Bruce Dickinson famously championed Brexit and then became angry because UK musicians could no longer tour the EU.

Cameron. Where is the geezer?

A spectacular foxglove that self seeded in my garden.

Highlights of the Germany - Greece football match.

website that picks the Rothko closest to how the weather feels in your location (by Joonas Virtanen) rothko.joonas.wtf

One of my many skills is not sewing.

When a clown offers you advice, you should ignore it. www.thetimes.com/business/eco...

Cool way to stop birds flying into windows. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC9x...

Katie Hopkins kicked out of pub in East London during England Croatia match on Wednesday. Seems to take it well... youtube.com/shorts/9QBke...

Where’s Andy Burnham going?

Makerfield: turnout 58.8% (+6.4) 45,510 votes cast

Mean of the big 3 poll aggregators. Labour 19 Conservative 19 Libdems 12 Reform UK Ltd. 26 Greens 14 Progressive: 45 Throwbacks: 45

Northern marsh orchids.

Wild poppies in Stanhope.

An evening walk up to the remains of Staward Peel - built to protect the Allen valleys from marauding Scots, and dismantled in the early 1600s for stone for the nearby Staward Manor. Spring has been cool and summer seems far away. Managed to grab a few early bilberries - blåbär på Svenska.

A disappointing visit to a bothy just this side of the Scottish border. Sadly, a group of drunken louts had arrived by cars down a prohibited forest track and were having a party. We did see these cows on the way, so not all bad.

Not bad for an amateur.

Look, a cave! Where does it go?

Our statement on the UK gov't's demand that all content on all devices sold or used in the UK be scanned, on the presumption of nudity, using a dystopian combination of age verification & content scanning. This proposal will not safeguard children. It endangers us all. signal.org/blog/pdfs/20...

Some bumblebees enjoying the chive flowers in bright, late morning sunshine, as was I. The common garden bumblebee:

Cool, humid, thick cloud and barely a breath of wind. Got my tomatoes stringed up. Recovering well from over-fertilizing.

Sad yesterday at the loss of Rocky, so went AFK and took a trip to Allen Banks.

Wildlife on bank notes: the Bank of England’s shortlist is out… Good to see White-tailed eagles on there - perhaps if enough of us vote for them, grouse moor owners will stop killing them? 🤔 @raptorpersuk.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/he...

Picked up a Robens Lodge 2 tent on sale. 1st night there was a snap and a pole came loose. The narrow webbing was attached to the groundsheet with 1cm2 of box stitching.

Beautiful piano interpretation of Elliott Smith's Satellite. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YneZ...

Just removed 2 big ticks and 3 nymphs during evening run.

The situation in Sweden is just crazy. Last year there were 192 bombings. I lived there for several years in the early 2000s, and it was a very peaceful place. www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/spra...

Tonight's film selection - Chopping Mall (1986).

The absence of sheep makes the heart grow fonder.

Potted up some red Batavian lettuce plugs - slow to bolt and should keep me in salad for a while. Rescued basil and rosemary coming back to life. First tomatoes and chillies ripening.

Picnic spot in the Cheviots. I live in the barren North Pennines, and there is a marked improvement in diversity as you cross the border into Scotland. Land use seems to be better managed.

Pure liquid soap and water to kill aphid infestation. Increased concentration until it worked: 10 ml soap to 500 ml water. Let dry out of direct sunlight. No damage to leaves or flowers. 3 applications on successive days killed all. Washing up liquid is too harsh and too much sodium. #Gardening 🌱

The river Wear. Hover flies, midges and the smell of blossom. Summer has arrived.

Last year, I split up a small pot of supermarket chives that I got on sale and planted in garden. #Gardening 🌱

Upper Wear.

First run in a long time. Damp and mild.

Another cool day - 10 °C outside, but thin sunshine enough to warm the poly-tunnel to 24 °C and the tomato plants are flowering.

10 °C outside, cold breeze with a little rain in the air. 20 °C in polytunnel and first tomato flower has appeared. ,,,,,🌱

Mean of the big 3 poll aggregators: Labour 18 Conservative 18 Libdem 12 Green 17 Reform UK Ltd. 26

Murky today.

7 °C today. Grim.

Joe Rogan in pre-show make-up.

First day of the year warm enough to sit in the garden, and my moron of a neighbour is burning coal, polluting the whole area with choking smoke.

Drop your crime fighting Catholics.

Cold front has come through. 5.9 °C. Getting fed up with the cold.

5 °C, drizzle and cold breeze. On the upside, it keeps the petrol-heads out of the dale.

Maybe spring is coming.

Looks like we maxed out at 11.5 °C today. Come on spring.

Sheltering from the wind.

Spring.