I'm too excited - I just don't know which icon to use... *vbg*

I've been meaning and wanting to post for ages, but no matter how brief this post is, I have to do it tonight. Talk about worlds colliding - did anyone else see it? You must have done! Did you squee like me? You must have done! *vbg*

Because not only was there new Detectorists, after all this time...


...but it mentioned Pros! In fact, not only did it mention our lads, but it coined them as a phrase! Okay, they're already a phrase, but... So there was a conversation between Lance and Andy, talking about a find, and Lance says:

"...right there, under the Bodie."

?? (Quizzical look from Andy)

"Under the Bodie... the Bodie and Doyle... the soil... "

Squeeeeeee!

Fandoms colliding like that makes me happy! *g*

And now I am entirely justified in talking about detecting and the lads together. *vbg*

Tags: detectorists, pros, squeeeee, tv

...lads. It's Job 2 and 3 time again, and in this first week I'm combining it with Job 1 for a few days, because everyone wants my money, and argh! And of course with foodsaving, which is a good thing, but sometimes - people argh! And I will get ProsFandomCards sorted in the next couple of days too. And catch up with comments and watching Pros vids, and emails... and... I will. *g*

All of which is fine, but its nice to see the lads on lj to help me through days that feel a bit overly... busy. So here they are, two shads of our lads. *vbg*

Tags: pros pics, real life

Today has been one of those horrid days when everything seems to go wrong right from the start, so I went for a quick walk around Avalon Marshes to try and break the pattern. It didn't work, but I did take some photos...

A lone swan swimming up a green-covered ditch beside the road, and winter-type tree reflections.

It took me a while to decide whether this first one was a real bird or not - it turned out there were wooden carvings of birds all along the track! But there were lots of real birds too.

It was all quite peaceful.

I realised that these birds weren't quite real straight away - and then I saw some other cool things on the same fallen tree...





I turned around to head back to the car, and there was the moon, hanging peacefully in the sky.And a minute later, three white swans flew past, their beating wings loud in the sky - a nice thing to remember when I got back to the next bit of the day's chaos... *headdesk*

How're you doing? *g*

Tags: 2022 in photos, autumn, somerset

The clocks went back last night, and I had my covid booster yesterday, so I'm feeling a bit dazed with the world so far today. Solution? Post to lj! *g* I actually went to bed early (for me - just before midnight), so it rather threw me to wake up at 5.45am-ish, having actually had nearly seven hours sleep (again, that's my normal - in fact pretty good for me!), but not feeling quite ready to get up yet, so I didn't... and when I did it was still before 7am!!

I had my jab around 2.30pm yesterday, and my arm didn't even start aching until not long before I went to bed - but then I couldn't sleep on my left side all night! *headdesk* I think the ache is fading now. I have a slight headache (barely counts as a headache, but there) and feel a bit drippy, but that could be me rather than the shot... *g* Well, it's probably the shot, but it's also Sunday, so I can roll with it. *g*

Here's the last day of the year when sunset was around 6pm...


It is looking a bit autumn-y in the village... *g* Yesterday was ridiculous though - when I finally got up (after working until about 4am *headdesk*) I'd missed half a day that was warm, with an amazing balmy breeze - my favourite kind of day! It's cooler today, but still not October-cold. Absolutely no need to put the heating on yet...

Some pics from the day before (the first one's for tinturtle - green fields *g*):

Okay, clearly those trees are doing the autumn thing...!

And finally - a very fun surprise when I finally sorted out how to hang the big mirror my last landlady gave me. It only had a hook to hang it vertically, and I wanted it horizontal, so I was peeling back the tape to see what the wood was like for attaching things to, and... How cool is that?! I have a film-star mirror! I can't at all work out what the other bits of writing mean, but I'd like to think it was hints to the film it had been in. *g* That middle word that's a bit cut off just before "Sold" looks like "THARAT"...

And now I'm feeling a bit droopy as well as drippy, so I think I'm going to take a break from sitting upright!

How are you doing? *g*

Tags: 2022 in photos, autumn, moon, real life

I think I spotted a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey flying over the farm yesterday! I've been trying to be so good and not go running around to check out every aircraft noise I hear when I'm supposed to be working, but this is why I should - by the time I thought no, that sounds different, it was already too distant to see properly. I did take a couple of pics when I realised what I was seeing though, because huh?! I could tell there were two propellers where there shouldn't be, and it clearly wasn't one of the Chinooks that we often get.

Downloaded the pics just now, and did some googling - the Bell 280 which came up first didn't look right, but this one did, based up in Herefordshire last year. And then I found a vid, which looks like it's from years ago at the Farnborough show, and wiki says they were first developed back in the late 1980s - but it's the first time I've ever seen one! Also, the wiki article has a picture showing condensation being thrown off the propellers, which might be what's making that blurring across the top in the pictures, perhaps... *g*

How cool is that though - and I gather they've been used to bring supplies to countries devastated by hurricanes etc., so that's something good too...

Okay, back to the coal mines... word mines?

Tags: 2022 in photos, aeroplanes

In catch up mode, with a weekend free - hurrah! Of course there's a bit too much to catch up on, but you've got to start somewhere... One of my catch-ups, inspired by gilda_elise's post for Discovered in the Autumn is my Pros ALphaFic Bingo Card for 2022! It's not that I've not been reading Pros, it's just that I've not been doing the card... (rats, just realise I said the exact same thing in my last Bingo entry, way back in April...)



The Alphafic Stories
( A - At the Admiral NelsonCollapse )

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( C - Command PerformanceCollapse )

D

( E - The Eyes of a ChildCollapse )

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H is for High Noon, by Brian Clemens of all people! I was flicking happily through the Network dvd Mark III book when I came across his Operation Impossible at the end - imagine my surprise when I flipped past the last page and found another Pros story written by him! The only thing is that it turned out High Noon for the Professionals was basically the Blackout episode as a short story - so interesting, but not new Pros. Hey-ho!

There are a few differences in the short story though. It's Doyle who's shot at in the ambulance, and Bodie who goes running after him when he realises what might have happened, shouting his name (rather than one of my fave wee scenes where Doyle roars into the ambulance in search of Bodie, grabs him around his waist, swings him around and then holds onto him! *g*)

There's no Stuart - Doyle ends up working with Benny, but not the Benny we know and love from various eps either. This Benny is "...powerful and tall and blacker than any hat, and very, very experienced. But best of all he had an uncanny animal instinct that often overruled all logic, and which he would self-mockingly explain as 'Darwin's Theory proved, man'." Doyle likes working with Benny because of all this, and he follows Benny's instructions. Gotta love a highly competent agent. *g*

Bodie, on the other hand, we're told hates working with Cowley because of Cowley's unpredictability: "You never really knew when to call him 'sir', and when not to, and even money when you did or didn't it was the wrong time." *g* I think Doyle gets this wrong in the eps more often than Bodie does, but it seems very right to me!

The final thing is that they don't track Tilson down in the end because Ilse remembers about the accountant, it's Bodie passing a bank when they're trying to guard the conference at the end that makes him realise that's where Tilson probably is, and why Tilson was grabbed in the first place. He smashes his way in just as he does in the ep, but the moment he faints from his broken collar bone is where the story ends: "Thirty seconds, Bodie," Cowley's voice crackled back, then a lighter note crept into it. 'That nice new quartz watch of yours, Bodie. It's wrong.' Bodie couldn't see his watch anymore, the room was swaying, as he heard Cowley add: 'But you, Bodie, you're all right', before he passed out. Hee!

( I - Island InnocentsCollapse )

( J - Just a NeighbourCollapse )

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( P - Paying Their RespectsCollapse )

P - Professionals Minus 1 by Ranald Graham - Another story from the Network dvd box sets, this one at the end of the Mk II book! *g* I know I've already got a "P", but I can't resist reading (and adding) this one too... *g*

Again, it's not a new story, because it's apparently the short story that Wild Justice was based on - and most elements in the story are much more clear. For instance, Bodie does his own motorbike racing and Doyle has gone along with him as mechanic for the bike. He also didn't loan Bodie a bike - Bodie bought a new one especially...

Bodies enemy in this story isn't King Billy, it's a South African called Visser, and it turns out that Bodie's mate Williams was not just killed - his girlfriend Cheryl was gang-raped in front of him first. So it's a much harsher story, but if Bodie found that out at William's funeral, it explains why he's reacting so violently against Visser (more so than just his mate being dead in WJ).

The only thing I don't like about this story, is that the author doesn't seem to have watched the previous episodes at all, because when Cowley asks Doyle to keep an eye on Bodie, Doyle thinks this:
Bodie was not exactly Doyle's bosom pal. They had a close relationship which was professional. Bodie and he made a perfect two-man team. They knew each other's reflexes. Strengths, weaknesses.

"But they were both loners. They didn't hang out together all that much. Perhaps because they were too competitive, and went for the same women. Perhaps they wanted to keep a respectful distance. Perhaps Bodie made him feel a tiny bit insecure. But that was far too deep down to think about at the moment."

They don't hang out together?!! Have you not seen episodes like When the Heat Cools Off? Female Factor? Hunter/Hunted? They don't hang out with anyone else?! *g*

The Shusai bit in the story is made more relevant to what happens too. Shusai and Bodie spar with sticks, and Shusai is trying to tell Bodie that, like the child, he has to connect action and intent with nothing in between - it's not a sandcastle though, Shusai has them watch a three year old exploring the kendo sticks, and he picks one up and then smashes it down without further thought. So Bodie punching the car is the moment he finally connects action and intent, and that's what's happening when he hits Doyle who's come to his rescue (to stop him killing Visser). The very end is the same - Cowley is there too, and threatens Bodie, and Cheryl, Williams' girlfriend, agrees to testify against Visser, so Bodie lets him go. It stops there though, the lads don't come together at the end.

Oh, and it's not Doyle's girlfriend who comes with them to the enduro, it's Jennifer Black - although she leaves in disgust when it's clear Bodie has totally abandoned her, and Doyle's about to follow when Cowley turns up. There's no Kate Ross either, she's completely absent - Cowley works it all out after Craine calls him to say that he's worried Bodie's acting oddly...

And that's it! A shame it wasn't a brand new story, but it was interesting to read the original Wild Justice. *g*

Q

( R - Rule BritanniaCollapse )
( R - RedemptionCollapse )

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( T - Table ConversationCollapse )

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Tags: pros alphafic bingo, pros fic

Just as I was about to fall into a bit of a glump today, look what arrived in the post to cheer me up!

How fab is that? *vbg* And of course it makes a nice way for me to start putting my lj-posts where my mouth is, having challenged everyone to make as many Pros posts as they can this autumn. *g*

Thank you very much sender, and everyone else involved - what a lovely surprise! (This might seem like a late thank you, as I see it's post-marked the 8th August, and so apparently took over a month to get here - but it did finally get here! Also, hmmmn - looks like we might need to take slow post into account again for the Pros Fandomcards Christmas exchange...)

Tags: bistocon, dialj, pros, real life

I'm not much into football, but I am into the lads enjoying themselves... *g*

There was a fun caption competition for this last pic, but for the life of me I can't remember where it was. One of milomaus's Christmas competitions? One from the_safehouse? Something more random? No idea...

Plus it would be fun to see other pics from this photoshoot if anyone has any... *vbg*

Tags: pros pics

The forecast was right for a change - we did have (actually, are having) thunderstorms tonight! *vbg*



And then this isn't a great picture, because it was on a hand-held long-exposure camera phone, but it began to rain as I took the lightning vid (obv. not photos!) and I went in - I popped out a while later though, and the skies had cleared enough for the moon to come out, shining on the track up the hill, surrounded by dramatic clouds - and then lightning flashed again, on the other side, and I'm pretty sure that's the pink you can see in this pic. *vbg*

I came in again to finish off some Job 2 prep and head to bed - and the storm is ongoing. It quietened down, but in fact it must have circled around, because there was lightning over the cow shed side of the house a few minutes ago - sheet lightning this time, where the yard was lit up in that amazing electric blue as I watched... I should have been in bed an hour ago, but I do love a storm, even a relatively gentle one like this one... *g*

Tags: 2022 in photos, moon, weather

First some Doyle looking gorgeous, cos of course I'm not the only one who likes seeing him... *g*

But I can't neglect our lads together, cos that's how they belong... that's the whole point of them!

I swear, all I want to do right now is write a story to go with this manip... but I can't. I have to work, and then I have to work Job 2, and then I have to find more volunteers to cover people who are quitting, and then I have to... waaaah!Oh, but the story's on the tip of my pen, it really is... I can feel them there... our AU lads, a murder-mystery, a... One of these days... and all the other wips on my laptop, of course... *sighs more* God I miss isotopes...

( It's been an odd day...Collapse )

Okay - clearly more lads required before I get on with work...

Tags: pros pics, real life

I finally got my internet back last Wednesday night, luckily just in time for my first Job 2 online meeting the next day - and then another one on Saturday. Phew... But of course the meetings didn't leave much time for anything else then, and in between of course life has been happening...

( On Sunday...Collapse )

And the bright side of all this? Having been up early for meetings and detecting, I was so knackered last night that I was in bed with the light out by about 11pm, and awake at 6.30am this morning, all set for a nice early start to work.

( So what obviously happened...?Collapse )

All of which means - I'm not starting work early today after all, which means I will probably end up finishing it late and all... Gargh! Hence some serious-looking confront-the-world lads in my flist, because I really need to see them facing it down together and winning!





And because there's usually a lot of Bodie pics in our flists these days, and much fewer Doyle... Our gorgeous Doyle *g*

So - how're you doing? (Is anyone still out there?!)

Tags: detectorist, headdesk, pros pics, real life

Today was the kind of spring day that's not cold, even if it does start out misty and end up in rain...

Very much a work day, although I did manage a quick walk around the track. You know, just before it rained. *headdesk*

Tags: 2022 in photos, spring

Easter Monday - spring continues!

Tags: 2022 in photos, spring

It's been a day... I was going to describe it, but there was too much of it. As you can see, I finally resorted to gin. By about 5.30pm I was ready to start work for the day... *headdesk* Thank goodness for two decent proofreading docs so that I actually finished them by 1am this morning. Phew. Bed!

Tags: 2022 in photos

Yes, this is yesterday's pics... Why the crows? Because there are always crows... *g* Well, and because that first one had designs on my cat-proofed dug-over veggie beds (the cats don't like using them as a bathroom if they have to pick through sticks to find a spot - well, you wouldn't, would you?!), and although you can't see it in the pic was actually carrying one of those cat-protecting twigs away with it. The second one, like all the other crows that hang around in the big pine tree next door, had designs on the only bird food they'd left in the feeders - the one that's a bit harder for them to balance on! Actually I don't mind the crows snacking from my birdfeeders sometimes, I rather like crows, just not eating it all, every day - I can't afford them!

As with Pros fic, it's not that I haven't been reading books... it's that I haven't been finishing them! I had three books on the go that I kept being distracted from - and then oddly enough I came back to this one and just wolfed it down, and want the next one in the series now! It's the second Lady Astronaut book, and I can barely remember the first half, but the second half definitely grabbed me again.

The space race is still on - not as a competition between the USSR and US, but as a race to escape to other worlds before the earth's climate finishes the catastrophic warming it began when a metereorite hit the earth in 1952. So it's an alternative history in some ways, but it's very much dealing with the world as it was for people back then as well, which is also interesting. Fated Sky takes us to 1961 - the moon landings are in the past, and the next stop - is Mars. *g*

Tags: books, books - 2022, books - lj book bingo

This morning's sky... ...and this evening's sky... (my house is the wee light at the very bottom of the pic!)

Tags: 2022 in photos

It's not that I haven't been reading Pros fic, it's that I've not been posting about it... Ooops. There are others I have to add, but here's a couple to start with...

The Alphafic Stories
( A - At the Admiral NelsonCollapse )

B

( C - Command PerformanceCollapse )

D

( E - The Eyes of a ChildCollapse )

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G
H

I is for Island Innocents by Glenfiddich, and this is one of my favourite Pros stories ever. It's a novel-length case-fic set on the Isles of Scilly when the lads are in the early stages of their relationship, and it's pure sunshine and bliss. Not in the least bit soppy, but you can feel the lads' adoration on every page, which means that it feels just like an episode for me. *g* It's sadly not currently available online anywhere, and the author is no longer with us - but her other stories are archived on ProsLib, and I suspect this was only not included because it was continually in print from Gryphon Press. Now that Gryphon Press is sadly defunct, I wonder if hagsrus would be able to archive it for us? I must ask her... *vbg* *waves to hagsrus.

( J - Just a NeighbourCollapse )

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( P - Paying Their RespectsCollapse )

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( R - Rule BritanniaCollapse )

R - Redemption - I also re-read Redemption by Kate Maclean, even though I already had an "R". I like Kate Maclean's Pros very much, and Redemption is a meat-y angsty gorgeously long Pros novel, and definitely comes under like very much. It's another of the zines printed by Gryphon Press, and I don't think it's online anywhere...

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( T - Table ConversationCollapse )

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Tags: pros, pros alphafic bingo

I got to the end of work on Friday and seem to have almost switched off my laptop for the weekend - well not quite, since I ended up doing foodsaving for both Saturday and Sunday, which requires sorting and checking and printing and things like that before actually doing it, but close enough that I didn't end up posting photos. So here's a catch-up. *g*

Friday 8th April
Friday was work, punctuated by a quick trip to a local nursery that's not usually open to visitors but was having an open day. I... might have bought a cherry tree (patio-sized), and an orange-scented geranium (okay, pelargoinium), and a strawberry plant, even though I already have some. And a wild garlic plant, even though I've already planted some seeds to see if they'll grow. This one is for my shady trough-planter, though. The one I ordered the Generous Gardener shade-tolerant scented climbing rose for... *g* So a work day and a gardening day. (This is a pear blossom I think, a random pic from the nursery. *g*)

Saturday 9th April
Saturday was more trough-planter gardening. I sorted out all the earth-and-stones-and-turf that had been dumped in them for a basis, and then hied myself to another local nursery and bought many bags of compost to mix in... and I may have succumbed to some shade-loving plants/flowers for my rose trough too - some astilbes and a bleeding heart - and some columbines for my regular garden, because they were pretty, and some blue lithodora because it was my favourite blue...

Sunday 10th April
Today was a bit more interesting! I was bored with being at home by now, so I decided to fall for a local estate's locals discount for membership, and went over to see how it was all looking...

Tags: 2022 in photos, spring

Spring is springing... and combined with getting together with f_m_parkinson, it made a rather lovely day. *g*











Oh, and the gorgeous greenery around that wooded path? Made entirely of wild garlic! Yum!

Tags: 2022 in photos, spring