As winter flooding looms, it's worth noting that a young street tree in an asphalt surface can prevent 60% of the rain that falls on it from reaching the ground, even when not in leaf. Increasing the low levels of urban tree cover should be a strategic national priority.

The first of this season’s #hellebore #garden #flowers #gardening #photography #mygarden #gardeningbluesky #gardenersworld #flower #whatsinmyvase #gardeningfeed #bloomscrolling

Recharging #dog #dogs #labrador #lab #yellowlabrador #labradorretriever #dogsofbluesky #labradorsofbluesky #yellowlabradorsofbluesky

Sunday ramble #dog #dogs #labrador #lab #yellowlabrador #labradorretriever #dogsofbluesky #labradorsofbluesky #yellowlabradorsofbluesky

Happy #Stunday! Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Canada #EastCoastKin #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBluesky #photography #ArtYear #MobilePhotography

'Iris' by Vicky Oldfield, contemporary UK printmaker ##ReframingWomenPrintmakers

Not Mourning, But Morning Glory, 2022 Japanese Woodcut (in the ukiyo-e tradition) by Nana Shiomi, contemporary Japanese printmaker #ReframingWomenPrintmakers

With all the recent intense rainfall, many parts of the woods are gloriously full of water. The forests, bogs, + other wild habitats we've removed once retained colossal amounts of water, preventing flooding downstream. Between that and climate breakdown, we're creating a perfect storm for floods.

I have obtained a copy of the Flood Advisory issued by Met Éireann to local authorities today showing an orange level flood risk for many parts of East and South. I cannot see why it is not made public as I believe it is in the public interest to share it so I am sharing it.

Finally. A pointless post that in the past was adequately dealt with by councillors. Created by Conservatives because it was the only way they could win elections, on a micro-turnout where no one cared about the outcome.

NEWS⬇️ Ministers @darraghobrientd.bsky.social & Timmy Dooley approved to advance Marine Protected Area legislation in the Maritime Area Planning Act. A General Scheme will now be prepared, which will need sign off again by gov, then legislation can be drafted. www.gov.ie/en/departmen... #FairSeas

Bird of the day, Sleepy Duck standing on a rock. Galway Ireland. #BirdOfTheDay #Duck #DucksOutOfWater #Mallard #Birds #Wildlife #Ireland #Nature #EastCoastKin #Photography

How about speeding things up by chatting to CSO Ireland to get locations for 72,000 (yep!) vacant dwellings announced in September & apply use it or lose it They should also chat with Revenue to understand why only 2300 properties paid the Vacant Homes Tax #DerelictIreland #VacantIreland

#Paddling just because you can. #BirdOfTheDay #Ducks #Birds #RippleEffect #PNW

An inevitable result of free world trade with no or lax bio security at port of entry?

Well that gives me some hope

Labradors in the mist #dog #dogs #labrador #lab #yellowlabrador #labradorretriever #dogsofbluesky #labradorsofbluesky #yellowlabradorsofbluesky

Happy Fenton Day to all who celebrate. Jesus Christ, fourteen years. youtu.be/3GRSbr0EYYU

Like a stubborn bloom Living in cracks of concrete You cannot kill hope. #poetry #Haiku Photo by Stockcake

I'll be on @rteone.rte.ie's Futureville Ireland after 7.00 this evening, talking about THE most critical choice we face as a nation. Do we carry on wiping out nature, or start bringing it back via mass rewilding? share.google/cd9ER2HKnXd3...

Rulebreakers! #BigBed #dog #dogs #labrador #lab #yellowlabrador #labradorretriever #dogsofbluesky #labradorsofbluesky #yellowlabradorsofbluesky

Petition: Limit the sale of fireworks to those running local council approved events only petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

So much beauty in trees yet so many see them simply as “timber” :(

Sky News just had Kelvin Mackenzie on, former editor of The Sun, one of the people at the centre of probably the most disgraceful front page in newspaper history, complaining about BBC journalists not being objective and 'fake news'. Astonishing. ~AA

Good turnout for Remembrance Day events in and around York westfieldnewsfocus.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/w...

Walls of beauty and strength.

And breathe….. #wicklow #wicklowoutdoors #nature #landscape #photography

Stephen really does have the best take on this. It’s not clear that the BBC Board or indeed the rest of the News team really understood the message of the previous reviews, which were about getting detail right. Instead they wanted to know what was ‘biased’ or not like they were blotting out stains.

Wow. Just wow. We can safely say that leaving Europe is very bad for your economic health. So what are UKG doing about it, and why is the answer not dropping the May-Johnson redlines?

One man and his dogs #dog #dogs #labrador #lab #labradorsofbluesky#labradorsofbluesky #yellowlabrador #yellowlabsofbluesky #labradorretriever #dogsofbluesky #wicklow #wicklowoutdoors #nature

Autumn sunshine and labradors. Perfect #dog #dogs #labrador #lab #labradorsofbluesky #yellowlabrador #yellowlabsofbluesky #labradorretriever #dogsofbluesky #photography #wicklow #wicklowoutdoors #nature

🎯🎯

Sorry what????

That WW2 veteran who says that winning the war "wasn't worth it" for the state we are now in is just plain wrong. Naziism was an evil that caused the deaths of millions and the systematic murder of millions more. Defeating it was necessary. We need to stop treating every old person as a holy sage.

This will get me through a long winter!

What dogs can teach us... This is the best day. Ever. Be excited that there is food in your bowl. Act happy when someone you love walks through the door. Take walks every day. Nap when you need to. Love with a full heart. Protect your pack.

Imagine this, and places just like it all across Ireland, once again covered in its natural habitat of *wildly* species-rich, spellbinding, rainforests. By simply making it worth farmers' while to remove their few sheep, we could so easily magic wand them back into existence.

Voters’ anger is largely focused on asylum, and perhaps on low-skilled immigration. The government response seems to be focused on making sure no high-skilled immigrant will ever pick the UK in future, and the ones currently here will rapidly rethink their decision. This will not end well.

This article is well worth a read. www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

Amazing story in The Times. Reform UK failed to pay VAT to HMRC on its sales (tickets, merchandise). About £400k in all. Not tax avoidance. Not tax evasion. They just didn't realise when you sell stuff you have to charge VAT.

And, per @jdportes.bsky.social, the more friction/uncertainty you put into the immigration system the higher the likelihood that you dissuade higher skilled migrants from coming/staying because they have options. It’s self-defeating and doesn’t work as signal cause the rhetoric ratchet goes one way.

🆘 🛟 Brexit is a disaster even for big business! M&S boss Stuart Machin says 6 out of 19 lorries from GB👉NI are stopped daily for Brexit checks: each one carrying up to 650 pages of paperwork. Taking back control translates as wasting time, money, energy on pointless bureaucracy that helps no one.

Golden autumn leaves

Brexit Will Damage The UK Economy 'For The Foreseeable Future', Says Bank Of England Chief www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/brexit...

An autumn morning in our local park

My friend Jerry came by for a visit 🥰 #CTShoreline #swans #FallFoliage

🇬🇧 The charm of October in the Babolovo Park of Tsarskoe Selo 📷 Tsarskoe Selo, Katerina Novak 🇷🇺 Очарование октября в Баболовском парке Царского Села #photohour #stormhour #worldheritagesite

“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” ~Laura Ingalls Wilder~ Today, find some time to do something you really enjoy. Happy Wednesday everyone.🦋

I bang on about this a lot: I think the combination of a global pandemic, underregulated internet/SM, collapse/corruption of trustworthy media, plus now unregulated genAI, is a wildly toxic environment for radicalisation & mental health. We see the results of that in our politics & lives every day