A juvenile sparrowhawk resting on the bait box beneath the birdfeeders. Must’ve seen something tasty! What a delightful surprise.

Potato puffs, Burnt Hill Herb Co.’s beetroot-cured smoked trout pâté, trout roe, radish and pickled shallot.

Made a trout bowl.

Well, that was alright. #COYG

An early one this year.

@adrianedmondson.bsky.social Have just devoured ‘Berserker!’ in under 24 hours. What a splendid memoir it is. As a Yorkshire-born chef, (and hobby drummer), it hit so many notes, and brought me to tears and fits of laughter in equal measure. Thank you!

The Busy World of Doctor Who

Dishes from the 2010s, when I still had my mojo. These days, I don’t know. Definitely not as much of a perfectionist as I once was.

A reminder: please, this year, if you’re celebrating Burns’ Night, make sure that your mature haggis is locally-caught in the wild, and not farmed. Can’t stress this enough. Too many flavourless Chilean haggis flooding the domestic market. #BurnsNight #protectthewildhaggis

Very occasionally, I miss the ol’ restaurant game. Very occasionally.

@sharronfortnam.bsky.social Helloooo! Welcome to the (for now) nice place!

More Blanck Mass excellence. Hoping to see you at The Brudenell in 2025 (ideally in support of a new album? #thirstymuch)

Note to @easyjetofficial.bsky.social. Make good use of ‘Prisencolinensinainciusol’ because it’s an absolute banger. But please don’t use it for the next five years à la Juniore and Jess Glynne. https://youtu.be/bQDY3HFkh_Y?si=BXMhXlP_ejXJKVDR

Seems appropriate. @throttleclark.bsky.social’s ‘New Year Storm’, because it’s blowing a bit up here in the Pennines. https://open.spotify.com/track/2kfqvQyPTVP6v3LfImdcY4?si=AryANrNRQWKW5RhKKpRNsA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A0gb2PNFcBB91jDychNjAUF

54. Citizen Kane.

Giving this a spin. The icy production and sparseness always makes me think of it as a cold-weather album. Their finest hour, I think. #NowPlaying

Just finished ‘What We Do In The Shadows’. A more perfect finale you couldn’t wish for. Hilarious and a little heartbreaking. And the alternate endings (in ‘extras’ on Disney+) are absolutely tremendous. What a superb show.

Homes Under The Place In The Country Bidding Room Hunt. All of it. Gone. Even if it means the test card for four hours.

Proof of Darwin's theory of natural selection, this butterfly has evolved amazing camouflage which enables it to hide within The Osmonds to escape hungry predators.

My favourite albums of 2024, in no particular order. Kim Deal, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Metz, Floating Points, Lia Kohl, Squarepusher, Field Music, Chat Pile, and The Cure. Close calls: Tyler, The Creator, Ride, The Smile, The Wolfgang Press, English Teacher, Rafael Toral and The Jesus Lizard.

I’m really starting to hate Chelsea again. Nature is healing.

They did “Atlas’.

Back at the Brudenell, tonight enjoying the music of Battles. Hope they do ‘Atlas’!

Bittersweet tonight. Bidding adieu (hoping it’s au revoir) to Canada’s finest, the mighty Metz, at the Brudenell Social Club. I’ve seen them every time they’ve played the Bru, and they are always unfailingly magnificent.

Tonight’s supper, the best thing to do to a potato. That’s right. It’s saucisse and aligot night. #aligot

I bloody love the snow. Never fails to fill me with childish glee.

Catering a small 18th birthday party for a friend's granddaughter. One of the requests was for cheese and pineapple on a stick. Bless! (I have eaten about as many as I've made)

Well, there we go. Migrated fully from X, and feel somehow cleaner. And using the GraySky app on the mobile works wonderfully. I think I'm still missing several people who perhaps haven't moved here yet, but it's surely just a matter of time.

A few scenes from the annual pilgrimage to Maison Bras last week. Exceptional as always. (www.bras.fr)

A cautionary poem from French wordle today.

Tim Walz has definitely drunkenly eaten handfuls of shredded cheese in the dark at 3am with no pants on and that’s why he has my unconditional support

Yep, I think here’s my new centre of operations. I’ve given Twitter enough of my time, and it’s just a horrid place now.

An idiot writes:

Some recent ceramic stuff.

Well, let’s see if Bluesky can be what Mastodon definitely wasn’t. Mind you, I’d take tin cans and string over the shithole Twitter’s become. Hello!!