This is a really good piece, and the mismatches snd gradually changing behaviours it describes seem spot on to me

Seems legit.

Sicilian lemons, one of winter’s great compensations.

Frost and fire this morning.

So there's this to consider www.declassifieduk.org/us-air-force...

According to the White House, two international groups working on cultural heritage preservation and arts policy are “contrary to the interests of the United States” and “waste taxpayer dollars.”

Blimey, Hamnet is a TOUGH and GRAND film. Decompression may take hours.

After the US admin cancelled the $B Climate + Weather Disaster dataset, @climatecentral.org hired the scientists who ran it and set it back up. Now the 2025 numbers are in: it's 3rd highest year on record and highest year w/o land-falling hurricanes. More: www.climatecentral.org/climate-serv...

One of those odd relics- part of a frieze, about 1530, the motif likely a marine guild, possibly from a Bristol guildhall.

Ouch- the Spanish Forger strikes again... onlineonly.christies.com/s/professor-...

How the AI you didn't ask for translates 'Salve, felix Anglia' ('Hail, Happy England').

Delightful corner of Corsham St Bartholomew

BonKeRs www.denisons.com/properties-f...

Corsham resident

Solidarity with the Alliance of Canterbury Residents Associations — to replace charming Victorian lampposts with these soulless steel things is very poor

Home of disgruntled ventriloquists

Times: The British Museum is looking for a "treasure hunter" to track down the hundreds of gems, cameos and gold fragments allegedly stolen from storerooms by former curator Peter Higgs. The BM has recovered just 654 of the estimated 1,500 items stolen. www.thetimes.com/culture/art/...

My relationship with X.

Wells Cathedral's Chapter House was finished about 720 years ago. Must have been satisfying.

Winter from the top of Wells Cathedral

During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.

GB News tells its viewers that Venezuela being "number one" for oil reserves & Trump not being "a fan of Net Zero" are "excellent reasons to go in"...

Charity shop gold.

1805: 'The Plumb-pudding in danger' (James Gillray)

Philanthropist needed to house this archive until reason returns www.webpronews.com/trump-orders...

Freezing evening glow

Crabapples, (relatively) unsung winter heroes 🏆

Our new recruit in 2025 was Basil. Scored so many Dad Points for this one.

IMO caused by an unforgivable, inflammable ceiling.

More news like this please 👍 www.abc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Had great pleasure with an axe this week. Cleared a fallen tree, got fitter, prepared a ton of logs for next winter, carbon neutral, nothing to do with AI, no money made by shareholders. Felt a modest triumph.

Glossopteris was a tree species that became extinct 250 million years ago Fossils were critical in recognising connections between fragments of the supercontinent Gondwana, as examples have been found in South America, Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand & Antarctica

Vondelkerk goes up in smoke: www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Whoever thought Strauss was a good idea on New Year's Day needs a firm word. Strauss is like squash- you have to get fit to cavort. We're all still living with the effects of mince pies. Nobody's got the tree down yet. And who wears satin brocade in the depths of winter? Score: 1/10

Happy New Year to you- and best wishes for 2026.

Some great architectural visits in 2025: Rousham (Oxon), Forde Abbey (Dorset), Doddiscombsleigh (Devon), Swynnerton (Staffs).

It had more to say.

Another wintry sunset

Morning.

Moon over the larch woods

The end of the year is not going gently.

Torville & Dean recognised in the New Year Honours. That's quick for Britain, only 41 years after the event. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...

“Who shall deliver me from this turbulent priest?” Feast of St Thomas Becket, slain at Canterbury Cathedral #OTD 1170. His martyrdom inspired TS Eliot’s verse drama Murder in the Cathedral (1935) and Jean Anouilh’s play Becket (1959). Huth Psalter, c.1280-1300, British Library, Add MS 38116, f. 13r

Westminster Abbey was consecrated 960 years ago today, 28 Dec 1065. Terry Ball's cutaway reconstruction: the main debate is the form of the east end. The 'Canterbury Embroidery' offers a section, while showing the body of Edward the Confessor arriving on 6 Jan 1066. Some New Year that proved to be.

Quite amazing www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Loving this. "Antirender" engine converts architects presentation drawings into the likely reality of the designs :) antirender.com

Small oil painting of a cabin in the White Mountains of Arizona on a spare afternoon about 20 years ago.

When does the Season of Goodwill end and the Season of Contempt and Indifference return? Managing a diary is so complex.

The Government has launched an eight-week consultation, which proposes the removal of the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee in the planning process. Read the Gardens Trust’s statement bit.ly/3MPRRiM