Palestine Ecumenical Accompaniers are being recruited now: quaker.org.uk/action/pales...

I was finding this book harder to read than most because of the font/font size used to print it. So I compared it with an old 60 year old book and consulted my OH. YES it IS more difficult to read! Aesthetics are sometimes taken too far!

We visited Gibraltar twice in February and spent most of it in the botanical garden when it was warm and sunny reading.

At school aged about 10 - 11 we were taught traditional songs one of which was the ditty about George Fox the best known of the Quaker founders. I do wish I had tried a Quaker Meeting then. I'm sure I would have been allowed to cycle to the nearest to attend if I had asked my parents.

Saw this 🤔 that's the kind of thing I would do... 🤔 Interesting chap🙂

🙂Amy Holmes is still working for the local BBC. 😢She doesn't feel comfortable on SM anymore. Her coverage of the Mid beds by-election was quite good. BBC News - Bedford Borough Council asks for £55m to tackle budget shortfall - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🤔I wonder if they can help us at our Quaker Meeting Peace Garden/ Burial Ground ? To my knowledge it has never had any chemicals used on it.... We just tidy it, keep the trees from bothering the neighbours and cut the grass.... Would be nice to monitor what's using it as a home🤔

Best take so far. Venezuela has long deserved liberation from Maduro’s ghastly regime. I shed no tears for him. The question is, will it lead to a democratic transition, or regional chaos, and even more upheaval for the long suffering Venezuelan people? I hope the former but fear the latter.

Completely and absolutely agree, the message Trump’s actions in Venezuela sends to Russia and China is that anything goes, international law be damned. Russia and China will act aggressively no matter what, but this adds cover to their agendas on Ukraine and Taiwan.

A kind person put a bin for spare dog toys at the place people park to take their dog for a quick walk. However, it filled with water, a bit of litter and a few🐕💩 bags🤢 So we've poured the icy water down the drain & put the litter & poo bags in the neighbouring correct litter bin.

The morning after the night before... Photo: Tamsin Holmes

🎵🔔🎶Rung the old year out ½ muffled then the new year in 🎶🔔🎵 at St. Mary's in #Hitchin. Traditional nibbles & a little champagne to toast "happy new year" & added another cork to the line on the peal sign

Half Moon, #Hitchin opening hours. Country Walk ending up there anyone?

With 🇵🇸🇮🇱 being ever present and adding to the weight Sudan, DR Congo You feel just as those early Quakers in Hitchin did. The silent anguish of the heart

"A little while and these Peculiar People are lost to view in the confusion of the Civil War. Unable to be 'at unity' with either side in the shedding of human blood, they experienced, nevertheless, in the silent anguish of their hearts," Page 25 A Mirror for the Society of Friends, Reginald Hine

At the Marshals meeting for the local hospice 🎄Christmas 🚜 tractor run fundraiser. Organisers young lad bags himself the biggest piece of chocolate cake! 🤔 Reminds me of chocolate cake bribery to visit grandma.... It was so boring🥱 at her house!

🤔Random settings are disappearing.... I thought it was an accidental tap or click but now a parameter was removed from one of my view only test ids.😠 Not only that it SHOULD have showed up in the Audit 😕

Twas a dark & stormy night.... 🤔Good thing enough ringers turned up for these good souls to be confirmed by the Bishop

We're not the only ones who have enjoyed the magic of autumn. These dogs have been immersed in the nature around them, too. 📷: Rupert; Bo by Sally-Anne Crane; Winnie by Claire Richards; Lola

I'm helping someone who is struggling to get fit after a stroke. She overdid the exercise this week so asked me to shop for her. Eating & digestion has been a problem too. Last week she chose some tinned items. I added more to the list. 😯Phone call... She was really 🙂

Come and show support to the refugees they said. Ware something colourful they said. I wasn't going to say anything....

George Fox asked Friends (Quakers) to be patterns, be examples and walk cheerfully over the world. It's behaviour that counts not who you are! At least that's how it used to be.... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Thus we are betrayed! "are not looking at what people are doing; they’re looking at who they are." We don't need further proof than the current incumbent in the US Whitehouse. Trump is being betrayed by Putin. Trump is ignoring Putins behaviour. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What is inclusion? Sweeping the leaves 1) Making it safer to cross the road 🙂 2) So those unable to lift their feet high enough, with walkers, in wheelchairs, with sticks & crutches don't drag muck & rubbish into churches, shops & homes.

Subtext: voting for the National Trust’s own recommendations over resolutions and candidates is the way to ensure that the Restore Trust ‘astroturf mob‘ with their vested interests do not get their feet in the door. Opaquely-funded, ‘grassroots’-my -arse individuals with furtive, anti-wokery intent.

One vital reason to vote in the National Trust elections and for the NT endorsed candidates. We can't risk the Restore Trust candidates getting any influence on it.

There's been a butterfly in my home office up on the wall near the top of the shelves. It's been there since May or June and I didn't disturb it so there's a bit of dust & cobwebs in that corner. Today it was fluttering at the window so I let it out. Tried to ID it 🙄to many are brown & orange!

Autumn leaves fall🍁🍂 Meeting house paths need sweeping so those with walking aids, arriving in wheelchairs, kids in pushchairs and on scooters don't trail damp leaves indoors. Those on the grass & under the trees we leave for the fun of leaf kicking🙂

We tidied the garden & welcomed our visitors. We put out food rescued goodies & gave an occasional tour. Our Meeting turned our burial ground into a peace garden. In it is a sculpture "unity" it's the only public sculpture in #hitchin. I spoke for erecting it during austerity. 100% worth it!

I've always struggled to find the right words and often what I say is a bit.... Off?.. Strangely some of my improvised attempts hit a cord. Later, others say them and it's just a bit weird! Seems I can't go viral here but I can IRL... Odd!

So much going on... It's making me wonder if we will get any sponsored Bikers or Hikers visiting our MH raising money for the Historical Churches Trust this year.. bedshertshct.org.uk/bike-n-hike/

This is your last chance to sign Faith for the Climate’s open letter calling on the government to ensure that those most responsible for climate breakdown pay their fair share. Sign by Monday 15th September to make your voice heard on this vital issue:

“For Quakers, faith and action are inseparable," said Paul Parker, @rcquaker.bsky.social for Quakers in Britain. “Peaceful protest, prayer, and non-violent action are expressions of our worship. When this is criminalised, our religious freedom is under attack." www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

"An A.I. chatbot does not have that nuanced understanding, or the ability to intervene in the physical world." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/t...

This looks like a really great course if you are interested in peace church perspectives on the Bible.

I wonder what @stephenlaw.bsky.social makes of this one. Not sure his thinking would be welcome in Hitchin's Churches Together or @quaker.org.uk

🤔 Perhaps @mostlycomedy.bsky.social could do a crib sheet for visiting acts. Not knowing you can now get from Brighton to Hitchin by train directly.😳 We have a Waitrose🙂. As for history I'm sure the historical society would help. The Town Hall is diagonally opposite the Quaker Meeting House...

Great joke by @joehaddad.bsky.social (bottom right) at @mostlycomedy.bsky.social joined 🇮🇱🇵🇸 and climate change 🤣 I won't spoil it 🙂 just go see him!

Absolute joy - I have discovered how to switch off the data-hungry Google feed I get on my mobile phone when I swipe right on the home screen: (1) press on the background until a menu appears and select 'Home settings'; (2) select 'Swipe access'; (3) change 'Google feed' to 'Nothing'.

I have a REALLY bad cough.... Nothing else, just REALLY bad, dry, throat irritating, cough. So I've sent my OH on a mission for some real honey so I can sooth my hroat with a hot honey & lemon drink. I don't trust that the shop stuff isn't just glucose syrup with a hint of honey.

Grrr 🤬 getting a bit fed up with @bsky.app predictive text .... Today it changed "Stort" as in the name of a river to "Story" dispute me correcting it! And now I've had "long" eared bat turned into a "log" eared bat🙄

A friend in Hitchin found a distressed juvenile long eared bat. The local bat rescue lady has it now🙂 I didn't know we had a bat rescue lady🙂 Hitchin must be doing something right! Although we have bats, this is quite unusual and could be a sign we have a lot more♥️

Community gardening at #Hitchin Quaker Peace Garden. We mowed the front grass left until the Ox-eyed daisies finished flowering & set seeds. 😥Buried a dead fish. Discovered that the moss carder bees have returned 🙂

It’s presale day for 21st August’s #Hitchin #MostlyComedy with @rorybremner.bsky.social, Zoe Lyons & @davidephgrave.bsky.social. Tickets go on presale to the mailing list from 10am, with the rest on general sale from Monday, 28th July, subject to availability. Good luck! www.mostlycomedy.co.uk

We rounded off our #Hitchin #MostlyComedy Festival in style last night in the company of the fab Stephen K Amos, @jocaulfield.bsky.social, @littlemaddles.bsky.social & the Mostly house band. Thanks to all who came. See you next month for @rorybremner.bsky.social & Zoe Lyons. www.mostlycomedy.co.uk

#JournoRequest: hi all, i'm keen to chat with trans people who were or are members of the labour party, and / or voted for them in the last general election, for a story for @metro.co.uk. can be 100% anonymous. feel free to dm me here or drop me an email at: [email protected]

We joined with seven other Quaker organizations to proclaim with moral clarity that the Israeli government's actions in Gaza constitute genocide. This calls for action: www.fcnl.org/updates/2025...

Urgent Statement from 8 Quaker Orgs: Genocide is happening in Gaza. We urge courageous action. ➡️ Immediate, permanent ceasefire ➡️ Full humanitarian access ➡️ Sanctions + arms embargo ➡️ Accountability under intl. law ➡️ Protection of protest & free speech ➡️ Just peace rooted in dignity + equality

Saw this and it made me ☹️. Then I 🤔 wondered is this JUST Social Media? In real life is it different? Is it different in different communities? Is it the view of one person? It might be a good subject for my local Quaker Meeting Food for Thought🤔

Ugh! Like many my age my bladder gets easily upset! Accidentally found that hot lemon tea soothes the symptoms.🙂