I'm making a start on editing my old 8 mm cine, VHS and Hi-8 camcorder data into usable chunks. At the moment they're all stored as DVD images and I'm planning to chop them into topical chunks using Shotcut, with a second pass then extracting useful stills in VNC.

We had lunch at 'Jolly Nice' between #Cirencester and #Stroud. It was a cold, rainy day but the food was, as always, jolly nice. I had a sausage roll and coffee while Donna chose a bacon bap and coffee. They still had their Christmas lights on which was lovely. #Cotswolds #Photo #Food

If you do one thing today here on Bluesky, take a look at bsky.app/profile/nonz... Awesome stuff! Try out some of the great material James is offering.

Here's another scene from 6th January, this is the Abbey Grounds in #Cirencester, areas of grass have flooded and frozen overnight in patches. So beautiful!

I've been thinking hard today and yesterday about which is the most fundamental, who I am or what I do. My conclusion is that who I am determines what I do. I'm a child of the Most High, a brother of Jesus, so everything I do needs to stem from that.

Here's a lovely view of Black Jack Street from 6th January. A great mix of afternoon sunshine and shade. #Cirencester #Cotswolds #Photo #Sunshine #Shade #Architecture

On 1st January 2026 I'd been free of seizures for two full months, so I am now a third of the way to being able to drive again. That will be such a great relief, looking forward to 1st May!

It seems that today I've been alive for 28282 days a rather nice palindromic number. The next one will be 28382 in 100 days time, a little over 3 months from now.

What an awesome view! I love this 👍😎

Just enjoyed another great day with my daughters and their families in York. We visited the Roman Baths ans the amazing Yorkshire Museum.

Dyrham Park and House on 30th December.

Some photos of Cirencester Parish Church on 30th December.

We're in York, staying at Beth and Paz's home and meeting with Debbie's family as well. Great to see everyone, as always.

No news is usually good news. I have little to report except to say that I'm continuing to manage my life in a way that avoids any high blood pressure excursions. So it was disappointing to have a small bleed under the skin on the back of my right hand.

'The higher you look, the less you see.' That's the topic for the latest post on JHM. Just out now. #Fog #Vision #Seeing #Physical #Mental #Spiritual jhm.scilla.org.uk/2025/12/26/t...

It was a stay-at-home day, Boxing Day, dry and sunny, bright but cold. It now 20:00 and dark, and so far I've walked just 1340 steps, I might go out soon and walk a circuit around Stratton to put on at least a few thousand more steps.

Happy Christmas to all my friends following me here on Bluesky. I hope, depending on time zone, you have had or will have a wonderful time with friends and/or family. And if anyone missed my Season's Greetings card, here it is again. tinyurl.com/SG-card2025

I've discovered that my blood pressure can rise rather high when I walk up hills too energetically, something I need to avoid in future. I only discovered this because I have a health watch with a blood pressure device built into it. So it's slow up hill for me in future.

I've just tried a cross-pollination, using Clivia pollen on one of the Hippeastrum flowers. It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, happens. It would be brilliant to get a hybrid, though the botanical wisdom is that it won't work out. Always worth a try though!

Wow! The natural world can be utterly amazing!

Days are slipping by with no Hippeastrum photos. Here's one for today. The second flowering stalk from one of the bulbs is about to open, and sunshine from the window is backlighting some of the petals. Leaves are developing from the two youngest bulbs.

Blog chains were popular back in the day, let's see if we can still get one started!

Here's this month's helping. Look out for these posts around the middle of every month. As usual it's a long article made up of short, monthly chunks.

A frosty, misty start to another fine day.

Here's another in the Hippeastrum series, taken from above this time. All four of the flowers on the first cluster are open or almost open, and the second cluster is close to opening.

Here's today's shot of the Hippeastrum 'Bronze Lion'. Getting more and more impressive by the day!

This is Daglingworth Brook running from right to left in the foreground. The channel heading away from the brook was dug to fill the pond in the middle distance, presumably to water cattle in the field. All of this - brook, channel and pond are all dry in the summertime. but look at them now!

More action from the Hippeastrum 'Bronze Lion' today.

Global warming is causing all sorts of strange things to happen, These cowslips were flowering in my garden yesterday, 9th December. The photo was taken today. #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #Cowslip #Primula

Here are some festive lights in Black Jack Street, #Cirencester, #Gloucestershire. The town is decorated for Christmas. Everyone loves the lights, of course, from the very youngest to the oldest! Even the sky is getting in on the act at Riverside Walk.

Iris unguicularis in flower in our garden yesterday. These are native to North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria), are fully hardy in the UK, and keep their leaves all year long. Always a nice surprise to see the flowers in December or January!

I had a short hospital appointment this morning to attach a self-adhesive 14-day heart monitor patch. After two weeks I post it back to the manufacturer for reading and, perhaps, refurbishment for re-use. It's all clever stuff.

The Hippeastrum story continues. The first flower is open and other three are beginning to bend down towards horizonal, the second flower cluster will open soon, and the third is starting to extend from the first bulb.

Mr #Trump tells us that Ukrainians LOVE his pro-Russian 'peace plan'. One counter example is enough to disprove a claim. This video from an American, Greg Terry, is well worth watching. He puts a few things straight, makes a few things very clear... www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyTH...

As you can see from my last two posts here on Bluesky, I've started to share articles, videos and other items I've enjoyed or found helpful. Keep an eye out for more of these in future.

Here's a recent video from #MarcusHouse in #Tasmania, all about #SpaceX's continuing work to develop the third version of #Starship and the hardware for #Lunar #Landing. It's a great watch. youtu.be/xdxRlnHNtgU?...

China is replacing the USA as the world's leading country for science. The prestigious British journal Nature reports on this in its free Weekly Briefing. The study is based on citation data and blames, amongst other influences, Donald Trump's direct actions. www.nature.com/briefing/sig...

Here are the latest photos of the Hippeastrum 'Bronze Lion' flowers opening, yesterday on the left and today on the right. When each flower bud is mature enough, it moves from a vertical position to horizontal.

Chapter 18 of John's Gospel this time. Jesus appears before Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate. #Jesus #Arrest #Trial jhm.scilla.org.uk/2025/12/06/a...

The Hippeastrum flower bud is getting larger and the individual four flowers are starting to separate. A second flower stalk is forming on the same bulb but there are no leaves so far.

Sunsets are at 15:51 in Cirencester at the moment, just about the earliest they get, by 13th December they will be at 15:52, and becoming a little later every day so the evenings will be improving while the mornings will continue to worsen for another week. We're at a turning point!

Gloucester Street, Cirencester, on a sunny winter day. I love this grand old town so much. #Cotswolds #Cirencester

I can ß at least for flower buds now

Detail of an orchid in our kitchen area, such beautiful detail and colouring in these long-lasting flowers! #Orchid

The individual flower buds are now becoming visible on the Hippeastrum 'Bronze Lion'. Scroll down for earlier shots.

Yay! A new milestone - One month now without a seizure, not even a hint. This is great news 🙂 #Brain #Bleed #Ministroke #Seizure jhm.scilla.org.uk/2025/10/24/a...

The journey through John's gospel continues...

Fantastic shot from zen station.

Flower stalks developing on our Hippeastrum 'Bronze Lion' that I bred some years ago now, a hand-pollinated cross of 'Red Lion' and a Pink and white cultivar. I didn't have the space to grow 100 seedlings to flowering age so selected this one because of its bronze foliage when young.

Today marks four weeks with no seizures following my time in hospital in October. Yay!