Knox Box of Miscellany

Spontaneous Arrangement of Sand into Various Shapes on Guardamar Beach

I may have been slightly negative about sand on Saturday 11th October. Of course, sand has its disadvantages but I wouldn’t like you to think I’m a ‘Sandist’. And to prove I’m not prejudiced against sand, today I’m posting two photos I took of the stuff while on holiday in Spain.

Sand is definitely a nuisance, but it also has some rather strange properties which it occasionally exhibits such as seen in the photo on the left. It doesn’t happen very often but one day there’s nothing more than a pile of nasty, creeping sand ready to attack your lunch and bodily crevices, and the next, there’s a castle, a Neptune or a dolphin or all three. I’ve been told it’s something to do with tides and winds which combine in an almost unearthly manner and somehow mould sand into spontaneous shapes. Some people suggest it’s something to do with the earth’s magnetic field and ley lines which may trap the sand grains and hold them in position. Others say they’re made by the same aliens who make crop circles but I really don’t know.

The second photo isn’t really about sand as such. It’s more about rock. But what is rock, other than glued-together sand? It shows me in a place called Callosa de Segura on a baby mountain. Until my holiday, I wasn’t aware mountains had babies but you can see the proof for yourself. Apparently, it’s identical to the Sierra de Callosa, the mountain on which the town perches.

So, there you have it.
Sand which spontaneously forms into shapes and baby mountains.
Never let it be said I’m a ‘Sandist’.

Now, on to more pressing matters. Have you purchased your copy of ‘Daffodil and the Thin Place’ yet? No? Then click here and prepare to spend about £1.80 on the Old Girl’s ebook. It will make her very happy and raise money for St. Nicholas Church, Laindon with Dunton, Essex, where the story takes place. And as a bonus, it doesn’t mention sand. At all. #MuseItUp #DaffodilAndTheThinPlace

Reg scales the heights of the model mountain

Having been away for a fortnight, I haven’t been participating in the Muse It Up Publishing Sunday Musings. Now I’m back – but I won’t be participating today either.

Too much ironing? No, I was simply stumped by the topic which was “How do you, the author, approach reviewers with requests?”

As a very inexperienced writer with only one published book, I didn’t know there were such people as reviewers, consequently, I’ve never approached a reviewer to read ‘Daffodil and the Thin Place’ and so, I had nothing to say!

But now I know, it sounds like a good idea although where I would find such a person, I’m not sure. Still you live and learn, as they say.

If you’d like to find out what the other, more experienced Muse It Up authors have to say, click here to go to the Sunday Musings blog.

‘Daffodil and the Thin Place’ is available from the Muse It Up Publishing website here. All proceeds from sales of the ebook will go to St. Nicholas Church, Laindon with Dunton, where the story takes place. #MuseItUp #DaffodilAndTheThinPlace

Unknown Couple ‘Enjoy’ the Beach

Whoever invented sand should be buried up to their necks in it and left there to consider their shortcomings.

Frankly, I consider sand worse than a plague of insects. They’re both small and get everywhere, but by and large, sand is smaller and gets further. Sand is sneaky too. At least insects are honest and make it clear they’re after your jam sandwich.
Sand just creeps.
Silently and relentlessly. It seeks out and infiltrates your lunch, shoes, bags, fur and clothes and it even creeps into the crevices you didn’t know you had.

It’s nasty stuff. Although the Old Boy and Old Girl seem to be able to put up with it and they often go to the beach when I take them to Nerja, Spain.

And just check out the photo on the left. That’s not the Old Boy and Old Girl, by the way, although the couple on the beach are probably someone’s Old Boy and Old Girl. I took that photo whilst on the Balcon de Europa (more of that below, as I talked about that yesterday). I looked down at the beach, to see what was going on and spotted the couple sitting on the sand, so wrapped up in each other, they didn’t seem to notice that the waves were lapping their bottoms. And the man was fully dressed!
They were either deeply in love or barking mad.

Selfie of me Photobombed by a Cat

I didn’t hang about to find out though, because I suddenly became aware that I was being watched and thought I’d better make a swift exit (see bottom photo where I’m being photobombed by a predator).

And before I make a swift exit for today, I just wondered if you’d bought the Old Girl’s ebook yet. If not, please click here to go to the Muse It Up Publishing website and buy a copy of ‘Daffodil and the Thin Place’. I assure you, you will make an Old Girl extremely happy – and raise money for St. Nicholas Church, Laindon with Dunton, Essex, where the story takes place. #MuseItUp #DaffodilAndTheThinPlace

Selfie of me as a Mexican Bandit

Well, you’ve got to, haven’t you? When someone is kind enough to provide a photo opportunity such as the Mexican Bandit in the photo, you just have to stick your face in the hole.

Sadly, my face didn’t fit but it was no reason to miss such a selfie.

The Mexican restaurant, Cielito Lindo is in Calle El Barrio, Nerja and the bandit outside isn’t the only photo opportunity associated with it. Apparently, if you go in the restaurant, they offer you a sombrero to wear while you eat. Not that I took advantage of this because eating a meal wearing a sombrero would have meant I was in solitary confinement under a hat.

But there’s more to Nerja than restaurants. The heart of the town is the Balcon de Europa, a beautiful promontory in the middle of the town. Originally a 9th century watchtower was on the site and used by the Moors to monitor and protect the coastline against pirates and smugglers. After being rebuilt in 1487, it was attacked by the British in 1812 and the two rusty cannon recovered years later can be found on the Balcon now (see photo of selfie on the cannon). In 1884, there was an earthquake, which damaged the balcony and King Alfonso XII visited Nerja to see the destruction. He admired the view and it was his comment that it was truly the ‘Balcon de Europa’, which gave the promontory its name. There is now a statue of King Alfonso standing on the Balcon.

Selfie of me on one of the cannon

As well as the Balcon de Europa, the town boasts another attraction, which is the third most-visited tourist site in Spain after the Prado museum in Madrid and the Alhambra in Granada. It is the Caves of Nerja, which were discovered over fifty years ago by five boys from the nearby village of Maro. Although the inhabitants of Maro knew of the existence of a small cavity in the rock, no one had explored it until the five boys decided to chase a colony of bats into a crevice in the cavity. They discovered a narrow passage, which led into a much larger cave. Continuing deeper, the boys found the Hall of Phantoms (Sala de los Fantasmas), where they found two human skeletons which not surprisingly frightened them and they didn’t proceed any further. A few days later, they returned with two teachers and the exploration of the caves began.

The Old Boy and Old Girl have been to the caves a few years ago before I acquired them but as I’ve never been, I’ve no photos of them but if you want to see what they look like, click here to go to the Cuevas de Nerja website.

Selfie up close and personal with the tribute to the five boys who found the Caves of Nerja

Speaking of the Old Girl, please buy her ebook ‘Daffodil and the Thin Place’. To make things easy, just click here and go to the Muse It Up Publishing site. It will only cost you about £1.80 and it will really make her day. In fact, not only will it make her day, it will make some money for St. Nicholas Church, Laindon with Dunton, Essex, where apparently the story takes place. I haven’t read it myself but it’s had some excellent reviews and since learning to read is fairly high on my list of things to do, I’ll get round to it one day. In the meantime, if you read it, perhaps you could let me know what you think.

#MuseItUp #DaffodilAndTheThinPlace