Vermilion Sands
An occasional journal
Iridescence
Dec 10th 2018
Admin1 is reading Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves. Admin2 is reading The Great Deception by David Belbin.
Head in the Clouds
Dec 8th 2018
I tooked out my window and what did I see
A bump on a cloud and a face looking down at me
Admin2 is reading Everything Under by Daisy Johnson; oedipiss wrecks.
We scored (oh dear) 6.5 on the GWQ
Bright Rainbow
Dec 7th 2018
A bit of sunshine in the rain, for a change.
Admin1 is reading The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler. Admin 2 is reading Haven by Adam Roberts, the sequel to Shelter with different characters and a different author, set in the same postapocalyptic milieu.
The Dark Days of Winter Took the Sun Away
Dec 4th 2018
All our recent pictures have been dismal.
Admin1 is reading Europe at Dawn and Admin2 is reading Shelter, both by Dave Hutchinson.
Weather of the Day: Mizzle
Dec 1st 2018
Mist and Drizzle.
Admin1 is reading London Rules by Mick Herron. Admin2 is reading Lethal White by Robert Galbraith.
We scored 10 on the GWQ.
Nightfall
Nov 29th 2018
Admin1 is reading Spook Street by Mick Herron. Admin2 is reading Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler. We have thoroughly enjoyed both these series, with incompetent spies and offbeat cops, both marginalised by the official authorities and working in peculiar ways or sometimes not at all.
Drawing the Line
Nov 25th 2018
Roadworkers marking the zebra crossing. The flaming sword is so noisy that we could hear it half a km away.
Admin1 is reading Lethal White by Robert Galbraith. Admin2 is reading London Rules by Mick Herron.
We scored 11 on the GWQ.
Hip Hip
Nov 23rd 2018
Berries in the fog.
Admin1 is reading Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler. Admin2 is reading Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood, also by Christopher Fowler.
Pink Moon
Nov 21st 2018
Admin1 is reading Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler. Admin2 is reading Spook Street by Mick Herron.
Two Stews to View
Nov 20th 2018
On the top, Red Dead Redemption 2 stew … on the bottom, Leeds stew. We have dumplings!
RDR2 also has coffee, but we have Leeds coffee: a shot of Tia Maria and a double espresso topped with double cream. Yum!
Admin1 is reading Slow Horses by Mick Herron. Admin2 is reading Bryant & May and the Invisble Code by Christopher Fowler.
Zebra Crossing
Nov 18th 2018
Yay! A place to cross the road at last.
Admin2 is reading Slow Horses by Mick Herron.
After some extra consultation, we scored 9.5 on the GWQ.
Leaf after Leaf
Nov 16th 2018
Admin1 is reading Bryant & May and the Invisble Code by Christopher Fowler. Admin2 is reading Stamboul Train by Graham Greene; all aboard for the Oriental Express.
10MWh! … and a Rainbow
Nov 12th 2018
After just under 7 years, we passed 10 megawatt hours today on our solar power monitor, although the FITS meter is ahead at 10,282kWh.
And a few hours later, this appeared to celebrate:
And here’s a pisspoor panorama of the same bow:
Admin1 is rereading Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin. Admin2 is reading The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler
Rocket Man
Nov 11th 2018
Fireworks in the garden, too late for Bonfire Night and Diwali.
Admin2 is reading Last Bus to Coffeeville by J Paul Henderson; a book that maybe tries too hard to be simultaneously sad and funny in a good-hearted way but wins because one character says “Jesus Christ! It’s a Kelvin-Hemholtz!” and the author bio says “He drives a car and has a television set. And that’s about it.”.
We scored 9 on the GWQ; better than expected.
Lots of Colours
Nov 7th 2018
Birds fly over one rainbow and under another.
Admin1 is reading Last Rites by John Harvey. Admin2 is reading Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, an enjoyable fantasy about magic in an otherworldly Nigeria, somewhat spoiled by the afterwordly contention that #BlackLivesMatter, which they do of course, but the politics of the story was monarchy vs wizardry.
Grey Day
Nov 5th 2018
A Pantone 430 C sky. There should have been fireworks but it was too foggy to see.
Admin2 is reading Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh: a 90-year-old comedy in which characters make such remarks as ["Niggers": "have uncontrollable passions"], ["Chinks": "nasty inhuman things"], [the Welsh: "an unclean people"]. Still, he could still get away with “the Bollinger Club”: “a fox had been brought in in a cage and stoned to death with champagne bottles”…
We scored 10.5 on the GWQ.
Berried Alive
Nov 2nd 2018
Admin1 is reading Rough Treatment by John Harvey. Admin2 is reading Second Life by SJ Watson which was unmitigated shit. We are watching Bodyguard and scored 9.5 on the GWQ.
sPOOky
Oct 31st 2018
A haunted bird turd. Happy halloWEEn.
Admin2 is reading Dead Lions by Mick Herron.
Halo Again
Oct 30th 2018
Cos it’s almost halo-ween.
Admin1 is reading Wild Chamber by Christopher Fowler. Admin2 is re-reading A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson; a life that might have been.
Coffee of the day: Mystery Coffee Mark 9 which tastes mysteriously like coffee. Good coffee though.