F is for First Decent Walk of the Year!

I always mean to post more non-toy-soldier stuff than I do, so while there are thousands of often quite good images of insects, when I do get around to posting some, they aren't always the best, but I like a narrative, and I managed to have my first proper walk of the year the other day (24th April), and found a long hedge, at the top of a dip slope on the downs near Borden, which was facing a very warm sun, and saw loads of butterflies, not all of which were hanging around to be photographed, so missing from these shots are Orange Tips, Small Tortoiseshells, Whites and a Brimstone, but I did get these others.

 

Peacock

It actually posed for me, and when I swore. as it closed its wings, it opened them again!

 

Red Admiral launching.

 

 

 

There were loads of small Holly Blues, but they were actively having what is best described as an orgy, and while I took dozens of shots, most of them are rather blurry, or one of the pair is missing altogether, or I just shot holly leaves!

 

There's a small striped, solitary 'Digger' wasp in there somewhere!

These are the ones who tunnel into well-trodden sandy paths, or bare banks. 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what these are, I need to look them up.

Some kind of fly, maybe Willow Sawflies, with notably long antennae.

 

I thought this was a very big version of the 'Basingstoke Orange Bums' as they were called in our family (Mum had some notion they 'came out of' Basingstoke, to compete with her honey-bees! A journey of about 8-miles), but later following it along the ground for a while, trying to get decent shots, I realised it was probably a [larger] queen, of the aforementioned, looking for a suitable nesting site. She's actually a 'Red Tailed Bumblebee'

 

First Hover-fly of the season, among my favourites.

 

Once they've had some pollen or nectar for sustenance, as the one above was, the Digger Wasps will hunt and take these as larder stock for the small broods - booooo! Raw in tooth and claw!

Standard Buff-bottom, sharing a dandelion with another solitary wasp type, possibly Oxybellus, from the silver and black striping?

 

Robber- or Horse-fly? I was probably lucky not to be bitten by one, while I was concentrating on other things, I often get a bite on the shoulder or back as I'm doing this, especially if I'm only in a T-shirt. There were sheep in the valley at the bottom of the dip, and these biting flies do seem to go hand-in-hand with livestock!

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events Saturday 10th - Friday 16th

Lets congratulate Israel this week (otherwise it's Trump/guns/Right Wing racism or Boris/Brwreakshit/Ireland - great!) for invading the Moon with a colony of Moss Pigs! Not content with their trading of arms to and from South Africa during the height of the apartheid sanctions or helping Saddam's Iraq obtain long-range artillery and 'Supergun' technology/parts during the UN sanctions, Israel has managed to break the one rule, the only rule you are supposed to keep . . .

. . . let me explain, Ladies and Gentlemen; because it was considered a list would be too complicated; plastic - no, banana-skins - no, little bits of explosive bolt and Lander legs - yes &etc; all the nations of the world signed up to a simple clause . . .

. . . 'Don't contaminate the Moon'! But no, oh no . . . the Israelis - not perhaps your initial choice for space-faring superpower - managed to fill their very FIRST, very experimental Moon-shot with microscopic life, and then fuck-it-up, crashing the whole caboodle into the cheesy-fizog!

I've read the books, I know what happens now, in low gravity the indestructible tardigrades will evolve rapidly to fill all ecological niches, realise we are an existential threat to their future and start catapulting bulk-rubbish bins and mining-containers the size of lorries at us like interplanetary ballistic meteors!

Buy toys but look to the skies . . . Saturday's a wash-out (but with the current forecast it was going to be!) but there's a few on Sunday.

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Toy Fairs

Sunday 11th August 2019

Barry Island (not 'Barry' CF63) - Chris Dyer Fairs

Barry Island Railway Station, Station Approach, Barry Island, South Wales, CF62 5TH

Web. - www.chrisdyerfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 01643 702 757

Mob. - 07966 694 579

Admission £2

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Ditton - SRP Toyfairs

Ditton Community Centre, Kiln Barn Road, Ditton, Kent, ME20 6AH

Web. - www.srptoyfairs1.co.uk

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Exeter - Bulldog Fairs - 'Westpoint'

Westpoint Arena, Clyst St. Mary, Exeter, EX5 1DJ

Web. - www.bulldogfairs.com

eMail - bulldogfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01373 452 857

Mob. - 07917 125 641

10:30 - 14:30hrs

Admission £4, each under-16 free with adult, 'Early Bird' £10 from 08:30hrs

Southampton - Ron Lines - Southampton Toy Fair

Blighmont Barracks, Millbrook Road West, Southampton, Hampshire, SO15 0AJ

eMail - r.lines@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 02380 772 681

10:00-14:30hrs (doors close to buyers 14:00hrs)

Admission £1, children under-12 free

(combine with Southsea's kite-flying event - see below?)

Stafford - Barry Potter / BP Fairs - 'Stafford Showground'

The Preston & Argyle Suites, Stafford County Showground, Weston Road, Stafford, ST18 0BD

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

10.30 - 15.00hrs

Admission £4.00 (early-bird £8), OAP's £3.50, Children £1,

Free parking

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Tuesday 13th August 2019

Hook - Steven Clements Fairs - Hook Evening Fair

Hook Community Centre, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9NN

eMail: clementfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01380 725 322

Mob. - 07958 101 891

18:30 - 21:30hrs

Admission £1

Free parking

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Auctions

Saturday 10th August 2019

[Runcorn] On-line Auction - British Toy Auctions

The Auction Centre, 9 Berkeley Court, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 1TQ

Web. - www.britishtoyauctions.co.uk

eMail - enquiries@britishtoyauctions.co.uk

Tel. - 01928 579 032

Spalding - M&M Auctions

Unit 4, Plover Court, Stephenson Avenue, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 3SW

Web. - www.mm-auctions.com

eMail - info@mm-auctions.com

On-line (www.the-saleroom.com)

Tel. - 01406 422 848

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Thursday 15th August 2019

Sheffield - Shefield Auction Gallery

Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB

Web. - www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com

eMail - jmorgan@sheffieldauctiongallery.com

Tel. - 0114 281 6161

Viewing - Wednesday 14th 09:00 - 16:45, from 08:30 on sale day

10:00hrs - Finish

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Other Events (it's nearly all bloody Lego; the end of the world will be Lego themed!)

From Thursday 8th (yesterday) until Monday 2nd September 2019

Knowsley - Knowsley Safari Park - Ultimate Brick Safari

Knowsley Safari Park, Knowsley, Prescot, Merseyside

Web. - www.knowsleysafariexperiance..co.uk

Lego lifesize wild animals

From Thursday 8th (yesterday) until Sunday 3rd November 2019

Newcastle-upon-Tyne - Discovery Museum - Brilliant Bricks

Discovery Museum, Blanford Square, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Web. - www.discoverymuseum.org

Famous inventions from history recreated in Lego bricks

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Saturday 10th August 2019

Basingstoke - Dai Lawrence, RAF - The Battle of Britain

Basingstoke Discovery Centre/Public Library, Festival place Shopping Centre, Basingstoke, Hampshire

Web. - www.hants.gov.uk/library

Tel. - 01256 478 670

14:00-finnish

Admission £4

Presentation lecture/readings from a serving RAF SNCO on the Battle of Britain and what it still means to the RAF today.

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Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th August 2019

Southsea - Portsmouth International Kite festival

Southsea Common, Southsea, Hampshire

Web. - www.portsmouthkitefestival.org.uk

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Overseas Events

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th August 2019

Dublin (Rep. of Ireland) - - Dublin Comic Con

All other details here (very confusing dynamic website I couldn't be arsed to wrestle with!);

Web. - https://www.dublincomiccon.com/

Edison (USA) - Trainshow - Greenberg’s Great Train & Toy Show

New Jersey Expo Center, 97 Sunfield Avenue, Edison, NJ 08837, New Jersey, USA

Web. - http://trainshow.com/edison/

10:00-16:00hrs

Admission $10 both days, $9 Sunday only, under-11's free

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If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable or popular-/youth-culture type sale/exhibition/event listed here -  FOR FREE  - or linked to; please eMail me -

maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com

- stating the date/s of the event, address of event, contact details, opening/viewing times, admission pricing and any other relevant facts/details or features - parking, travel notes, disability access, availability of refreshments, event subject matter &etc.

And please mention any flyer-art or poster-/leaflet-scans but send by separate eMail, in case they go to the 'junk' folder, from where they can be recovered and marked safe, but only if I know they're there!

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Received with Thanks

A parcel of polymer loveliness for the Blog wung* its way from N5 on Monday, courtesy of Peter Evans, new colour of Chap Mai figures, a set of Wing Lung complete runners, two 'pop-trolls', Thelma from Scoobie-Doo and a rudie-nudie swizzle-stick were among the goodies which will feature here in the months and years ahead, thank you Peter.

Previously; a parcel from Chris Smith was received the other day, which has already been mentioned, and posts are in the queue (posting Sunday), but this 'Received with Thanks' is a new (occasional) feature of the Friday-dates  post, so a second thanks to Chris.

Imagery from Chris and Brian Berke has also popped into the in-tray in the last fortnight.

*Birds are winged, parcels are wung, I'm sure of it!

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Other News

Charity Shops

A small piece in the Evening Standard mentioned the fact that Charity Shops are currently doing well and seem to be contributing to a pick-up in high-street footfall, and overall sales.

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Theme Parks / Attractions

As mentioned briefly last week, but in all the papers over the weekend; even as Lego was buying them, Merlin were reporting poor performance of their attractions and a profit warning as visitor numbers failed to meet expectations and forecast profits fell by a fifth.

By the middle of this week Disney were reporting similar problems with their US operation; Likewise, Cineworld (the cinema chain) have also [today] posted disappointing results. Are we falling out of love with trash-culture? It's helped destroy the planet!

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H is for How They Come In

Better cover the ones I've flagged-up already, first . . .

. . . nothing terribly exciting; another Chap Mai Hummer and a K&M moon-buggy both of which I think we've had here before, I've also comparison'ed the K&M on the Airfix astronauts post (the accompanying K&M stand-alone figures are much bigger), but won't trouble you with a link for the one shot when you've just seen the thing here!

I also picked this up last Friday an hour before posting the dates for this week-gone, he's got no holes in him so not a Christmas-tree thing, probably from a set of building blocks or a 'my first castle' type thing? Or . . . he may be a piece from a shape-puzzle, or one of those shape-filler trays?

This toob was found on Sunday, I almost never go to town on Sunday's but this week I did and found an Aspro (Spanish jobber) branded toob of PVC-alike fishy fellows (actually more than half of them are mammals or crustaceans, not fish!), which will be looked at when the long-in-the-queue sea-creature round-up publishes.

Pound each for 12, it's pure, unmitigated tat-shite, but it will prove useful at some point! We have one of the independent or small/local chain pound-shops recently opened in an empty unit, you know the type of establishment; vinyl-banner shop sign, minimal shop fittings, tons of stuff you wouldn't give house room to, going for a quid straight out of the plain outer cartons, or wire baskets - they have very little of use, but these were worth a punt! Bootleg Snoopy, Miffy and that Japanese cat . . . Hello Kitty look-a-likes!

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Heads-Up - BP Fairs

I wouldn't normally issue a warning-order for a regular show in a week or two (as you know), but Sandown Park which is normally well into September is actually the middle of August this year? Whether this will be the normal 'new' time (it regularises the gaps between the four shows) or is just a one-off due to something 'horsey' happening on the usual weekend I don't know, but if you're thinking it's still a month or so away; think again - it's next Saturday; 17th August 2019

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Links

Good question? . . . . 

. . . . Gathering momentum!

One company's response to the above!

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Fighting over Toy Soldiers! They've both had so much 'work done' they're starting to look like each other!

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Other Stuff This Week

Shot this wasp, outside an office block near the train station! It's like a normal wasp, but with fewer, thicker-banded stripes, I don't know if it's a summer visitor (or climate change migrant!) over from France or the low countries, or one of our lesser parasitic wasps, but it's pretty and often turns up in late summer, they hover over the lawn but are hard to shoot - possibly looking for little 'lawn ants'?

I also found a very drunk 'normal' wasp in my Victoria plum, so I dispatched it with a knife (kind to the wasp) and fed it to the Venus Fly Trap - kind to the Venus Fly Trap!

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F is for First Bee . . . Not!

Actually it's the second, I saw my first flying bee about three weeks ago, even as the weather was closing in for the 'Beast from the East' (and the bloody 'i' ran with 'Snowmageddon', as I had predicted someone would in a post earlier that week - Grace Dent; shame on you!), it was a little black one with an 'international orange' bum, and it shot into a land-drainage pipe, set in a retaining wall outside an office building, so fast I didn't have a chance to photograph it.

This was the first of several today (Saturday 24th March), but it had been shut in the little greenhouse unnoticed, yesterday and was looking a bit weak, so I placed it on the daff' for a feed in the hope it would regain its strength and fly home.

They don't always go down the trumpet, I photographed this one in 2009, and you can see it's made one hole already in the back of the Daffodil, and is busy making another, I believe it had also felled the flower by cutting though the stalk first, in order to have a more stable 'breakfast bowl'? They suck the nectar straight from the reservoir - The vandals!

N is for Nature and Gnome's Stools!

Mixing the 'small scales' here with little animals, small plants and small plastic plants, it's a sort of 'News, Views - Bits & Bobs' with a ragged thread running through it!

I shot these over a few days at the cusp of the months just gone and just arrived, I'm sure they are Ink Caps (Coprinus), but which one (there are a dozen or more) is not so clear, my bible for such things (Philips - of course!) doesn't have a perfect match, these (in the pictures) being a bit small for the 'standard' Shaggy Ink Cap (Lawyer's Wig), but a bit big for the Coprinus Lagopus they otherwise more closely resembled.

The detritus left in the third shots is what you can make the ink out of and which gives them their common-name, except you should harvest it before it gets to the state shown here!

Apropos the Wade / Not-Quite-But-Probably-Irish-Factory-Wade Leprechauns we saw the other day, Peter Evans sent me this a couple of days later and I was saving it for the actual 'News Views' but thought this was an ideal way to mix toys and naturalism!

Those of you with a good eye will have realised - immediately upon seeing the above - that what I wrote the other day was a load of cobblers, he wasn't carving a boat OR a crib . . . he's a shoemaker!

He's plastic and not sitting on an Ink Cap, but rather a Fly Agaric, or at least a hand-painter's idea of a Fly Agaric! And there are shade's of Fontanini in the Carrara'esque sample of Connemara marble beneath the Fly Agaric!

A distant relative (by time rather than blood) used to breed Connemara Greys for the London taxi trade and is known in the family for his pronouncement in the 1900's that petrol engines were noisy and smelly and would never take-off! He (and the taxi trade) lost his horses to the hell of Flanders and as the Western Allies grabbed large chunks of the former Ottoman Empire with its cheap oil (throwing electric vehicles on the scrap-heap for three generations), he chose to retire

Sadly although not distant by blood; he's far enough away for me to be unable to apply for Irish Citizenship - so I'm pinning my hopes on the Tories wreaking Bwreakxit!

Shades of Tintin!

This is meant to be a Fly Agaric too, it's a Hong Kong (branded to a 'KT') plastic cake-decoration version of a Japanese cast-lead miniature garden ornament, the lead versions themselves replacing the even earlier ceramic/pumice ones. It's posed in an apple I rescued from three Hornets . . .

26th September 2017

. . . these three Hornets! Note the nervous beating a retreat . . . twice! I'd chopped a few of the rotten apples up with the mower and they were emanating a cider-smell from the top of the compost-bin!

24th September 2013

They get so drunk on apples at this time of year they can't fly! This chap (probably a barren chap'ess!) fell of the woodpile several times before I started filming and went on to make several more attempts, getting caught in the spider's web again too!

Like human drunks struggling to make their legs walk in a straight-line, it just couldn't get its wings to work properly, buzzing furiously, it was going nowhere, flight-wise!