Guy Portman's Blog, page 3

Fauna, Feasts, Feathers, Fiction & Flora

I’m really getting into this whole alliteration thing. Not sure titles of this ilk are effective in driving traffic to my blog, but c’est la vie. Let’s begin with the fauna. Yes, it’s another photo of a deer. The best to date in my opinion.

Anyone else like vegetable samosa? They’re one of my favourites, and this is coming from a carnivore. Consumed the rest of the Indian takeaway before taking any photos, so this shot of the samosas will have to suffice.

I was surprised to find th...

Football, Food & Fauna

The big news this week is that England have reached their first football final since 1966. It has been a somewhat fortuitous journey. Ukraine in the quarters and Denmark in the semis is a pretty easy draw all things considered.

On Sunday, they face the Azzurri in the European Championship Final. I have been thoroughly enjoying the games. At the beginning of the tournament I had a punt on Italy, so even if disaster strikes the cloud will have a silver lining, albeit a meagre one.

In ot...

Partying, Partaking, Pastries & Problems

The partying in the title refers to the wedding I attended last Saturday. It had been a very long time since I had been in a large gathering of people. I managed to successfully avoid all physical contact. It came naturally to me.

Some lessons had to be relearned however. Lesson One: Make eye contact with people. Lesson Two: Don’t maintain eye contact 100% of the time (or one will appear psychotic). Lesson Three: Don’t drink to excess, or one will suffer the consequences.

It took me until...

It’s A Dog’s Life

Nothing of significance has happened this past week. Usually, I have some exciting news to share, such as pictures of yummy tidbits I’ve consumed. The only news to report is that a green tinge has appeared on what is going to be the new lawn. However, it is not yet in a photogenic state, so I’ll save the lawn pic for another week.

Therefore the dog is going to be the centre of attention this week. Firstly however, here is a picture of a deer. Back when wolves roamed the countryside, I doubt ...

Torrential Rain & Back From The Brink

Last Friday for the first time in nearly a decade, I didn’t post an update on my blog. You must have been thinking I kicked the bucket, was put behind bars, or removed by the men in white coats. This is not the case.

What happened was, last Thursday when I tried to access my website, it didn’t exist. In a state of panic, I logged in to HostGator. My account had been suspended because I hadn’t paid. The reason I hadn’t was because I was under the impression guyportman.com had migrated to AWS....

Nature, Nourishment, Naps & News.

Let’s start off with the nature. I’m not really a flower person, but here are some from my garden. Hydrangeas, I think.

Not even an Iroquois tracker could get this close.

A slow worm.

My cock pheasant has found a female friend. There are no sour grapes on my part. Well, maybe a little.

The weather’s been hot and sunny of late.

Red isn’t my favourite colour, honestly.

I mentioned ‘Nourishment’ in the title. Not sure a kebab is really nourishment, but any...

Weather, Writing, WordPress & Wildlife.

After what has felt like weeks of virtually non-stop rain, the sun has finally come out. It is here to stay; at least that is what the weather forecast is claiming.

Is it just me, or is WordPress not working very well at the moment. It is incredibly slow whenever I use it and there are ongoing issues with uploading images. Rant over. I have been writing non-stop of late. Have just finished a third draft of a novel and am flying through another. However, this has come at a price. There has...

Pastures New

As is the case with near on everyone, I haven’t been anywhere in ages due to the bug that’s been doing the rounds. Last weekend that all changed. I travelled up the east side of the country to the county of Norfolk. It was a long overdue change of scene and proved to be a welcome break from typing and television. Much of the time was spent walking. Saturday’s walk entailed traversing several fords.

A hauntingly beautiful tree.

Despite the omnipresent threat of a downpour, we were o...

4 Good Books I Read Recently.

I haven’t got much to report on this week, so it’s back to my tried and trusted topic that is reading. Here are four good and very different books I’ve read recently. Click on the links to read my reviews.

All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Set during WWII, this moving and at times suspenseful novel is a bildungsroman-type story with nihilistic undertones. 

My Review: Texan teenager John Grady’s family farm is poised to be sold. As a result, he decides it is time to leave for...

Motivation, Mutts, Meat and More.

I’m really getting into this alliteration thing. As for the Oxford comma, for better or worse I abstained.

Let’s start off with motivation. If anyone has any to spare send it my way, I could do with some. Here’s a good quote about motivation I came across earlier today – “You can either experience the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The choice is yours.”

Why can’t one have both?

Moving on. Here is a good photo of Trigga. Something must have caught his interest as he went ‘on ...