a little. πŸ€”)

Video/Audio of Chopin's Prelude number 6.
PianochopinPreludeNo6

I don't think I've ever had such a popular post. Note to self: "Buy more cuddly toys!" πŸ˜…

Just in time... happy Christmas to me!! 🀣

Mastodon plushie toy with matching coffee mug.
PlushtodonmugstodonMastodon

In case you need "silent feet" to be even more of a challenge!! 🀣

Rock climbing shoes with small Christmas bells tied to the laces. Indoor climbing wall in the background.
Climbingrockclimbing

Unusual choice of Christmas decor... it might have been a mistake to invite this pair into the house!! 🀣

Elves from the shelf... in a tree. One elf appears to have tied her companion to the star at the top of a Christmas tree. Both remain cheerful.
ElfOnTheShelfChristmas

I'd forgotten about this sunrise photo from last week. Found it after taking a photo of a laptop! (This is more interesting than the laptop.) πŸ“·

Very red, cloudy sunrise, trees in silhouette.
PhotographysunrisecloudsNorthumberland

Scaling the North Face of the advent calendar. (Graded: severe, 4a)

Elf on a shelf character scrambling up a wooden advent calendar house. His companion is already seated on the chimney.
ElfOnTheShelfChristmas

Hmm- those rascals!! 🀣 Mrs Elf grinding Mr Elf... actually, perhaps let me rephrase that!! πŸ€”

Elf on the shelf puppet being fed into a coffee grinder... by an elf on the shelf puppet.
ElfOnTheShelfChristmas

I don't want to overdo it, but I'm thinking maybe at least a couple more baubles for my Winter Solstice tree?! πŸ€”πŸŒ²

Christmas tree, with lights but only 2 baubles.
Christmaschristmastree

Fence on Hadrian's Wall, designed to deter barbaric invaders from walking along the wall?

The path does take you along the top of the wall for several hundred metres here, but either end of the designated section is blocked - presumably to protect more fragile sections of the wall. πŸ“·

A section of fence, catching the low sun, blocks the path along the top of Hadrian's Wall. Countryside and light cloudy sky.
PhotographyNorthumberlandhousesteadsHadriansWall

Another shot from yesterday afternoon, west of Housesteads along the wall. (Wall depicted here is not Hadrian's... other walls are available!) πŸ“·

Sunlit dry-stone wall enclosing trees, and a view across countryside. Light clouds in blue skies.
PhotographyNorthumberland

Not far from Housesteads, I stopped for a cup of tea on my way back to the car. The sky got more interesting, but this one caught the window reflections... β˜•πŸ“·

Trees and a building silhouetted against a clear sky around sunset. Sunlight catching the windows.
PhotographyNorthumberlandSunset

The mistake might be to believe that most "Newspapers" are telling less of a pack of lies about every other topic they discuss. πŸ™„

Met Office FACT CHECK

Our forecast says:
It’s unsettled this week with a mixture of wind, rain and some sunny spells too. Temperatures will be around average with any snow likely confined to high ground in the north, as is normal for the time of year.
2 December 2025

The News Headline:
UK weather maps turn purple as Britain hit by

From a walk through the dene behind Halton Castle this afternoon... just managed to get back to the car before the rain! πŸ˜…β˜”

Lush green moss on a fallen tree.
MosstodonPhotographyNorthumberlandMoss

I've watched two Irish films so far this week. They couldn't be more different... but both of them were excellent. πŸŽ₯ 🍿

Oddity
rogerebert.com/reviews/oddity-

That They May Face The Rising Sun
rogerebert.com/reviews/that-th

Cover of movie:
moviemoviesfilms

Am I unique in my hatred of shirt labels? Someone creates a t-shirt and presumably thinks to themselves: "Yeah, nice shirt, but you know what would make it even better? A stiff plastic label to gouge our customers in the back of the neck... all day long. They're going to *love* that!" πŸ™„ (It is a good shirt though!!)

T-shirt label, reads: last exit to nowhere.
lastexittonowhereTShirtLabelannoyance

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