Made it back home from Very Hot London in time to not only do the Guides drop off but also collect a book reservation and a Vinted parcel. And it’s a good thing I managed to get her to Guides, as she ended up making her promise and getting the promise badge tonight!

Today is a red and white train day. Hopefully it will get me back in time for the Guides drop off otherwise badges won’t be awarded before the school holiday and I’ll be in Big Trouble.

Early morning Minster

Recent breakfast conversation topics in my house. Thursday: beaver poo. Friday: the poems of Robert Louis Stevenson. Today: predestination and free will. I would quite like to eat my porridge in peace one day.

My Echinacea has started flowering.

We now have an even bigger Playmobil zoo set out, with plenty of snacks and enrichment activities for the tigers. I am very concerned about security in the bear enclosure though, as the pen is made from some 1980s Sylvanian Families’ chairs. And an iPhone box.

Astronomy needs dark, quiet skies, but light and radio pollution from growing space activity is putting them at risk. 🛰️ The Group of Friends for Dark and Quiet Skies has created a survey to help inform international discussions on protecting our Dark and Quiet Skies - and wants to hear from you. ⤵️

There’s a caterpillar Armageddon event happening in the garden. They’ve eaten all the ragwort this week, including finding two plants that had been untouched. Now they’re circling around looking for more and preparing to eat each other.

Been to the library, present and trainer shopping (somebody’s feet keep growing). Now it’s swimming lesson #knitting time. Only it nearly wasn’t as I came close to forgetting the knitting.

I’ve been put in charge of an inflatable obstacle course. How’s your evening going?

When you let your child loose on the library app so they reserve lots of books. Then you collect one on the way home and it turns out knowing how to filter the library catalogue by format isn’t genetic.

Had a bit more time this week so got another recipe box. Tonight’s tea: courgette, butter beans and barley stew with feta. Very tasty and two thirds of the household ate it!

The #30DaysWild badge has arrived!

I was sad about the Denby factory closing but I’m glad we bought some pasta bowls last month before it stopped production.

Today I went to Sports’ Day at school and didn’t get sunburnt, very wet or have to take part in the parents’ race. A very successful morning.

The amusing thing about having accidentally acquired a ragwort plantation full of cinnabar caterpillars, is that about 30 years ago I spent a week on @nationaltrust.org.uk working holiday at Fountains Abbey pulling ragwort up.

A much more pleasant temperature in the garden today.

My fuchsia has flowered.

We're hiring a Senior Library Manager to lead the University's records management service, driving modern recordkeeping practices & helping ensure information is managed effectively across the University. For more details and to apply 👉 https://ow.ly/iMNN50ZgQ1t Closing date: 12 July #LibraryJobs

Temperature in the shade outside has dropped to 28°, the bedrooms are 27° or 28°. That’s better than it was at this time yesterday.

Just a hydrangea appreciation post 💜

This friendly little beaver was spotted in a charity shop window. Pocket money has been spent and a visit made to the library to research beaver habitats. He likes coffee, and watching swimming lessons.

Drowning prevention starts with you. Here are some water safety rules. ⬇️

Swimming lesson #knitting. It is hotter and more humid than last week. Possibly this isn’t helped by having a load of wool on my knee.

UPDATE: Tortoise home identified. Thanks all for your support. Now I want a tortoise. Dog less sure.

Pillarbox in Fitzroy Street #Cambridge yarn-bombed with a belated birthday greeting to David Attenborough. 🦊🦔🎂 #PostboxSaturday.

It is totally normal to be drinking tea and staring at thermostats? Most rooms have dropped to 24° overnight after getting up to 27° or 28° yesterday. Handsome Hunk of Husband’s study is 23°, but mine is 25°. HUMPH.

‘Chock full of incredible animals’: marine expedition uncovers 31 new species in two weeks

Long shot, but if anyone in North #Oxford has lost a tortoise with a surprising turn of speed in the heat, do get in touch..

Live meteorological data from the roof of @oxfordphysics.bsky.social has been a very useful site this past week - really captures the brutal overnight heat, and particularly this morning where 28˚C already by 9am (times on fig are GMT) eodg.atm.ox.ac.uk/eodg/weather...

For some reason, whilst doing the menu plan last weekend, I decided that shepherd’s pie was a great idea for tonight’s tea. This was not a great idea. Instead we are having what Mumsnet calls a “picky tea” and I call things I found in the fridge or garden.

"Hey did you finish that 1925 Ordnance Survey map that covers parts of Hertfordshire?" "Yeah, made it real useless just like you asked."

I let Offspring loose with the Seek app on my phone at the weekend. She very much enjoyed recording garden wildlife. I have now found an entry for a new species: “Mammals - Homo Sapiens” with a picture of my back.

HOW MANY CATERPILLARS? I didn’t know what a Cinnabar Moth was until a few weeks ago, now the garden seems to have turned into their main breeding ground.

I didn’t post about my visit to @britishlibrary.bsky.social Fairy Tales exhibition. This was a lot of fun. Also lovely and cool because AIR CON.

I love the colour of these Honesty seed pods #30DaysWild

The archivists wholeheartedly support this!

It was HOT today but I knew where to buy ice cream at work. This was the small one. It was about twice the size I was expecting.

Voting now open for the ARA Excellence Awards 2026. Find details of all the nominees for New Professional, Record Keeper and Recordkeeping Service of the Year - plus the voting link here www.archives.org.uk/ara-awards Vote closes 5pm on 16 July.

#30DaysWild fabulous trunk on this London plane tree

That was a most excellent day @rluk.ac.uk library directors’ network in Very Hot London. Lots of interesting conversations and contacts made. Nice food too. Also great visit to @soaslibrary.bsky.social to see their snazzy reading room, conservation and digitisation studio.

A spell of exceptional heat is set to develop this week, with temperatures forecast to rise rapidly and potentially challenge or exceed long-standing June records. But how unusual is this week’s extreme heat? Find out more in our latest blog 👇

Early morning Minster. Although my earliest one of these pics was 1.15am. Today’s was a relatively civilised 6.35am.

#30DaysWild now matching the wildlife spotting to the #knitting. Hypericum (St John’s Wort) and St John’s Wort lace stitch

Mega life-changing achievement of the last six months: the waterbutt extension kit. Now I can save more rain water and fill two watering cans simultaneously.

It’s taken four attempts over three weeks, but I’ve finally found a working car wash in York.

#30DaysWild Cinnabar caterpillars on the ragwort that emerged from the lawn during #NoMowMay (and on into June, great excuse for not mowing the lawn). I knew they must be around somewhere given the number of Cinnabar moths we’ve had flying around.

There’s a picnic taking place in the sheep field, whilst the sheep can escape through a gap in the fence.

This adorable calf is the latest new arrival to the Belted Galloway herd in the Cotswolds and she needs a name. All new names this year need to begin with a W. Any suggestions?

Huzzah, a discovery of a previously unknown Mozart manuscript that actually credits. The. Librarian. Who. Identified. It. www.france24.com/en/culture/2...