Mary's got there first! A great evening. I've blogged (with slightly different photos by @rondavies.bsky.social and an account of what I was reading) here: robertsheppard.blogspot.com/2026/01/anot.... This image is Mary introducing:

I write about this spicy fare here: robertsheppard.blogspot.com/2025/10/my-n...

Crocheted mandala, street decorations, a collective creation by women in Licata, Italy #WomensArt

Sky News: Danish PM Mette Freideriksen’s note in the visitors book when she visited UK today

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will skip the signing of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Davos after Switzerland confirmed it would enforce the ICC arrest warrant over war crimes in Gaza.

Started this when I got back from hearing @robertsheppard.bsky.social read last night. Now I understand why he wasn't reading from this, his newest book. Spicy poetic fare! www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page...

Get ready for The Broken Spine live show at The Grasshopper, Southport! 🎤 Featuring Jay Rafferty, Martin Kennedy Yates, and hosted by Alan Parry He/Him 🕖 7–9pm, Free Entry. #PoetryAndPints #NorthWestWriters #LivePoetry

Wow. #NoKings #Davos2026

A great evening of poetry last night in Ainsdale, Southport, with Jennifer Lee Tsai, Jen Corcoran, Robert Sheppard and Molly Osborne. The venue, Mecycle, is run by the charity Autism Initiatives and is a real community hub, perfect for poetry. Thanks as ever to @rondavies.bsky.social for the photos

It was great to read there last night. Here's the next one!

A cartoon that made me laugh out loud! Right, now back to poetry.

Next poetry evening in Ainsdale , Southport - booking opens today at 1pm and, be warned, tickets go VERY quickly! www.ticketsource.co.uk/poets-corner...

I'm so appalled by the hostilities in the world and even more appalled by the lack of a decent response to overt lying by world leaders from news organisations, newspapers, commentators. I need to step back for a while and concentrate on poetry. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Whistleblowers just shared a memo showing DHS instructing ICE to force their way into peoples' houses without a proper warrant. Why is this not on all the networks right now? This is a criminal conspiracy to violate rights under color of law.

This guy went to work today, put a mask on, kidnapped a 5 year old child, and then used him as bait so both he and his father could be sent behind bars

‘Terrible things are happening outside… Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return… to find their families gone.’ Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Large-scale yarn bomb at Helsinki Cathedral,2011. Crocheted/knitted squares created 3800 blankets which were later donated to charity #WomensArt

NEW: NEW: Standards commissioner finds Nigel Farage committed seventeen breaches of MPs code of conduct. He failed to declare £333,000 in outside interests (more than 3x MPs annual salary)…

New York doesn't have a monopoly on this kind of picture. Construction of Co-operative Insurance Society tower, Manchester, 1960s (Manchester Libraries).

Fascinating world of ancient #glass: a glass mosaic face bead. 1st century AD. 📷️ Landesmuseum Württemberg

Oh, I have no time for organisations coming here to pat themselves on the back for leaving X and making a Big Stand about it. Glad to see more orgs leave, but they get absolute-zero points for taking this long to do so. None.

We have made the decision to formally close our X social media account. Once a vibrant platform to promote the interests of authors, we feel X is no longer a trusted place for balance, community support, and reliable information.

Updates from Kyiv after the night attack. On the left bank of the city, where I live: no water, no electricity, minimal heating (just enough to keep the radiators from freezing). Many buildings have no heating at all. -12 °C outside.

Listening to Chris Mason on the developing a serious Greenland issue is like watching a chimp trying to change a plug. BBC needs a reporting heavyweight like Lyse Douchet not a light entertainment correspondent.

Turned it off after just a few atrocious minutes. Don't bother, really.

Unhinged

Lucy Telles (1870-1956) with grandchild, basket weaver of Yosemite Miwok and Mono Lake Paiute descent #WomensArt

The trees are wearing That mist balaclava The weather knitted

We need a public demonstration to show our support of Denmark and the people of Greenland.

Are we all going to boycott American products? Well, I exempt this platform of course... Starting with Costa Coffee owned by Coca Cola. I don't use it myself. We have so many good tea and coffee shops that are local and contributing to the local economy.

...'angles metes and bounds '???? Goodness. I almost forgot to be not surprised by this latest warmongering by Trump.

Don't you love this? 😊

Japanese artist Akie Nakata (known as Akie) turns found stones and rocks into animal paintings #WomensArt

Robert is reading at the next poetry event in Ainsdale Southport on Wednesday but no point giving you the link as it's been fully booked for weeks 😊. Looking forward to welcoming him along with Jennifer Lee Tsai, Jen Corcoran and Molly Osborne.

robertsheppard.blogspot.com/2025/10/my-n.... Cheers! Here's the details...

Denmark is small, with a population of just 6 million. But it has tried to uphold its end of the bargain. It lost more soldiers per capita than the United States did in Afghanistan.

'Heart of the Dragon, Socotra, Yemen' by photographer Beth Moon on her fourteen-year quest to photograph ancient around the world #WomensArt

I’ve signed this. Please sign and share.

Clare Youngs, contemporary graphic designer and artist who works with collage, paper and fabric #WomensArt

This photo was taken in 1911 using glass plate technology by Herbert Ponting who was part of Scott's Antarctic expedition, The composition and detail are exquisite with the band of white snow/ice creating a perfect frame around the two people and the ship in the distance Iconic imo

NEW: Jonathan Ross, the ICE thug who murdered Renee Good, was NOT TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL according to police reports. He was taken to the Federal Building. He was NOT INJURED. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

President Emmanuel Macron: “Where Ukraine was eminently dependent on American intelligence capabilities by an overwhelming majority a year ago, today two-thirds are provided by France. Two-thirds.”

hunk of metal pawned at the scrap yard peace prize #haiku #senryu #poetry #NobelPeacePrize

I wait outside the closed shop and listen to the hum of the parcel machine. The shopkeeper arrives and tells me it’s Friday. I carry the papers in. The shopkeeper’s colleague arrives singing ‘It’s Friday!’ The Woman From The Care Home says ‘Friday at last! But I’m working tomorrow!’

Our beach is beautiful and Ron Davies always photographs it so well. There is currently an exhibition of his photographs at The Atkinson, Southport.

Kyiv. This elderly man (perhaps homeless) collecting water in the bitter frost today – a quietly sad sketch of life.

I feel radio-homeless since @petroc.bsky.social left the morning show on BBC radio 3.

Chilling

Anyone who is interested in listening to BBC Radio from outside the UK, please see the link below for ways to do so.