Felt obliged to get my actual current reading book and: "Bin Laden had been assassinated the year before, and for some reason his love life had made its way into Japanese newspapers."

"Has large, sharply lobed, bright green leaves"

One of these pets is better behaved than the other. Alt text for more info.

I own the certificate originally presented to my GF's associate to mark years of charitable fundraising for Christmas hampers for blind people by sitting in the bar with a half pint glass into which customers would put coins If he's a Nobel laureate I am now Susan, a monkey, shown below with my GF

I own the certificate originally presented to my GF's associate to mark years of charitable fundraising for Christmas hampers for blind people by sitting in the bar with a half pint glass into which customers would put coins If he's a Nobel laureate I am now Susan, a monkey, shown below with my GF

In the most cheerful news of my day, we have the first peep of colour on one of the rhododendron buds No I didn't remember to take a photo You'll just have to believe me It's the one underneath which we interred the dog's ashes a year ago, which makes it particularly cheering to see

Repost with your home river From a bit off the Itchen, via the Exe, Thames, Wear and Tyne, to the Tweed Not a bad selection Grandma lived a few yards from the Piddle for 100 years

New year new adventure Just waiting for the first Chinese takeaway we've had since, I think, 2009 Mostly because all our tupperware-esque containers dating from then have cracked and we need a restock

Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and the band or artist.

Planned to walk over the river for a paper. I nagged Mr S not to wear those shoes because they are designed for summer beachwear and so have no tread. Was ignored. Three steps out, and BANG. Will be large bruise We took the car #toldyouso

Been up to the bird sanctuary today. A pleasant reminder that some things in life are just, well, pleasant Especially being hassled by these stripy lads for a snack

Paging @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social to ask when the film of Everything Will Swallow You is out, as I see filming is at advanced stages?

Just spent an hour repairing the moustache on my mournful Hungarian hunter bottle-cover-shelf-sitter thing. He is a souvenir from a mid 90s trip and cheers me up on a regular basis Only been on my to do list for oooh 15 years or so? #gettingroundtoiteventually #goals

Follow-up: does anyone else keep one (and only one) decoration up all year? One of the few traditions I've retained from my mother. No idea why it's a thing. To ensure there's a next one? Anyway, we've had a small metal pineapple on a doorknob all year, might swap it for something else for 2026

I had a conversation this month with a Dutch taxi driver about the joys of the Isle of Wight, where he used to live

Kiri Te Kanawa. In a backing choir for her once. Full "don't touch me, don't even look at me" diva act. Horrid And this time last year I was in a small group at a carol service that refused to budge for late-arriving Richard and Judy, who thought they should have our seats because they were better

Another shout out to the excellent service from the UK Passport Service. Applied Friday, put old one in post Saturday morning, new one arriving tomorrow (Wednesday) Still going to be incandescent with rage every time I stand in the "foreign devils" queue at an EU border, but that's not their fault

Ok, time to go out and get green stuff to make a door wreath with A job which I loathe and am crap at but somehow end up doing every year because I'm too mean to buy one and because Mr S goes all pouty if we don't have one Join me later for a festival of wire and swearing in the garage

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d... Thread When I was 21 and had just graduated and started my first job in London, the guy who wrote the pantomime in my home village ran off with the dame's wife before he'd turned in that year's script So my dad, who directed it, asked me to write one (1)

Used this for years as the opening slide in training courses (modelling complex health and social systems). Laughter was an unfailing indicator of who the decent non-tiresome trainees would be

Who'd have thought that my favourite book (thanks @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social) and favourite film of 2025 would've both included the same rare, serious but ultimately ok health condition as a major plot point? (Assuming no conferring, especially since one is non-fiction) Anyway, both recommended

I'm slightly worried that I might have sent this card I did have a rabbit called Nigel and although I (and he) lived in Teddington I did go to Coventry one or twice Nigel was a casualty of the great storm of 1987 I'm sorry to report (his hutch was upended and he was never seen again) 🙁

I've had 2 rounds of what seems to be the same lurgy since end Sep Not seen a matching synopsis from anyone else, so sharing it below for reassurance (for me and possibly you if you have same) (1/3)

Turn on #GameOfWool See Holger knitting some Aran thing with awful roving yarn on broomstick needles with all the enthusiasm of a Reform voter entering an improvised poetry slam Turn off #GameOfWool

My absolute favourite picture in the National Portrait Gallery. Used to work round the corner and go in about once a week to have lunch with her. She was in storage for a bit but now she's back. And a thread well worth reading Thanks as always to @oddthisday.bsky.social

Read it (via library PressReader). Unbelievable levels of snobbery. Guess where the son and DIL are *not* spending Christmas this year? Anyway the old bag says she's not judging anyone and "I'm a feminist" (unlike the DiL because... the lower classes watch the wrong kind of telly or something) 🙄

I'm just off this call Like trying to talk to a toddler about why planning a manned mission to Mars might involve more than making a rocket out of a kitchen roll tube and covering it in foil While knowing that NASA has all the data but the toddler's technical advisor is... Also a toddler 😡

Not where I'm from (they never got round to Howard's Way: Da Movie) but where I am now... And a bloody great film it is too

Attention craft type people out there!! Does anyone have a use for pre-loved souvenir leather bookmarks? The leather side is printed, obvs, but the suede side not so effectively each one is a strip of coloured suede I'll send a bunch to anyone who wants them. Free to a good home. Ideas?

The Berlin Phil in Edinburgh? Yes please! www.eif.co.uk/news-and-blo...

Was nice today down by the Tweed Neighbour's dog Reginald was on best behaviour, no rolling in anything or hurling himself after passing ducks, good work Reggie

#GameOfWool this is how you do swimwear

#GameOfWool Swimwear. Models (utterly predictably) had to have pants on to stop bits flopping out. Crying over random dun-coloured bits of tat. Crocheted deckchairs (judges amazed by one being "fit for purpose" FFS) Wrong evictee. The weird and incompetent live on Shite rating 💩💩

This is me, except 8 to 10 generations 350 years and the person most responsible for getting anyone to go more than 5 miles from their birthplace is Hitler, without whom my dad wouldn't have moved. From Suffolk to Dorset. I have the most boring ancestry I know.

#GameOfWool Oh crap, it's on again Will be watching on at least 45 minutes' delay and giving a one line summary It's the least I can do to protect my friends here from the horror of it all Laters...

I thought the woman in Darts was the coolest person in the world at this point Bit scared by the guy in the middle though #totp

Tina Charles, aged 23 and dressed like a 48 year old mother of the bride Brown nylon chiffon over brown crimplene Poor woman #totp

#GameOfWool Woke in the middle of the night suddenly imagining what my mother (WI craft judge), grandma and great aunts (taught me to knit) would have thought if they'd seen this shambles I don't think they'd have believed any of the sorry mess on display They'd have felt sorry for the dogs

#gameofwool report for those who can't bear to watch Wish I'd had a drink for every "iconic", I'd have been comatose after 20m. Only ones to emerge with dignity intact: Holger, and the two dogs modelling outfits in round 1. All 3 treating it with the utter disdain it deserves Shite rating: 💩💩💩

Now that is a production I'd go a long way to see Especially the bit in the third act where Gurnemanz and Amfortas try to wallpaper the sanctuary with hilarious results

Got a new tablet and software etc so I don't have to grapple with 1kg of score for the piece we're rehearsing at choir. Can't hold it up properly without aching arms and creaking spine the next day Can't decide if being tech savvy enough to do this trumps the physical decrepitude or vice versa!

Borrowed the neighbours' dog again today Reginald was a good boy on his first ever trip to B&Q, and he got a proper fuss made of him by the nice lady in the till before his walk back home with Mr S He seemed to enjoy himself too

I've got (for those in the UK) a few signed paperbacks of this with a lovely free postcard of the map my dad illustrated for it. £9.99 RRP plus p&p. Drop me an email at [email protected] and a reply here if you'd like one. Hills, folklore, psychedelic music, social history, magic, rivers, ghosts.

Whole page of exercises one English class at primary school designed to deter us from ever using "got", "nice", or "said", so I'll go for those as winners in the written category plus "settee" for the spoken word prize

The mighty @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social posted this yesterday I've shared it with Mr S and 3 of my closest friends Despite having, between us, 250+ years singing in various church/ cathedral/ other choirs, none of us has EVER heard it, or of it, before. Unbelievable Utter masterpiece Thanks Tom

"oh, I could never get rid of a book/ I've got X books in my house"... Arseholes. It's a lump of inky paper, not your personality. You've only got time to read another Y (<X) before you die. Pass them on. Share the benefit of what's inside (Exceptions: reference, definite re-reads)

List 3 things you can talk about for 3 hours with no prep 1) choral music 2) restaurants 3) whole system health and social care capacity planning Right, that's a nice quiet day with no social interaction guaranteed #boring

Watched this excellent piece with Mr S, both of us hoping the payoff would be that the entrants include @bbcstever.bsky.social at the piano. Colour us disappointed Next year??? Please??

Just missed a call from the "Immigration Department" offering me a choice of English or Chinese for their important message for me Bugger. All that family tree research up the Swannee. 300 years of dull English relatives and I've missed the ONE THING that's clearly about to get me deported ☹️ #scam