I got the bike from its winter storage hook for the first time this year. I wiped off the dust, cleaned and lubricated the chain and gears, and went for a short proving ride to check all was working. I call it a proving ride because it proved just how unfit I've become over the winter.

Happy New Fiscal Year to all those who celebrate.

This hardback copy of Philip Pullman's "The Rose Field" I've just got from the library has over 620 pages, is 5½cm thick and weighs almost a kilogram. Don't think I'll be reading it in bed.

The theme of my next* novel is that with more paying members than all the political parties combined, the National Trust puts up candidates in several hundred constituencies at the next general election, sweeps to a majority in Parliament and forms the new government. *first. (Not gonna happen)

Legal bluesky! Oxfordshire County Council has issued a "legal letter" to try to stop this unwelcome fascist organisation. I don't know what that means but would it be possible to get an injunction instead, and would that be more powerful?

Everywhere, starting with those where the splayed wide-radius side road kerbs encourage drivers to take them at speed while also making the distance for pedestrians to cross much longer and therefore riskier.

Carpet fitters tomorrow so today is Furniture Shifting Day. Just a thought, but I wonder if any furniture removals and storage company would come on Day 1 and clear a room or rooms so carpet fitters could do their thing in Day 2, then removers return the furniture on Day 3 (or even late on Day 2).

🎶And more, much more than this He did it his way. 🎶 #WaymarkWednesday #SouthamRamblers

British Summer Time? I think not. British Gloomy Evening Time more like.

Today I went to Southam in Warwickshire, a small town not very far from where I live, and found myself very conflicted. It had been flag-bombed. On many of the main streets and elsewhere every lamppost had a Union Flag attached; I must have seen around 50 or more of them. 1/n

Happy Pudding Bag Day to all those who celebrate.

Welcome to the countryside! #MarmaladeFilter

Out for a walk earlier, I was puzzled because my phone camera seemed to be picking up a mistiness in the air which I wasn't aware of. Now back home I find it was due to dried marmalade on the lens.

I just like this photo so I'm posting it here as a timeline cleanse under the excuse of #InternationalDayOfHappiness (whatever that is).

An offering for #FingerpostFriday from the banks of the River Tay.

Nature doing nature stuff in my garden.

If anybody else said something about the Strait of Hormuz not being straight you'd know it was a joke. With Trump, you'd know it was ignorance. Which leads me to ask - has Trump ever made a joke which wasn't either an attempt to show himself in a good light or to put down someone else?

www.maptap.gg March 18 96🔥 96🔥 96🔥 78✨ 83😁 Final score: 867

A friend in the USA sent me this yesterday. No original attribution.

Got home yesterday from a few days in Rouen. I can truthfully say I left a little part of myself in that city - in my case it was about half a wisdom tooth. Back to the dentist it is then.

No-one seems to be laughing about Cybertrucks any more. Is that because they've all fallen apart, caught fire and burned, driven off a cliff or into a lake in autonomous mode, or all of the above?

The old and the new(er).

The Seine in #Rouen today - a bright sunny day but still a bit chilly. Back to the UK tomorrow. Rouen, you've been good! Mérit le voyage.

Paging @zaichishka.bsky.social and other NZ bluesky folk. In an episode of Brokenwood Mysteries (OK, don't judge me) the word 'bach' or 'batch' cropped up multiple times. It seemed to refer to a sort of seaside shack. Is that right? And is it an abbreviation for something? Thanks for enlightenment!

I spent today wandering around #Rouen. It wasn't raining! Here's a picture of a window with reflections, surrounded by skulls and crossbones, at Aître Saint-Maclou - it used to be a medieval ossuary.

Hello, sailor. (Ceramic gallery, Aître Saint-Maclou, Rouen)

Good to know. 😀 (In Rouen, France.)

The energy I bring to bluesky.

For the #Iceland fans here, I'm flicking through an amazing book of the works of Dansk-Islandisk artist and architect Olafur Eliasson. I haven't come across him before. Some terrific stuff.

Status update. I am sitting in a student bar in Rouen. Lille v Aston Villa is on the TV. I have ordered pot-au-feu. That is all.

The Fellowship of the Ring Road.

This evening's meal: three individual succulent responsibly-sourced 100% cod fish fingers served straight from the oven, enrobed in a silky-smooth layer of Heinz "50% less sugar & salt" tomato ketchup, and resting on a bed of chilled egg noodles matured for two whole days before serving.

Such a nice warm sunny day so I went for a walk in the local woods. Not many signs of Spring yet, apart from plenty of hazel (?) catkins.

Little Gwladys was glad that Little Dewi Bach had taught her the chords which would summon the Little People to rid her of this pervy old man. #GirlsOwnCC

Now Trump has his very own "Special Military Operation".

The Financial Times there everybody, more than a decade late with the news.

#FingerpostFriday you say? Not at the start of the tourist track up Ben Lomond.

"Please don't hurt me! Here, take my phone!" "No chance! Gimme the chocolate!"

"Pedo Mellon A Minno"

This looks like something @raynewman.bsky.social might be interested in. BBC News - Urban landscapes feature in new Shaun Morris exhibition in Coventry - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"Tea is so for losers", thought Miriam as she glided serenely across the frozen lake after her third glass of mulled porter. #GirlsOwnCC

I was prepared to like (ice) hockey but now I've decided not to.

"I'll raise the tariffs by 5% every day until you stop being beastly to me."

Sitting sipping a Friday evening G&T and trying to motivate myself to make an early meal before heading out to see some Banff Mountain Film Festival films at a local venue instead of sitting on my sofa in a cosy and warm room. As Mrs A would have said, "At least there'll be a draught."

Legal Bluesky - is there an offence of 'aiding and abetting' misconduct in public office? @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social @davidallengreen.bsky.social

I gather that in the #WinterOlympics ski mountaineering competion the athletes must carry certain items in their backpacks as if they were doing ski mountaineering for real. In which case they should have to take a Mars Bar out of their packs, unwrap it and eat it without taking their gloves off.

"Right, let's get some details down before we start. Name?" "Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor" "Occupation?" "Er, "

"A man in his sixties from Norfolk". The humiliation continues. 😂😂😂😂😂

So they knew where to find him. I expect his brother grassed him up.

'Reredos' is a word, and so logically should be 'reuno' and 'rereretres'. Be still, my wandering mind!