The view from 53 Ladywell Road, Then and Now. You can't see the baths and the church 'cos they're behind the trees. Not much change, except that the area has become greener. The building with the gable, St Mary's Centre Polling Station, is still open if you haven't voted for the Green Party yet.

Of all the reasons to Vote Green today, @doctorow.pluralistic.net has put his finger on the single button that we need to press for social and international justice, the health of the nation and British sovereignty - the eject button for Palantir.

Before 5.00am and its a new dawn for the voters of Ladywell. The city is already busy - buses, trains, refuse trucks, birds, foxes and Green Party campaigners are most active.

On my way to picturesque Ladywell in Lewisham today to explore its many historic attractions. I doubt they will have changed much.

My contribution to the current Burger King craze.

This is fun. Are all Reform's leaders "Something to Billionaires" e.g. "Spiritual Adviser to Billionaires"

I saw this medlar tree flowering in Grantchester and thought I should plant one. www.homeorchardeducationcenter.org/arboretum-bl...

I keep thinking about the design of that Afshar rug at the Bildeston Rug Festival. Here's a better shot of its medallion with unexpected botehs and chequered chicken. I think there's a Mongolian feel to it.

If you're ruggie and in Suffolk this week, head for Bildeston with its rather unexpected Rug Festival. It's in the garden of this agreeable house wherein is pitched a 100-year-old Turkmen yurt suitable furnished.

I like technologies where you can see how a tool works and then mend it when it breaks. Here is my temple, stretcher, or tenterhook that had split. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_...

In 1792, John Harvey, worsted weaver, shawl promoter and some-time Mayor of Norwich, minted this charming coin when the government ran out of loose change

If you have a spare 4ft 6in square floor space with a little room to walk round it, this is what it's missing.

The User Manual for my loom came by post today. It's by the founder of the school it came from. Great price list (c1932) of looms and accessories. Mine would have been £6 or £540 in today's money.

Getting sorted in my summer rug weaving shed.

A loom with a view Built a makeshift outdoor workshop to restore my spare countermarch loom. It's like having a Morris Minor up on bricks.

Judas in Ely

Rug of the Day The Great Drawing Room at Audley End. Carpet by Thomas Whitty's Axminster factory for Robert Adam in 1785. Wall and furniture silk by Warner and Son, Braintree - a copy of the Spitalfields original.

Hashtag Globalism

Anyone fancy helping me to get this up and running this Summer? www.ditchlingmuseumartcraft.org.uk/2026/04/21/g...

Seen in Ely yesterday. Heavy duty French flax hackle. I doubt anyone's hackled any flax round here for a good while.

This is Cory @doctorow.pluralistic.net at his lively, fluent, cheerful best, giving us all a much needed shot of optimism. pluralistic.net/2026/04/20/p...

Pasque Flowers, Pulsatilla vulgaris, on the Devil's Ditch, Newmarket, contrasting with the Oil-seed Rape field behind. #WildflowerHour

Palantir: “There’s no time to debate the implications of this technology we need to beat China (where there is no free speech).”

It's also worth being clear about who's doing the arguing. Palantir sells operational software to defence, intelligence, immigration & police agencies. These 22 points aren't philosophy floating in space, they're the public ideology of a company whose revenue depends on the politics it's advocating.

I wonder if it's possible to Brexit from "The West" - the concept eternally touted by Putin, Palantir and Trump but which no longer has any meaning at all.

First results of the new dyeing season. I used up some old dried materials from last year to make yellows. Brighter hues when I harvest the new stuff in a month or so.

Rug of the Day Heavy Qashqai Gabbeh A big softie.

Sorted out the old stuff in my dyeing shed ready for a new season of (more scientific) colour making. Watch this space

Useful Byzantine Pattern Book

Time well spent

Good man makes good point.

Interesting picture selling locally. Weaver on a four shaft handloom, presumably making twill. Her companion trying to keep up with input by winding pirns. Are they up early or working late?

Big Data: Did you order a Mayo Chicken meal deal (lettuce only, extra cheese) with nuggets from MacDs at CB5 8WL through Just Eat (03442437777), collected at 11.13 on 13th April by Uber (driver 371057172 on 08081785517), the fox enjoyed your leftovers and distributed the packaging around my garden.

Important Work

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Car hors de combat this morning, so obliged to visit the Car Boot Sale on foot. Next time, I may take the scooter! (Thanks to Dr. William Mowse of Trjnity Hall for the directions) capturingcambridge.org/trumpington/...

Important Work

Cambridge research is nothing if not thorough!

Spotted in a Cambridge antique shop. A Coptic textile fragment about 1500 years old, just hanging around. Very knotty, like Roman/Byzantine mosaic floors.

Rug of the Day "Baluch" prayer rug from NW of Herat (I think), with holes. It has that common combination of "walled garden" and "domes on a hill" motifs at the top. I wonder if they once represented real places.

Rug of the Day Qashqai made near Shiraz in pleasanter days with usual RugBirds.

We cannot ignore the link between online disinformation and offline harm. The outrage economy is eating away at the basic bonds of trust that hold our societies together. I spoke at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit to address how social media spreads hate and fuels violence.

Prof Jagolinzer steadily unpicking the real world damage and intellectual evil of disinformation is the best thing happening in Cambridge this week.

Sutton Hoo replica longship is making great progress. Last level of strakes being fitted and launch envisaged for next spring. saxonship.org/the-project/

Found in Suffolk "Indian Head" spinner, as used by the Coast Salish folks, once they pivoted from spinning dog hair for blankets to sheeps wool for jumpers. Needs connecting to a treadle wheel e.g. sewing machine table.

Saw this mud-gulping machine on the River Deben at Woodbridge. I think it's an ancestor of the Mars Rover.

Looking forward to a good woad harvest from the garden this year and to scaling up next year with the seeds. It's time to bring woad production back to the Fens.

Seen on the Car Boot Sale yesterday - set of router bits. Need a Double Roman, a Cove Box, an Ogee Flute or a 45 Degree Chamfer? There's a Bit for you. #NamingOfParts

Andrea and her two-faced loom. Post packed with interesting detail.

Seen (on a very agricultural pitch) at the Car Boot Sale this morning - an appropriate seasonal warning.