No. 3 in a thread of #PublicDomain books I've got Google Books to make fully and freely available this year. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in #London: Vol. 1: Westminster Abbey London, HMSO, 1924 books.google.co.uk/books?id=xnQ... #History

Pretty cool www.bbc.com/news/article...

I love this so so much!

Bath Olivers discontinued?! This will ruin a very old joke! “I want a Bath Oliver” “My name is not Oliver”

2026: Bright and crisp

No, sorry, this must be broken

Trieste Cathedral was built over a Roman temple next to the forum and retains the original mosaic floor. #TilesOnTuesday 🗃️🏺

🥁 **Top Ten Images of the Year · #3 of 10** How lovely is this church? Another from my *Pocketable Churches* series — All Saints', Billesley, Warwickshire. Once at the heart of a medieval village, now standing solitary in a copse.

Frozen stream.

An interesting anecdote in Nikhil Krishnan's fascinating book 'A Very Serious Adventure' In 1989 AJ Ayer rescued the supermodel Naomi Campbell from the unwanted attentions of Mike Tyson. Tyson informed Ayer that he was the world heavyweight champion. 'And I am the former Wykeham Professor of Logic'

I'll start replying to my emails like this. #science #academia #academic #philosophy #philsky

So, on Christmas morning it suddenly occurs to me that I should change into my festive slippers, the red ones with gold trim. I don't have any festive slippers – never have. Nor even any red slippers. So whose memories have slipped through to me?

‘Tis the season to be reading…’

A present from a Polish friend - I love it: like honeycomb made from toffee and caramel Mieszko milk fudge

GOOD NEWS! Researchers have shown Alzheimer’s disease can be REVERSED- not just prevented. Using a potent neuroprotective compound called P7C3-A20, they found RESTORING balance to a central cellular energy molecule (NAD+) not only PREVENTED disease features but REVERSED them, EVEN at late stages.

A place I miss – Notting Hill Books, a really delightful little shop that was run by Sheila Ramage for 45 years until she had to close in 2012. I was told that she had the had it at peppercorn rent from the neighbouring Czech Embassy on condition that she never asked for repairs or maintenance!

‘Sometimes, the poems that affect you most deeply have flaws, and sometimes such flaws are vital.’

We hope you are all resting and relaxing like this perfect pooch. This charming animation was created by Will Lang and inspired by an 18th century study of a dog produced by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. 🐶 Studies of a dog, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1727 - 1804). WA1937.223

The steaming tropical forests of Surrey in December

This is how we remember

He’s decided to wrap himself

‘And certainly, the mistakes that we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it.’

Marcel Proust on Christmas: in an 1898 holiday letter to Marie Nordlinger (translation by Ralph Manheim):

At last! the perfect soft-boiled egg in only . . . 32 minutes ?

reflecting on summers past

Over the weekend, the Garmin Emergency Autoland system was activated for the first time in a real emergency scenario. The aircraft landed safely in Denver and all onboard are safe. www.flightradar24.com/blog/aviatio...

“Bachelard says ‘words, which are made for singing and seducing, rarely meet up with thought.’

“Actually . . it’s me!”

Brute facts

Candles snuffed out at the end of the carol service at St Bartholomew the Great, 20th December.

Brilliant (but small) gospel choir at my local Christmas market

I understand there is a market for steel from ships that sank before 1945 because it is unpolluted by radiation from atom bombs. Perhaps we will soon demand references from papers printed before 2025 and the great information pollution disaster

Nature reflected and painted

Classical temple, or radiator? Why aren’t more radiators like this? At Hughenden Manor, home of Disraeli now looked after by @nattrustarch.bsky.social

I have a friend in high places, but he does look down on me

687. Je me souviens des agents qui réglaient la circulation au centre des carrefours.

Good news for Lithuania and @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social

shadows of nature a possession more valuable than parks or palaces

Never run with scissors or fish

Winter sunshine, valiantly trying to break through the clouds and shimmer off the surface of the stew pond today – a ray of hope in dark times. After the painting ‘Hope’ by G.F.Watts, which a critic said might just as well be titled ‘Despair’

Christmas at Disraeli’s house

Cross and Stretch by resonantrepair

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul." — Goethe

Creative people display contradictory personality traits. This finding has stuck with me since I read it over 20 years ago in psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.

Pop-up shape in the woods today

Brighton Street Art Advent Calendar, Day 13 North Laine

**alert** there is a big yellow thing in the sky It’s very bright

The Unicode for the "Smiling Face With Horns" and "Smiling Face with Halo" emojis are only one digit apart. That's deep.

Another question answered by science

Friday night 🎶 I had a little drink about an hour ago 🎶