That’s the Christmas cake baked. It’s made with the usual dried fruit, but with the addition of dried apricots, orange, stem ginger, almonds and lashings of Cointreau. I’ll feed it more Cointreau between now and Christmas Eve.

Me, flirting

Saturday Shred in Silvertone.

Milk and no sugar, ta.

Funny how, at the start of a writing project, I often feel apprehensive, disengaged and even bored. A bit of work on it, though, and the enthusiasm and excitement kick in. I become obsessive about it, and this carries me through to the end.

Is 7:20 pm, and I’m in bed with a cup of tea, a book and a hot water bottle, like a little old lady.

A hummingbird cake, decorated with dried pineapple and edible flowers.

But where on earth is @drvil.bsky.social? Probably devouring a swan as we speak. 🦢

Anyone around Ambleside in early December? @drpennybradshaw.bsky.social www.ticketsource.co.uk/cultural-lan...

Undercroft, Battle Abbey.

The group assembling for our ‘Revenants and Remains’ tour at Battle Abbey.

Trick or treat? 👻 🎃 🧙 🦇

‘The curfew tolls the knell of parti—-ACHOO!’ —Thomas Gray, ‘Allergy in a Country Churchyard’.

Morning!

It’s 03:14. Can’t sleep. Anyone fancy a singalong of songs from the shows?

A friend of mine, who has a very sweet tooth, is carb-loading this week in preparation for HYROX on Saturday. I’ve made him some muffins based on traditional British desserts: sticky toffee pudding with roasted pecans and cherry Bakewell tart with a Morello cherry filling.

Deadlifts: A Tragedy in Three Acts.

Hour-long Session with my PT, followed by small-group strength training, followed by spinning sprint. Knackered, but deeply exhilarating. 💪 🏋️‍♂️

Brand New Elements in the Gothic title published: Yael Shapira's splendid volume on Isabella Kelly, Biography, and the Trade Gothic Author. Open Access for the next 2 weeks @angelawright1794.bsky.social : www.cambridge.org/core/element...

In London at the Soho Hotel for a pre-release screening of del Toro’s much-anticipated ‘Frankenstein’. At 2 1/2-hours in length, I’m already inclined to describe it in my review as ‘bladder-fillingly long’. 💦

Anyone near Battle Abbey, Hastings? Join us for in November for a ghostly event: www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-...

Really enjoying @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social ‘s book, ‘English Catholics and the Supernatural, 1553–1829’. So useful for thinking about Protestant preoccupations with the ‘superstitious Catholic’ in the 18th century. Thank you, Francis.

Dickens in his beloved box, before the fire.

Here for the tum-tum tickles.

Thomas Warton the Elder, 1748. 👀 🧄

Ngl: Friday’s leg day at the gym has absolutely ruined me.

Curled up like a squirrel 🐿️

The first fire of the season. 👌

The lady in front of me in the queue has just ordered a small decaf soya-milk latte. And you thought YOUR life was miserable.

Thirty-one years ago today I gave my dear old dad a kidney. As we do every year, we’ve just had a drink together to mark the anniversary 🍻

Triple Tuesday with @drvil.bsky.social The highlight of my week.

Sunday SWEAT in the bag. ✅ Now it’s time for ☕️

I wish academic life would rethink its reliance upon letters of reference. They’re extremely time-consuming to write and, almost by nature, given to exaggeration and half-truths. In my experience, they’re also often blithely disregarded by those making the decisions. A waste of everyone’s time.

Cupcakes 🧁: milk chocolate and hazelnut with a Nutella filling / white chocolate and raspberry with a raspberry jam filling.

Getting ready for the rapture.

Not a morning person.

On Sweat Sundays we train in DAY-GLO! 💦

I can relate.

‘The Girlfriend’ on Amazon Prime. Really good. But blimey 👀

Practicing my cupcake-making skillz ahead of something I’m doing next week. 🧁

Apple and cinnamon rolls, just out of the oven. Put the coffee on ☕️ 🍎

I’ve just had one of those delicious ‘OMG I need to get up and start working no wait I don’t it’s SATURDAY’ moments.

My Wednesday gym besties ❤️ @drvil.bsky.social

Kuang’s ‘Katabasis’: adolescent nonsense. A massive disappointment after the wonders of Yellowface’.

Cinnamon-bun cookies: a crisp sugar biscuit with swirls of caramelised cinnamon and a chocolate and hazelnut finish.

A 2L Kilner jar of spiced sloe gin. But it needs to steep and infuse for at least three months, so it’ll only be ready just before Christmas. Because you can’t make sloe gin fast. *badoom tish*

My favourite autumn activity: picking sloes after the first frost.

I’d like to share some personal news with you all: today I successfully managed to log onto Eduroam. 🥰

Morning coffee in the college gardens. An inquisitive fox has just peeped round a shrub. 🦊

Canterbury Quad, St John’s. With a candid shot of the college Master 🐈‍⬛