Just tried a pack of Oreo Creme Egg biscuits (limited edition) my husband brought home last week. Not great. Any Creme Egg flavour is pretty wiped out by the strong-tasting chocolate biscuit parts. And so it’s surprisingly bland. But maybe huge Oreo fans would enjoy.

Registrations opened tonight for Tolkien Society's Oxonmoot in Oxford, which since 2020 has offered online as an option. I've attended online ever since, getting to watch an amazing range and quantity of Tolkien-related talks, and for months after on catch up. www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonm...

Mocking the (German) mania for titles in #earlymodern Europe: The transitory fame gained with a fancy new title - a "doctor", a "magister" etc. - is critizied in this print from around 1700. The man on the left is in a mania for titles: more, more, more for more social mobility. #academicchatter

Hare, Winifred Austen, 1909.

On the the island of Bornholm, Denmark, archaeologists unearthed this enchanting and unusually colorful Iron Age Roman owl brooch w/ a transfixing gaze. Made of bronze, finely decorated w/ enamel and glass, it was likely used to fasten a cloak or other garment. www.sciencenordic.com/archaeology-...

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” — Thornton Wilder

Continuing our rewatch of “Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader” BBC TV series from 1989. I bought us the newly remastered BBC Narnia Blu-ray boxset before Christmas. And I’m constantly grinning whenever Reepicheep appears.

Male siskin. They dropped down from the birches to feed in the muddy grass with a female. 📷📸🎞️🪶 #birds #ukwildlife

A gorgeous white-throated dipper preening in a shadowed lade beside the Dighty Burn by the Seven Arches (Balmossie) Viaduct. The local dippers tend to migrate to the lade when the burn is in full spate. Their probable male mate was a short distance away. ISO 1000, 1/50s. 📷📸🎞️🪶 #birds #ukwildlife

Some photos from my husband's Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern Dundee, Scotland 📷📸🎞️🪶 #deer

Some photos from my husband's Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern Dundee, Scotland 📷📸🎞️🪶 #deer

Tonight's listening is the 1984 Chess musical concept album, with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. I've only heard some of this before, and it's nice to hear more. I remember on our visit to the ABBA museum in Stockholm especially enjoying the section focusing on their music after ABBA.

Was International Zebra Day on Saturday. We're a bit busy, so here's a mosaic of a zebra. That's us done. 👍 #MosaicMonday

Enjoying our new Friday afternoon ritual, making us a Moka pot of coffee to share. Still remarkably fun to watch, and tastes so good.

Some photos from my husband's lunchtime walk to the City Quay in Dundee, Scotland. An extremely windy day! 📷📸🎞️🪶

Guillemot (in summer plumage?) in City Quay "Wild shore", relatively sheltered from ~40 mph winds. Last saw one (in winter plumage) in Sep 2023. 📷📸🎞️🪶 #birds #ukwildlife

A pair of cormorants at the edge of the easternmost pool of City Quay in ~40 mph winds. I struggled stay upright and keep the camera pointing at them! Year tick. 📷📸🎞️🪶 #birds #ukwildlife

Decided on City Quay for lunch walk: didn't expect to see much on Seabraes or the Tay with very high "low" tide and strong winds. Hard walking into 40+ mph easterly wind but ended up with red-breasted mergansers, cormorants and a guillemot in summer plumage. Camera kept blowing sideways off target!

Some photos from my husband's lunchtime walk to the City Quay in Dundee, Scotland. An extremely windy day! 📷📸🎞️🪶

🧵 I've noticed recently that more people are posting images without alt-text, so I'd like to make a plea to include it. Not only does it help with accessibility, but it also makes your images easier to search, and increases your reach. In detail: 1/5

I've taken the paywall off this eulogy I wrote for my magical, mysterious ex-stray cat George - who died last year - in case anybody would like a read. It was very, very hard to write but I think it might be my favourite thing I’ve ever written about cats. www.tom-cox.com/lots-of-peop...

In our house just now: Me: “Mary Queen of Scots’s last letter [which we are going to see in Perth] isn’t written in code. It’s in pretty clear French.” My husband: “That helps! It might as well be written in code!” Yup I’m the French speaker in the house ;)

Belatedly watching “The Secret Letters of Mary Queen of Scots” documentary we recorded months ago. And aarrgghh they got a key family tree relationship wrong! James V was the brother (half brother) of Margaret Douglas, not of her husband.

As with Paris we’ve taken a one month Discovery+ subscription (£3.99*) so we can watch the Olympics. Better viewing options more live streams than on the BBC. The Winter Olympics have already started some sports - we are currently tuned in live to a British (two Scots) Winter Olympics curling match.

Ladybird cover stories. The four seasons books. Artist: C F Tunnicliffe

Excellent article but stark reminder that for all the perceptions of universities as ivory towers for elites, they are actually vital hubs in towns n cities supporting local businesses and providing key services as well as education….

Clearing out more books to go to charity, and find almost a whole shelf of old Terry Pratchett Discworld paperbacks shelved behind the others. Nope, not getting rid of those. Even if I can no longer read them in that format due to my progressive neurological disease. Keeping Pterry's books! #Booksky

At that stage of a piece of creative writing that I'm browsing journals, sidetracked by "ooh gorgeous!" covers, need to remember the importance of paper that you can actually write on ok, especially with a fountain pen. And ultimately remember that it's not a pretty cover that counts. But ooh shiny!

Happy #NationalHedgehogDay 🥺 This little Egyptian faience model of a hedgehog is from a tomb at Abydos, and was made around 1,500–1,300 BCE. Hedgehogs had a favourable reputation in ancient Egypt, and were often seen as a symbol of rebirth and renewal of life.

COVER REVEAL 🎭 And now... the end is near... 🎭 Click https://bgfn.sh/drawn to pre-order Torchwood: Curtain, starring Robert Bathurst, Sarah Douglas, Cyril Nri and Colin Ryan. Due March 2026.

No, your artificial lawn is not a "life hack". It's another tiny nail in the planet's coffin.

Updating my online academic publications list, adding my book chapter in the latest Scottish History Society Miscellany volume. Rather marvelling that I am still publishing, as my neurological disease progresses. But still enjoying, and it helps me. vivdunstan.co.uk/publications/ #skystorians #acsky

Formidably stern Cardinal Bernhardus Clesius, painted in 1520s by Barthel Bruyn. Love the eyebrows. And his bell!

“When we see the hazel catkins turn yellow, we know that spring is not far off” Writer: EL Grant Watson Artist: CF Tunnicliffe

In the Dighty Burn on the eastern edge of Dundee. There’s a thriving population of dippers there, and they quickly became my husband’s favourite birds to spot.

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com/2026/01/1492... A wee bonus blog, about the pitfalls of using AI/enhanced/smart editing within photo software when editing bird photos. #BirdingScotland #UKwildlife #Birds #Naturewriting

Some photos from my husband's Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern Dundee, Scotland 📷📸🎞️🪶

Some photos from my husband's Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern Dundee, Scotland 📷📸🎞️🪶

The Final Countdown by Europe on a mechanical organ. In Cornwall. youtu.be/wfelyUm7DGc

Prodding my ongoing piece of interactive fiction parser game writing. So much still to do! Some vague one word clues to some of the content: sea birds, carols, stage, stormy night, summerhouse, and puzzle box. Alarmed by how much still to do, and I'm very ill neurologically. But keeping cracking on!

IFComp has updated its rules for 2026. You can see the updated rules page at ifcomp.org/rules/ You can read more about what went into this rule at www.tumblr.com/ifcomp/80727... Thank you to everyone who shared feedback that helped inform this update.

Other work by the Ladybird artists. ‘Cat among ferns’ Artist: CF Tunnicliffe

This evening’s fun, making coffee with our new Moka pot for the first time. Remarkably successful and rather magical to watch. We will definitely do this again. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpyB...

Edinburgh tomb of philosopher David Hume vandalised with ‘satanic’ symbols www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Alexandra Fountain at Discovery Quay in Dundee on a biting blustery lunchtime. 📷📸🎞️

Crow gathering seaweed from the seawall on the River Tay in Dundee near Discovery Quay on a biting blustery lunchtime. 📷📸🎞️🪶 #birds #ukwildlife

A clip from our January 2026 show where @martyjopson.bsky.social talks about his @helleborezine.bsky.social Yuletide gifts – Hellebore zine issue no. 14 (Mirrors) and Tales of Occult Britain.

Clearing more books to go to charity, using a dot sticker method (low adhesive). I'm stickering spines of books that I'd like to go. Then my husband can see them, and if he's happy for them to go too. Other books are more my own easy choice. But the stickering method is working well for us. #Booksky

Selkirk Haggis Hunt 2026 www.youtube.com/watch?v=itGX...

Volunteers wanted to live on Skomer Island and count puffins - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...