And... ... rest End of day one of opening weekend. Nothing broken. All to plan. Phew

And yes, I can confirm that, despite scurrilous rumours to the contrary, Laddie the Railway Collection Dog has two (glass) eyes

This gorgeous being is thwaitesia argentiopunctata. Also known as the sequinned spider, mirror spider and is found in Australia. Absolutely beautiful! I am at a loss for words. #nature #arachnid #insect #mirrorspider #Australia

Laddie says hello #choochoo #taxidermy #stuffed @railwaymuseum.bsky.social

Big day at @railwaymuseum.bsky.social - 50th birthday of museum, 200th anniversary of birth of modern railway, and opening of station hall Nice to see a loco under steam popping in for some coal as well 😁

#FlintFriday! Stunning 🤩 Mesolithic scraper from submerged #Doggerland 🌊 found on the beach by Maurits a couple of weeks ago.

the new @raspberrypi.com Pi 500+ keyboard SBC looks really cool I have no idea what I'd want to use it for, but it looks so funnnn😭

Your daily dose of botanical drawings from the Botanical Magazine. Yellow day-lily (Hemerocallis flava) Plate 19 in volume 1, 1790. #magazine #artist #plants #curtis #botany

So far so good. Station Hall at the Railway Museum is looking lovely and the visitors seem to be enjoying themselves. With the staff though there is a palpable air of suppressed panic. Tomorrow - Sat 27 - is our big birthday weekend and the museum is essentially sold out! It's going to be busy!

Saw this lovely rack of bracket fungi on a tree stump (beech?). I suspect it is Ganoderma australe (or maybe G. applanatum), or artists conk. Apparently you can draw on the underside, scraping the white gills to reveal cocoa coloured spores

Here's some more Red Dragon Inn game lore that I wrote. This one features Alaric, one of the new characters that you can play in the upcoming Red Dragon Inn 10!

And ... We are open to the public. At least at 10 this morning 👍😎👍 #choochoo @railwaymuseum.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Have we...? Have we just LAUNCHED A KICKSTARTER? 🤔 www.kickstarter.com/projects/ark...

Saw this little fella on the station platform fence this morning - the cunningly named yellow wall lichen (Xanthoria parietina). It's super common but gorgeous colours. A little sunburst as the weather draws in.

Strange snouted millipede found in Costa Rica while rooting through a wet decomposing log. Siphonophoridae, I believe - note the elongate beak-like rostrum... and those little spots on antennae may be sensory bits.

It was a fun show

Station Hall at National Railway Museum is open (at least to trial audience)! Phew! And rest - at least until we get a call out. Press tomorrow, then open to public Friday and monster birthday celebrations at the weekend. @railwaymuseum.bsky.social

I'm liken this lichen #fungifriends #forestfloor #naturephotography #lichen

Your daily dose of botanical drawings from the Botanical Magazine. Siberian iris (Iris sibirica) Plate 50 in volume 2, 1788. #magazine #artist #plants #curtis #botany

23 September 1835: Mary Anning writes to Cambridge geologist Adam Sedgwick in Dent, Yorkshire, anxious to hear that the £50 ichthyosaur she sent him earlier in the month, ℅ the Geological Society, met with his approval. It clearly did and it is still in the collections @sedgwickmuseum.bsky.social

Yay! It's Christmas ⛄🎄

"Abjuration", in the D&D usage, is a Gygax typo. The correct word is "Adjuration", which is the stern command given during exorcism, usually to banish and keep away evil presences 🧵

Available as a free download! This pack includes 14 pre-gen #RuneQuest player characters from the Gloranthan Elder races, ready for immediate play in your RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha games. Each comes with their own history, motives, and worldviews.

Busy day, feet very sore, but I get to walk past this repeatedly. I take that as a net win @railwaymuseum.bsky.social

Colleague to me earlier today: "Marty, sorry to ask, but would you mind taking this huge box of Lego away and assembling it for us. We need it for an education outreach project. Sorry to impose on you." My response (trying not to hyperventilate) "Oh no - what a dreadful chore." #notajob

I love how the curator is so excited by Necromancy.

Very excited to have Rocket back at NRM. @railwaymuseum.bsky.social @sciencemuseum.org.uk

Nuts! Specifically, a bumper crop this year.