Amidst the anxiety, brain fog, and tiredness this morning there was some allotment joy. ☀️ 🌱

That’s a really weird way of spelling “parents with the flexibility to WFH can keep sick kids home when they need to without having to take time off work themselves.”

Slowly getting the allotment ready for spring planting. More mulching and tidying to do this week. 🌱

This novel is utterly brilliant. So enjoyable. I have torn through its almost 500 pages since starting it at the weekend. I want more of Dave. It made me laugh, smile, cry, reminisce, and think. 📚

This is a national scandal. When will the government wake up and realise they are presiding over the rapid implosion of the UK's world-renowned university sector?

I have felt absolutely miserable all day with a bad cold. But the chickens needed feeding and so I had to visit them in the pouring rain. The rainbow cheered me up. 🌧️ 🤧 🌈 🌱

My evening involves sorting out a thousand ‘in the green’ flower bulbs. The community will be planting native English bluebells and snowdrops this weekend. 🌷 🌱

The state of Kemi Badenoch’s response to the sentencing, confirming there is no topic, however serious, that she will do the minimum of research on.

While the Boy dances I get to nap and read while lounging on giant beanbags.

Get thee to a nunnery ✝️

There are around 10k private school kids in Edinburgh. 51 have moved to state schools in January. As I've repeatedly said the effects of VAT on fees are going to be minimal. www.thetimes.com/article/ab42...

Blood oranges are a highlight of January for me. My first supplies have arrived today directly from Sicily. 🌋 🍊

This novel is a thing of absolute beauty. I cannot recommend it enough. It is superb. The setting of London and life at Uni in Edinburgh was an initial pull and I also really enjoyed his memoir ‘The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between’. 📖 📚

Things have felt a bit heavy in recent days. So I have cancelled things & reorganised/reprioritised other things. A bit of space, some boundaries, cooking, gardening, & coffee w friends have all made a huge difference today. ☀️ 🌱

One of the reasons I was so opposed to Rwanda is that it would be a really bad idea to start normalising deporting people (asylum seekers are not citizens but it's not that big a jump...)

I’m enjoying a cold but sunny breakfast in the allotment polytunnel. We are just above freezing inside and -4°c outside. 🌱 ❄️

Winter white bean salad with roasted red cabbage, roasted red peppers, herbs, almonds, and pistachio. 🥗

Nick Ferrari on @lbc.co.uk just called Tim Montgomerie from Reform "Timmo". Timmo then called Tommy Robinson a "rough diamond". Just two guys shooting the breeze. Will be the same when Farage swings by the show tomorrow... Rancid.

Happy New Year! Hanukkah sameach! As we celebrate the final night of Hanukkah we wish you all light, peace, and joy in 2025.

2024 has been a very full year. Throughout all the demands, worries, and joys reading has been a constant source of comfort and relaxation. And it has been an excellent reading year!

My sweet peas have been sown. Soon we’ll have bunches and bunches of flowers. 💐 🌱

This is commonplace for teaching assistant jobs. Schools haven't been properly compensated for rises in minimum wage and pensions for this group of staff. Particularly problematic for special schools who need a lot of assistants (and for the staff of course).

Walking routes between Lewisham station and shopping centre need an urgent rethink. People should not feel they need to cross open traffic to go by a direct route.

It is going to be very cold at the weekend so I have mulched all the dahlias at the allotment. 💐 ❄️ 🌱

RIP Jimmy Carter 🫡

*sigh* time to call another ecumenical council

As father of a 20 year old with autism & SEND, this a million times over from @johnharris1969.bsky.social. Making it harder for parents to force Councils to meet legal obligations would be cruel, undemocratic & typical of the false economies blighting Britain. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Reading a column from a Tory MP on the Fascists from the Mail in 1934... "There is no fundamental difference in outlook...Why should there not be concord and agreement between that old historic party... and this new virile offshoot?"

“I heard a bird sing in the dark of December; A magical thing, and sweet to remember: We are nearer to spring than we were in September, I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.” Oliver Herford #BookwormSat 🖼️ 'Winter Thrush' by Angela Harding

This novel was totally mad, dark, and unexpectedly funny. Recommend. A much needed short read after my last read was hard work and ultimately unrewarding.

Sterling close to its highest value against the Euro since the Brexit referendum. Markets appear to be rewarding the prospect of long term British political stability. Not something you’ve been able to say for a while.

How any Tory can whine about Labour's fiscal prudence after supporting this is beyond me.

The charity IPSEA have a free webinar on Thursday 5th December, 12.30 - 1.30 for parents/carers "A guide to Education, Health and Care Plans" Register via the link below or request a recording if you're unable to attend the live session. www.ipsea.org.uk/webinar-a-gu... #send #sendfamily

This afternoon I was in the company of ten other adoptive parents while our kids (8-17yo) were taking part in a project next door. I haven’t laughed so hard or felt so heard and understood in a very long time. Feeling refreshed and topped up.

I picked the wrong morning to move straw bales to the allotment. 1°c and wet snow.

Everything about this novel is beautiful. Strout’s insight into the human experience is profound. On almost every page there is an observation that sweeps me off my feet.

The animals are terrified of fireworks. I’m terrified about USA democracy. We are equally soothed by ‘Classics for Pets’ on Classic FM.

Lunch sketch.

Enjoyed two hours in and out of the sauna and steam rooms this afternoon. 🚿 🧖‍♂️ 🧼 And then delicious Italian food. 🍝 Celebrating being another year older.

A damning report by the National Audit Office has found the SEND system is 'financially unsustainable' and in urgent need of reform. Here are the eight most important findings you need to know about…

Our local library is temporarily closed. Reservations can instead be collected from the nearby leisure centre. They come wrapped up and so it is like getting a present. My half term treats. 📚

I read two wonderful books this week. Evenings and Weekends captured so much I love about how London offers queer folks a place to (re)make ourselves. An ode to London & love. 🏙️ ☀️ Lost Rainforests transported me to the wonderful dripping wet moss filled rainforests of Britain. Hope-filled. 🌳 🌧️

Life, it’s a lot at the moment.

Among other things, he's just so embarrassing. The man has a history degree, he must *know* that the Magna Carta thing is nonsense, and yet.

An hour of relaxation this evening planting out these shade loving plants next to the pond. I was kept company by my friend Bruce the Cat. 🌱 🐈‍⬛

Post vaccination fatigue and aches means I will be going slow today at school. 💉

Listening to some people talking about ‘oracy’ in schools makes it sound like it’s a completely new thing. It isn’t. In education it’s, arguably, older than writing. It is surprising that some schools, recently, seem to have been able to function without speaking and listening.

This included a dance that was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen on a stage. Just gorgeous.