Just found this photo from 2019 of the former Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, now a tourist attraction. I crossed from West Berlin to East Berlin (& back) through Checkpoint Charlie in 1986. The contrast over that 33 year period was remarkable.

Ooh, I’m pleased with the oak parquet in MrsG’s sewing room. So much effort goes into cleaning up reclaimed tiles, but once laid, sanded, & gaps filled, it just looks fabulous. Ready now for PolyX waxoil, but before that, I’ve 25m2 of reclaimed mahogany laid in the entrance hall & corridor to sand.

Giant tortoises return to Galápagos island after nearly 200 years www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Update on MrsG’s sewing room floor. Oak parquet tiles laid a few days ago, finished sanding today, pleased with tight joints despite reclaimed tiles, & crisp angles of hand cut edges, but some inevitable small gaps, so dust from final 120g sand mixed in Bona Mix & Fill to create perfect match filler

Fabulous carpet of snowdrops in the woods at Burton Agnes Hall today

This GOOD BOY ran onto the course during the Women’s Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint event, crossing the finish line and being automatically recorded by OMEGA’s photofinish camera 😆

Nelson’s Column, seen on a recent trip to London.

Rantau Abang, turtle beach, in 1987.

Jigsaw finished 🧩

I’ve grown Ceropegia woodii for years, but have never had them set seed before.

Did I tell you about the time I bought a tractor?

Arriving in New York in 1987.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE ICONIC PALE BLUE DOT PHOTO!!

Another view of Beverley Minster. Well worth a visit.

My first m time to visit Beverley Minster. Highly recommended if you are in East Yorkshire.

Just the small edge pieces to cut & fix before I can sand the entrance hall floor.

The floor in MrsG’s sewing room is taking shape. #parquetfloor.

#6 Stealing from Furnished lodgings. #19Crimes. (Goes well with duck).

Cooking duck & scallops (Madhur Jaffrey recipe) for MrsG for Valentine’s Day.

Axolotls can completely rebuild their thymus, a key immune organ

"The Pale Blue Dot" The Earth as seen from 3.7 billion miles away by Voyager 1 on #ValentinesDay in 1990: 📸NASA

Friday night is jigsaw night.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #chester

#19Crimes #5. Impersonating and Egyptian 🤔

In July 2022 I bought ~2000 reclaimed parquet tiles (a LandRover full) for £50. Longtime followers may recall. I cleaned off old bitumen, cut off old tongues & grooves, scraped & sanded edges, graded & sorted them. This week I finally started to lay them in the hall, they continue into the corridor.

Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously! 4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE ⁦‪ MARK RUSKELL MSP‬⁩ ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!

Hello

Read about Roman glass products which ended up some 12,000 km away in the ancient Silla Kingdom, Korea: www.koreaherald.com/article/2865...

Happy New Year to everyone I’ve engaged with on BlueSky over the past year. Sharing a photo from inside the Sagradia Familia, the highlight of my year.

Hannah, & some spider plants.

Christmas jigsaw finished in time for New Year. Gaudi’s illustration of his vision for the stone facade of the Sagradia Familia. Stunning drawing, & a fun jigsaw; here is the finished stone fascade.

Watching Hidden Figures, an incredible movie about the women who put a man on the moon 🌙

How it started, how it’s going #jigsaw 🧩

Shadows of a dodo, reflections on the past. (Carved dodo on a windowsill caught in shadow by the outside lights).

Another beautiful Cladonia #lichen. #Newfoundland, Canada. #fungi #fungifriends #moss

Gibraltar, with a bit of cloud.

An old photo of Hannah & her favourite ball. Gone are the days when you used to go round to the neighbours & ask for your ball back. Had a WhatsApp earlier this evening from the next door neighbours asking for their drone back. Times have changed 🛸

First ever attempt at Duchess potatoes, MrsG says I need to work on my piping technique

#EastCoastKin #ArtChallenge #PalacesAndGardens #PalacePicks I pick, appropriate for the festive season, one of the great Gothic cathedrals, the one in Cologne. Here a look up into the church's crossing.

MrsG is out tonight at her sewing group Christmas party, so I’m home alone & indulging myself with a plate of Mr Brains faggots, Smash, & frozen peas 😊, together with a glass of rather nice Australian Grenache.

This one is next #SagradiaFamilia

Well that was a bit of fun, with what has to be the smallest jigsaw I’ve ever done. 150 pieces, hand for scale. #Picasso

Visited the fabulous Picasso museum in Barcelona. Picasso’s father was also an artist. His pigeon painting is superb. Picasso’s pigeons on the other hand are in a rather different style.

Not exactly #palacesandgardens or a classic #urbangaze, but this was from a Christmas visit to #Vienna two years ago. I think this photo captures some of the vertical grandeur of St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Another view of the font at Salisbury Cathedral

The font at Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral from across the water meadow, taken two weeks ago.

This is the first ever jigsaw that made me realise life is too short to spend hours and hours trying to find the right piece. Every new correct piece revealed one that was already wrong. It’s also one of those where piece edges don’t align, so it’s time to admit defeat.

The 15th century ‘Angel Roof’ of St Helen’s Church at Brant Broughton in Lincolnshire. While restored in the later 19th century, the colours are based on extensive traces of the original paintwork. 📸 My own. #Woodensday #BrantBroughton #Lincolnshire #AdventAngels

#Woodensday #ReliefWednesday Quite breath taking. St Peter's Chapel: originally c.1200 great hall for Durham's powerful Prince Bishops @ Auckland Castle. Amazing ceiling has arms of Bishop Cosin who converted to chapel after monarchy restored. #AdventAngels as a bonus Restored by aucklandproject.org