Guess what I’ve been doing today? A. Chilling out with the Grim Squeaker (aka Death of Rats). B. On a traditional grass cutting skills course. C. Listening to poetry in the woods? It’s C. But stumbling across the ‘Scythe Sharpening Kit’ convinced me that A or B were also possibilities.

I’ve been hanging around with sewer repair people today. I’m particularly impressed by a handmade tool they have for breaking through hard ground in confined spaces. Neither spade, shovel, pry-bar or chisel. Something unique Handmade And beautiful… whatsthepont.blog/2025/08/26/i...

It was never my intention…* But I seem to have collected many building material bulk bags over recent years. At last put to good use. Storing compost for an upcoming project. (*was always my intention, just not admitting to it)

Some nice brick finds yesterday. GADLYS and ABERDARE yellows And some from the Gwent Valleys CWMBRAN BRICK Co Ubiquitous STAR NEWPORTs and Yellow & red(ish) TILLERY All from nowhere near to where they were manufactured. A cracking day out at reclamation yards.

Can a Crane Fly alter the spin of a Cricket Ball? Unlikely. I was hoping this might be Cricket’s Butterfly Effect story. Unfortunately not. It’s their Leatherjacket grub stage causing ‘bald spots on the wicket’ For which they were incinerated. A cautionary tale ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/25/t...

Haru Urara A Japanese racehorse that won zero out of 113 races and is loved for it… ‘the shining star of losers everywhere’ 🧵 1/ en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haru_Ur...

I think my John Deere hat is finished. Happy to waive my ‘right to repair’ on this particular product. At least there’s no tricky ‘dealer approved’ software on a hat. However, when it comes to tractors it’s a different matter. Explained here⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/01/25/i...

Worker ownership is fostering inclusive prosperity. Companies (like ESOPs) where workers own shares paid out over $150 billion to millions of workers in 2022. More worker ownership means more equality in wealth and power, which is mandatory for genuine democracy.

Blimey, it’s all going on at LinkedIn I posted this about Cooperatives and I’m having lots of good conversations about -why UK Uni Business Schools don’t do more around Coops - Why more Unis aren’t coops - and the role of Coops in ‘Care’ We can talk too A prompt ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/10/c...

Silly Rules There’s an initiative in the Heath Sector about staff and patients identifying ‘Silly Rules’. So ‘someone’ can get around to fixing them. All well and good, but, I can’t help thinking… How did we get to this place? Here’s some detail ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/05/s...

For context, I wrote a blog from around 2006-2012 and then some occasional posts since. It’s all here if anyone wants a time capsule to early 00s Cardiff food culture cardiffbites.blogspot.com?m=1

All hail Caesar (Salad) Here’s the first blog post I ever wrote, back in 2011. A review of Caesar Salad options around Cardiff. I’m no foodie, but I do like a Caesar Salad. Thanks to Nicki @cardiffbites.bsky.social who allowed me to be a guest blogger. whatsthepont.blog/2025/07/02/a...

After 48 hours of drizzle (In this bit of Old South Wales) Some mushrooms have grown on the back doormat. I expect they will be desiccated in the heat tomorrow. Tough life being a mushroom.

Writing your name or initials (tagging), often on someone else’s property, is one of those basic human things people do. Don’t ask me why. But it’s everywhere. This one from North Scotland has to be a top 10 contender. Apparently done by DJ driving a 15m plough in the 1980s Still visible now. 🧵⬇️

What’s the first rule of Fight Club? You Don’t Talk About Fight Club What’s the first rule of Chris’s Camino Club? You Don’t Shut Up About The Camino (according to my wife/walking companion) But we are going back in October. Tidy. More curiosities to follow ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/15/c...

#StainedGlassSunday Small but beautifully formed. St Issui’s, Patrishow in the Black Mountains, Wales. Amazing place. www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-is...

Venn diagram

Artistry in Baler Twine I’ve made a promise to myself that I won’t be taking any more pictures of baler twine, Being used for other things than bales. Enjoy these from the Pyrenees.

Desire Paths / Caminitos de Deseo When does a desire path become a path of necessity? When you choose safety over convenience? A few thoughts on an interesting bit of path between Zubiri and Pamplona. We chose mud over the paved path. A blog ⬇️ Camino de Santiago whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/20/d...

“Boom town: How Merthyr made the world” And yes it really did! Caught it today. Cracking programme If you like your welsh / industrial history. @SteffanPowell 👍👍 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m....

Camino Curiosities There’s some weird and wonderful graffiti, stickers and other paraphernalia along the Camino de Santiago. It fills me with an urge to know more… Why ‘Vive la Croquettes! Does ‘English Ivy Kill Trees’? I’ve started to photograph them ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/15/c...

Pamplona We completed stage 1 of the Camino de Santiago Walking triumphantly through a gate in the City Walls. And spent 10 hours lying horizontal to recover. Then we did sightseeing, in comfortable shoes. The 4 A Day Picture blog ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/15/p...

Having just completed a very small part of the Camino de Santiago we are in Pamplona. A sign on the street tells me it’s 3411 km to Jerusalem. I’m not tempted. Maybe Logrono for the next leg. Today we go home. Until the next time

There’s a road sign in Roncesvalles that says 790km to Santiago de Compostela. Sit in the café opposite and you can watch people risk near death experiences on the road for a selfie. 4 A Day Picture Diary post ⬇️ #CaminodeSantiago whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/13/r...

#FingerPostFriday International edition from the Pyrenees. Wrapped in barbed wire to stop the cattle and horses rubbing against them and knocking them over (I think). Like the one without barbed wire at Croix de Thibault 1250m.

@iambagsy.bsky.social I’ve been up in the Pyrenees Mountains showing the sheep my Cwm Parc T Shirt. They was tampin they aren’t on a T Shirt.

Blimey! We walked over The Pyrenees Mountains today. On the Camino de Santiago. Spent part of the day around 1400m Full of ups and downs, literally. 4 A Day Picture Diary here⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/11/c...

Sunrise over the Pyrenees Mountains. Was hoping for a bit of cloud inversion down in the valleys. But the wind is blowing strongly. A warm wind coming from Spain. Like being stood in front of a hot air had dryer.

Camino Frances Day 3 Close encounters with this huge unit. Lessons from the Camino - ‘Always have a Pilgrim nearby wearing a bright red shirt when you have to pass through horned cattle’ 4 A Day Picture Diary blog here ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/10/o...

#TinShedTuesday International edition. From the Camino de Santiago. On slog up into the Pyrenees from St Jean Pied de Port. An excuse to talk about how farmers everywhere make use out of whatever they’ve got. Bonus orange baler twine being used for something it’s not supposed to.

St Jean Pied de Port Street level at Porte de Saint-Jacques. Walking up some big mountains tomorrow. View of the Pyrenees in the 4 a Day Picture blog ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/09/s...

I’m travelling Aiming to go for a bit of a walk along a section of the Camino de Santiago. Heading to the Camino Frances start at St Jean Pied de Port via Bayonne. Trying to capture things in a 4 Pictures a Day Diary. Posted and explained (sort of) on my blog whatsthepont.blog/2025/06/09/c...

I’ve just updated my tin shed picture collection with this absolute beauty. Properly original, battered and lived in. Museum quality, but sitting out in the wild. Too good for words @readerssheds.co.uk whatsthepont.blog/2024/02/14/t...

I’ve woken on a Saturday morning up thinking about French philosophy. I didn’t know why. Was just grasping at a quote “When mores are sufficed, laws are unnecessary” I think it might have been prompted by conversation yesterday about drink driving laws in UK vrs Canada.

Is this the ‘hairiest’ finger post in existence? Somewhere in the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. Covered in lichens which might make it a ‘living’ finger post (new sub-category for #FingerPostFriday

Could there be a splinter group of the Cardiff Civic Society? Quite clear that ‘they’ run the City, NOT the Marquis of Bute. Thoughts @ceritheviking.bsky.social

Where is this too then @enalloyd.bsky.social

Cwmystwyth Post Shed. Another iconic Tin Shed. One of the last remaining in Wales. Kept rural Posties warm back in the day. In a bit of a state unfortunately #TinShedTuesday Bid to save last surviving postmen’s huts in Wales www.bbc.com/news/uk-wale...

How come Business Schools don’t talk about the ‘great leadership’ of Elon & Donald? Or Genghis Khan. Especially as they are ‘winners’ It’s a lot to do with Ethical Leadership (or the lack of) it seems. I wrote this ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/05/29/h...

Yesterday I was singing to my wife Windmill in Old Amsterdam. “I saw a mouse, Where? There on the stair” etc She was delighted (not much). #TIL it was co-written by David Bowie in 1965 Blimey! www.theguardian.com/music/2010/j... PS I prefer the Ronnie Hilton version.

#TIL Glatted ‘A hedge glatted to a worn path’ Glatted meaning… gaps in the hedge filled with wooden stakes and twigs woven in between them. From Border Country by Raymond Williams. An old expression, but not sure if it is specific to SE Wales.

@llannerch.bsky.social I’m late getting into Raymond Williams. Reading Border Country And #TIL today I learned many things I think I should already know. Like Frail. A woven straw basket. The ‘bag for life’ of that time

#FingerPostFriday One almost fallen over. Suggesting the way to the Taff Ely Ridgeway, down to Ty’n y Coed. Plus bonus sheep wool rubbings on a fence.

The throttle cable on the cultivator is broken. So some baler twine does the job. Works just fine. I love a bushfix ( (called a bodge job in my youth) My enthusiasm for a bushfix explained here ⬇️ whatsthepont.blog/2025/01/25/i...

Today’s mushroom A bracket fungus Dryad’s Saddle (Polyporus squamous) I think. Edible apparently.

Here’s a nice mushroom. Turkey Tail, Trametes veriscolor my phone tells me. Happy to be corrected. Only seen big ones of these before. Will hopefully watch it grow.

Saw a lovely little desire path in Bridgend. Turned into a formal path. Because, ‘that’s where people actually want to walk’

You see some funny things on the road!

“I Hate Green" photographer Peter Fraser. Pontypridd, Wales 2004.