I have done bugger all today & now the jobs are piling up - including my 'special project'. 🕵🏼 I hate getting behind, and yet it is the story of my life.

The #watercolour & caption have been added, so the #cartoon just needs trimming and posting to @realafrica.bsky.social for their #wildlifecharity #auction #elephants #conservation

“Where’s your thumb, Liz?”

Failed to complete the Private Eye crossword for the second time running. Different compiler? Or losing my marbles?

Meanwhile in man-baby/shingles vaccination/fashion news, my left deltoid (which took the pneumonia shot too) is swollen & hot & it looks like I'm wearing a pauldron - just the one, everyone will be wearing random pieces of armour this summer.🤣

Basically, me today.

Two hours to sunset & it has gone VERY dark. That's some very thick cloud passing over 🌧🌩

When Minis really were mini.

This week I read The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler (pbl.1939). The staccato delivery got some getting used to. Social norms too. I'm not fond of first person singular, though I will make exceptions. Tapping the web for clues on some of the slang was giving me RSI. But overall? Solid 4⭐ #Booksky 📚💙

The bad news is that I'm having to put up with every single one of the list of shingles vaccine side effects - so it's doing its job! The good news is that it's raining & I can just stay in bed ALL morning with coffee(s) & a book.

Show your lock screen 📱

Uh-huh. In terms of assets we the UK have the 32nd largest fleet in the world. Just below Pakistan. Source: Navy Fleet Strength by Country (2026) share.google/t6h232ToteIg...

What? We have a fleet? Well I never. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn... Munich Security conference live: Starmer announces deployment of warships and fighter jets to Arctic - BBC News

Worse ever karaoke 'I Will Survive'.

Iowa couple all smiles for Valentine's Day. (American Gothic. Grant Wood (1891-1942). Art Institute of Chicago.)

First call this morning was from the Post Office. Will I come down to the local sorting office to pick up the mountain of cards & parcels I've been sent, as they haven't got a van big enough or a postie strong enough to deliver them. Same every year. Ever bloody year.

However you feel about Valentine’s day we are aflame with books to fall in love with/by, and will always help you find "the one". As the sun lit the snow on the tops pink at shop closing this afternoon, we put together this little stack of #RecommendedReads on love and loving. #BookSky #Valentines

These would be terrorists should never be let out of prison. I find it very hard to imagine how they can ever be deradicalised. How do you neutralise such misdirected anger, such hatred? >> BBC News - Men jailed over plot to attack Jewish community in Manchester www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Speaking of drugs - Thanks to all you patriots out there paying your taxes in full & on time rather than f**king off to Monaco (Ratcliffe) or Dubai (Oakeshott), I've been called in for a shingles jab & a pneumonia jab tomorrow. I thought you only got these once you hit three score and ten, but no.

Behind this lurid headline sits an important story. #Parkinsons #Dopamine 💉 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK bids to host 2038 Winter Olympics. Events to include: - Crossing the swollen ford in a small car - Rowing (dinghy class only) - Water polo - Bog snorkeling.

Swinging from the chandelier, hanging from the curtains. That's one wild party. >>BBC News - Owls rescued after being found sleeping in home www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I think the most succinct criticism of billionaire tax avoiding Manchester United owner Jim Ratcliffe 's offensive comments I've heard today is summed up by the phrase "... like someone's grandpa after too much sherry." www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...

🔭 The Bay of Rainbows Image Credit & Copyright: Olaf Filzinger apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26021...

📺Betrayal (ITV) is second new 'televisual entertainment'* on which I have bailed 🪂this week. Show lasted barely 20 mins. Another case of actors let down by poor script. Slow Horses (Apple), Black Doves & Dept Q (both Netflix) have spy/cop genres sown up. (*Accented in the voice of Matt Berry)

Dropping off to sleep last night I fell straight into a vivid dream. Never happens! Never! More shocking still, within seconds of jerking back to wakefulness I couldn't remember the dream. Dr Google's suggestions are nuts. I'm not on substances. I'm not narcoleptic. I AM NOT STRESSED!!!!

Next: Windfall tax on council tax bands G & H. Tax private road vehicles by a combination of weight, volume, & footprint (easy to implement, figures as per manufacturers spec). Tax horses (excl. police & military). Tax people who pronounce schedule 'sked-jewel'. Raise basic and 40% tax thresholds.

Student loans (essentially a tax on education & skills dev.) should never have been introduced, & should be scrapped. Removing this tax will make a positive step towards helping young people starting out. Don't vote for a party that does not pledge to scrap SL -although a pledge is not a guarantee).

Saw this wonderful wee car in Edinburgh's New Town #Edinburgh

A new portrait of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has been unveiled in her Oxford college, Lady Margaret Hall. Yousafzai studied philosophy, politics, and economics at LMH from 2017 to 2020. She came to the UK after campaigning against religious misogyny.

First call today from 'Jo'. "Yes, I know who YOU are Jo, but which company or public body do you represent?" "Oh, there's no grants. We send out independent surveyors to assess your loft insulation." "Who does? Who is 'We'?" "I'm Jo." "Yes, I know you're Jo, but which company ..." Etc etc ...

"It's all down hill from here." #Epstein

Is this more legible?

Today's fire starting material incl. pages from a recent Herald (8 Jan). I'm posting it not bcos I've ever listened to The Archers (not a fan), but bcos I know there are many out there who do, who don't live nr Stratford upon Avon & may find it of interest. Also Hedli Niklaus sounds like a good egg.

Tonight I caught up with ep.1 new TV adaptation of William Golding's classic tale 'Lord of the Flies' (1954). Did it for O level. Not in 54, cheeky. TV version very disappointing. Great shame. Good performances among child actors though. Esp.⭐️ David MacKenna ⭐️ as Piggy. But I'm bailing. 🪂

From today’s Russian papers: cucumber prices in Russia jump 42.85% in a month, number of loss-making companies rising, wage arrears growing, “…gap between pensions & wages increasing.” #ReadingRussia

Worse start to the week. Right upper eyelid appears to be developing a fold. This could herald the end of a long career as the face of eternal youth. It's all walk in baths, ocean cruises, and Werther's Originals from here on.

Elon’s emails to Epstein. Location: Starbase, Texas

It's always worth squeezing in a Rachmaninov. 🎼🎵🎹 Not part of the concert itself, but filler at the end of this broadcast. From 1:49:20 - Suite No.1 'Fantaisie-tableaux' for 2 pianos.🎶 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

One of my cartoons for Monday's Metro

Breaking news...

Now switching from SciFi to CriSpy. My 4th book of 2026 is The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler (1939). D'ya mean that heavy smokin', hard drinkin', wise crackin' "She rolled her eyes at me. I picked them up, and rolled them back" private eye, Philip Marlowe? I don't think he says that. #BookSky 📚💙

I don't want folks to get too excited, but it's not raining at the moment.

More on that fast developing story. 3rd read of 2026 has been Children of Ruin, (2019) Adrian Tchaikovsky (@aptshadow.bsky.social), a sequel to Children of Time. As with #1, I particularly like the interspecies competition & cooperation. We are all Earth's children, after all. 👫🕷️🐙(🦠👽?) #BookSky 📚💙

... and they're be an update on this fast-developing mollusc story tomorrow morning. Goodnight.

Our pair of resident magpies are currently weaving a roof for their nest at the bottom of the garden. If they make it much bigger, then I may have to put in a planning application to SDC. This is a conservation area, after all. And if they start adding dormer windows I'm going to get cross.

How to get the most out of your shagging weekend. youtu.be/-YofTQCsSqQ?...

In short, no. Yet another case of 'I saw you coming' (next skeet👇) >>> Olive oil and bone broth: Do viral gut health foods actually work? - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Child at the podium: “A woo woo woo.” Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.