Feeling just slightly under the weather, so early night, Radio 3 and Talisker. Goodnight, Wülferhampton!

@jmds85.bsky.social @sitebadger.bsky.social

Good morning #Wülferhampton! On thisv9th December the Spudvent calendar door reveals Wilja! A versatile Dutch 2nd early. Rough yellow skin, a light yellow flesh and an earthy flavour. Perfect for baking, roasting and chipping. An underrated member of the potato family

Have been thinking about registering for the daily mail btl comments section, but as I would be banned after commenting on Quentin Letts, it probably isn't worth it. I'm still enjoying the glow of satisfaction when I swearingly left Twitter. Ye gods, I enjoyed that. Proper crash and burn.

Saw daughter in her hall at the weekend. My copy of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage appears to have moved to Manchester. My father also decided to borrow it over 30 years ago. Not sure what this means, but 3 generations have read the same edition over a period of 40 years.

I really like how easy it is to order decent wine from The Wine Sociey. I also think it may be a massive disadvantage. A gif for @edcarver.bsky.social

Good morning #Wülferhampton! 8th December, & the Spudvent calendar window reveals French fingerling! A gourmet potato from North America with dusty-rose skin & shallow eyes. The golden yellow flesh can have pink and red marbling. Low in starch with a waxy, creamy texture & a rich, nutty flavor.

Moan time. Buying tickets for Six. On the price of each ticket was a booking fee, £4.25 & a "restoration fee" of £1.95, then a delivery charge for e-tickets them of £1.50. A delivery charge for e-tickets! If they just told me the actual price, I'd be happy, but adding this stuff on is irritating.

Okay, I wouldn't win any prizes at the village show, but...

Daughter played a long complicated piano piece at her hall's Christmas gig last night. She did it really well:she coped with nerves by imagining she was playing in a cowboy honkytonk bar & the drunken patrons wouldn't notice the odd wrong note. I knew watching Tombstone was a good idea.

Good morning #Wülferhampton! The 7th December Spudvent calendar window opens onto Golden Wonder! A low yielding but tasty russet skinned maincrop. Dry and floury, it is ideal for roasting, baking, frying and crisps! Golden Wonder crisps are named after this little beauty. Can fall apart if boiled

"Do you know where my jumper is?" "Which one?" "The new one: really warm and quite expensive." "It's being borrowed."

Good morning #Wülferhampton. 6th December & the Spudvent calendar door reveals Desirée! A reliable, red skinned, creamy white fleshed early maincrop. Unusually for a maincrop, chitting before planting is recommended. Great for roasting, mashing, boiling & baking. Good yields & disease-resistance.

Chuff me! That was close! TopP 1984! Got fair warning and legged it to the kitchen where I have Classic fm blaring out (not proud of this fact, btw), but have survived one more day. #whamageddon

Have had a brilliant time at Aldi! 1. Woman in noise cancelling headphones obliviously & tunelessly singing Tainted Love. 2. Saw rather snobbish former neighbour in there. In 2 minds: speak to her, so she'd be embarrassed at being seen; or don't, because she's dull. Okay, my brilliant has a low bar

TMS on. The drunken cheers remind me of my mum. I don't mean that my late mother went to test matches and cheered drunkenly, I mean that when I was listening to TMS she would comment on the drunken cheering. It's me who goes to test matches and cheers drunkenly, obviously.

Bloody hell! You go from despair, thinking I can't listen to this Test match any more, it's depressing, to Ha ha! Hoo hoo! Get in! In a matter of a minute. Bloody cricket! I mean, it's England, it can still go wrong

Good morning #Wülferhampton. 5th December & behind the Spudvent candle door is: Shetland Black! An unusual dark purple heritage variety from the Shetlands. A Victorian spud, tubers are small by modern standards. Good roasted, baked or steamed: sliced it displays a purple ring. Oh don't snigger.

Someone has chorizo open on this train. I can smell its glorious appetising smell and am responding on a biological level. Imagine the headlines: "Lancashire man drowns in own saliva. Spudvent community left bereft."

I am in an office at lunchtime. Having been working from home for a while, I had forgohow much this country smells of stew in the colder months.

Rooot! 1st century in Australia. More Bazball silly wickets, but good news for Mr Root. (He's a cricketer, not a potato, btw)

Good morning ##Wülferhampton. 4th December and the Spudvent calendar door reveals: Ulster Prince! A first early with smooth creamy white skin and firm, white flesh. For boiling, roasting, and mashing. Resistant to common & powdery scab with good drought resistance Popular in Lancashire. Mmm!

@ashashman1.bsky.social saw this in M&S last night (we nipped in for a pudding). I know the picture is at an angle, but: I'd been to the pub I don't care Actually, I do care a little bit: enough to think it annoys some people, so I'll do it a bit.

Good morning #Wülferhampton! 3rd of December and behind today's Spudvent calendar window is Cara! A reliable, heavy-yielding maincrop potato with good disease resistance. Rounded, pink-skinned tubers with shallow eyes and floury white flesh. It is excellent for baking, roasting, and chipping.

Incidentally, Clovis has more keg than he can use locally.

AI is run by David Icke? You have to prevent the lizard illuminati robbing the banks and running the world.

And having gone on about eating dead animals, here is tonight's dinner. Courgette, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and breadcrumbs. It'll look dandy when it's cooked.

Ghost Pirates! And Other Revenants of the Sea! How could one resist!

Morning @ashashman1.bsky.social. I trust your spudliness is well?

Good morning #Wülferhampton! 2nd of December, and behind today's Spudvent calendar window are Kestrel. A personal favourite, these versatile little beauties are usually ready from mid-July, and can be used as new potatoes after first earlies, or stored like main crops. Beautiful purple eyes.

Unusually for me, not sleeping well. On the plus side, I have just farted a near perfect rendition of the opening notes of 'Smoke on the Water'. Unfortunately, only the cat witnessed this miracle of sphincter-music, and I'm not sure he fully appreciated what he heard.

Good morning, #Wülferhampton! Today is the 1st of December, and behind today's Spudvent calendar window is... A Pentland Javelin! A high-yielding, first-early potato variety known for its waxy, creamy-white flesh and good disease resistance. A fine potato!

I consider myself a connoisseur of bad films, but this takes the biscuit. I want to see it even more than I want an antique fox mask. Apparently, it has sentient & carnivorous seaweed glowing-eyed Prehistoric octopus the bartender is killed by a giant hermit crab en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Los...

As the viva looms on Tuesday, Mrs Mac is becoming more a rabbit of negative euphoria. I have Tuesday off in order to keep the cat away from the room where the viva is, and dispense tea.

Mooched around Lytham: bought dvd* of Full Metal Jacket in a charity shop. A film I wanted to show to daughter, so that'll be a fun pre-Christmas family movie night. We don't decorate until 23rd. Now we've good reason: would you watch that amidst jolly Santas & stuff? *don't understand streaming.

Mrs Mac has her MRes viva on Tuesday. I am helping her prepare. I have asked Copilot to pull together a set of questions and am asking them. Frankly. I am only understanding one word in 10, but hoping that looking interested can br mistaken for being intelligent.

Outbid! I now no longer have to worry, buti was rather looking forward to having a fox mask. There'll be others.

Mrs Mac has her viva for her MRes on Tuesday. She is now both panicking and going in for displacement activities. I got in and I had piles of folded clothes. She is now looking, in detail, at the post grad regulations to guess what the viva may end up as. Now in the Malpractice Regulations.

Shh. No-one say anything, but there is a train on time. Pretend you haven't noticed: we don't want to scare it.

Still don't have the auction update on the fox mask, but it has already been invaluable. Met daughter, she was a little upset about a mark she got. Told her about the fox mask, and that she can't tell her mother. Ye gods, it cheered her up!

I have accidentally (deliberately) put a bid in for a 1916 mounted fox mask. It is winning so far. How do I: a. Explain this to Mrs Mac b. Convince her that I was sober when I did so (I was) c. Work out where to put the chuffing thing.

You've just died. The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you.

I do keep looking at taxidermy. I'll be honest, im tempted. bid.gerrardsauctionrooms.com/auctions/946...

Mrs Mac has a sister. Mrs Mac's sister is a little large. Mrs Mac has suddenly started thinking about her sister's bra size. I feel like I am with a feminine Withnail, uttering the female equivalent of, "Imagine the size of his balls."

Right, it's gone five. Not had a drink yet, but i think the prospect of alcohol later will strengthen my resolve. I'm going to read that Guardian interview with Danny Kruger. Wish me luck.

Wid boar sausage stew tonight. Everything except the spuds in the slow cooker. Mrs Mac has been hankering after wild boar recently: i found a source for the sausages. I hope they don't have a permanent effect.

Bloody cricket.

Goodnight, Wülferhampton. In bed with a good book and a large armagnac. Sleep well. I shall wake intermittently and check the cricket score.

Saw what I thought was a splinter of firewood. It turned out to be a bit of Bombay mix i must have dropped an hour or so ago. I ate it. Applause please: I've found a new low.

I want to carry on reading Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley, but Mrs Mac is watching TotP. I don't feel that 80s pop would add anything to the folk horror atmosphere, so I'll wait. InXS are on. I was right.