Phew! That's a relief!

Anyhoo ... here's a couple of pictures of Techno's snake ... by which I mean his ophidian visitor.

That's beautiful Techno! Lucky man to see one of those.

WOW, that's really is something.

Thanks for posting those for me, Nobby. 

In the lower picture (in the top left hand corner) is a 10p piece to give some sort of scale reference.

Cheers - Phil

"Scale reference" - snake 

Oh you cunning punster you!

In the lower picture you have one annoyed adder, that is a strike posture !

That's what I call the real deal. The only adder I've ever seen 'live' was a fully grown black adder (so obviously the markings were not as clear). I spotted it when I was walking in the wilds of Dumfriesshire near Bruce's Stone. I heard this rustling in the dry grass to the side of the path I was on and, not thinking about venomous snakes, was about to step off the path to investigate when the creature suddenly broke cover and scarpered. It was about 50-60 cm long. Exciting stuff! Sadly, although I've visited the same location a few times over the years, I've never had another sighting.   

p.s. Did you use any music to charm your adder? e.g., Pink Floyd ..... Whitesnake?

Quote from: ianrs54 on 07 August 2017, 07:24:58 AM
In the lower picture you have one annoyed adder, that is a strike posture !

Got three or four shots where "Wilbur" was looking directly at me in that 'pose'.

I took it as a 'strike' posture, like you say Ian. Though I'd guess the poor little sod was frightened rather than peed off and in defensive 'mode'.

I tried telling it looked really well and had handsome markings....But apparently that's not how snake charming works, Westie.
Nobby....I only realised the 'pun' after I'd written it down....But thought....What the heck. 

Cheers - Phil

Just received a small package of new toys from Tumbling Dice (RJW ships for those interested).

Included was three pamphlets to shows - one of which was Battleground, at Stockton, run by some company called Pendraken Miniatures.

1st pamphlet was Pudsey show, but my lift doesn't do 'Leeds' (they always struggle with the traffic)

2nd pamphlet was The Other Partizan, but I'm really ambivalent about attending tbh (nothing to do with the show, just not that fussed)

3rd pamphlet was the aforementioned Battleground, which I will go to - if only to collect the must-have plastic wristband (these things will be collectors items in years to come!)

That snake must have been an ill omen.

Since then I seem to have been rushing around in circles, with one mini disaster after another.....And keeping more than a wary eye on the MIL !
Just lots of piddly little things...but each one needs 'sorting'. which is why I've been so tardy on the forum.

Cheers - Phil.

But no!

According to WOFS.com (I don't know what WOFS stands for, but it's a web site so it must be true) meeting a snake is a good omen. I quote

"Meeting Up With A Snake is another sign of good fortune. Whether in your garden, inside the home, or out trekking, if you meet up with a snake, it means something or someone important is coming into your life. Never ever try to harm or kill a snake when confronted with one. The more poisonous the snake, the better is the good fortune. The king cobra is described as a snake of extreme good fortune. Whatever you do, never kill a snake as they are also associated with some spiritual presence. They usually slither away themselves when they sense human presence."

Having said that, WOFS says that if your left hand tingles, then money is coming to you. My physiotherapist said it was a constriction of the ulna nerve.

Spirit-animals.com, which is another web site, so must also be 100% accurate, says (amongst other things) "transmutation is the key word here. The shedding of old skin and emotions and transforming them into something bigger and better." Perhaps you're going to turn into a butterfly? Or get really bad sunburn?

Finally, and perhaps most pertinently, my grandfather (who was very old and knew many things) said "if you think you're having bad luck, break a match to break the luck." I can see the psychological trick here, though he did burn the house down twice.

And really finally, my father who was of a more practical bent than my grandfather, though not as exciting, said to me when I was having a bad patch "Stop. Focus. Prioritise." He could be quite gnomic.

Hope the enforced rushing stops, and the mini disasters cease.

Take care.  

My first wife and I had a slightly disconcerting encounter with a cobra once at some ruined tombs near Hyderabad. We told a group of Indians a bit later, intending to warn them against running into it, and they all congratulated us on a good omen.
Mind you, our marriage fell to pieces a few months later, which neither of us enjoyed at all.

Nearest thing to a snake that I've ever come across was a couple of slow worms. Never having seen the species before, mind, we thought they were snakes. We were rather disappointed when told otherwise.

Years ago, as a child and when my father worked for the MOD, I was wandering around the Ranges at Battle hill, through the moorland grasses and scrub. The range warden and my father says to me, 'Mind you don't stand on an Adder,' which meant I had to ask, 'How will I know if I've stood on one?' You can all imagine the reply two grown men would give a 10 year old child. ['You'll know!']

Did anyone else have the misfortune to see Auntie's new Saturday evening quiz show, hosted by Len Goodman, last night ?



Gimme strength !

The trouble was.....It was SO bad, I just couldn't look away. 
I've seen some utter tosh on the TV before....But this set a new standard. 

Cheers - Phil

We endured it last night as my 12 year-old daughter was enjoying it. We both wanted to turn it off!
As he said about ten minutes in 'it's not Mastermind you know!'

I'll stick with Only Connect