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river714.bsky.social
@river714.bsky.social
130 followers 150 following 180 posts
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hookland.bsky.social
Christmas is hard for many. The years roll, the ghosts at the table increase. We’re haunted by the absence of voices, of laughter engines who drank and ate with us. This can be day of remembrance rituals. For what it’s worth, Hooklanders near and far are in my candles today. Be gentle on yourselves.
December 25, 2025 at 10:09 AM
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rhodri.biz
You spectacularly generous people have raised £13k so far. We have a beyond-excited three year old likely to wake us at 5am, so it’s an early night here. I’ll have to catch up with the pix in the morning ♥️ #DuvetKnowItsChristmas

www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...
Donate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025, organized by Rhodri Marsden
Unbelievably, it's the 15th year of this thing. What is it? Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025
www.gofundme.com
December 24, 2025 at 10:24 PM
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13sarahmurphy.bsky.social
Letter to the FT that stingingly sums up Brexit and the shit creek we now find ourselves in.
A terrible idea (naive, prejudiced and uninformed) that has deeply divided us and left us poorer and less secure… but unwilling to face up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves. While the EU moves on.
FINANCIAL TIMES I was amused - and saddened - to read the latest instalment of the Brexiters' excuses for the poor performance over recent years of the UK economy and the UK's politics. In "Implementation of Brexit became a business fiasco" (Markets Insight, December 19), Paul Marshall acknowledges the cost of the UK's decision to leave the EU. But rather than acknowledge that his analysis was wrong - cutting ties with your biggest trading partner is never a good idea - Marshall blames bad implementation, and the fact that the EU didn't cut the UK some slack. Implementation of Brexit by the UK has indeed been poor, but that's a direct consequence of the political crisis that everyone should have expected following such a major decision on the back of one simple 52/48 referendum vote at the conclusion of a mind-bogglingly uninformed debate by both sides. That includes the Brexiters' naive insistence that the EU would bend to UK demands and grant it all sorts of privileges not enjoyed by others. So, the roughly 8 per cent of GDP loss in UK output since the Brexit decision in 2016 is easily explained by three perfectly predictable factors: it was a bad economic decision; it has split UK society politically; and the EU27 has moved on. It's time for those who led the UK down this disastrous path to stand up and acknowledge their wrong analysis and naive understanding of Europe. Until that happens, how can one even hope that the UK will begin to heal? Erik Fossing Nielsen Senior Adviser, Independent Economics (a London-based economics advisory firm); Former Chief Economist, UniCredit, and Former Chief European Economist, Goldman Sachs, Berlin, Germany
December 24, 2025 at 8:31 AM
river714.bsky.social
Happy #WinterSolstice Wishing festive fun and winter magic for all!
Ronsak, an ancient oak in the Shropshire landscape. The hollow trunk is surrounded by green fields. In the distance the winter sun starts to set - photo taken a few days ago.
December 21, 2025 at 11:15 AM
river714.bsky.social
Brilliant coverage of the solstice at #NewgrangeSolstice. Wonderful
December 21, 2025 at 9:24 AM
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reviewwales.bsky.social
"Have a swingin' pagan solstice"
The Simpsons
#WinterSolstice
December 21, 2025 at 7:22 AM
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alisonfisk.bsky.social
Wow, “French marine archaeologists have discovered a massive undersea wall off the coast of Brittany, dating from around 5,000 BC”.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Huge undersea wall dating from 5000 BC found in France
The 120 metre wall was either a fish-trap or a dyke for protection against rising sea-levels, archeologists believe.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 8:53 PM
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prum.bsky.social
I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.
December 2, 2025 at 10:59 AM
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silverpebble2.bsky.social
My mental health declined pretty badly last wk but some of you asked for more photos like the hunt-the-tiny-owl one I made & I wanted to try to make an advent calendar so:some lovely things that fell off trees & this time a tiny deer stag to find.
Do let me know if you enjoy this & I'll make more 🦌
Cones, sycamore keys, dried berries, acorns & their caps, seedheads & lichen twigs arranged on a white background. Hidden in the photo is a tiny deer stag for you to find.
December 1, 2025 at 8:11 PM
river714.bsky.social
Good Morning and Happy #ThickTrunkTuesday all!
Large oak surrounded by grass, next to a wire fence and wooden posts. On the right you can see the green field beyond. On the left, a smaller bush and a pathway leading up the hill. There are more trees and some blue sky in the background on the right. Photo taken in October.
November 25, 2025 at 7:29 AM
river714.bsky.social
Happy#thicktrunktuesday to you all! An oak enjoying the sunshine last month.
Large trunk of an oak tree, with moss on the lower trunk and grass around the roots. A wooden fence is seen to the left of the trunk. Behind are hedges either side of a road. The sun is out as this photo was taken in early October, near Church Stretton in Shropshire
November 18, 2025 at 7:42 AM
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annelouiseavery.bsky.social
It was exactly ten days from Wolf's birthday on the 23rd November, and, as usual, he had spent many blissful hours in the High attic inscribing a long and complicated list of wished-for presents. He'd gathered together all the home catalogues in the cottage, enormous tomes from every corner of London including the Army & Navy Stores, Marshall & Snelgrove, Derry & Toms, Harrods, Fortnum's, Robinson & Cleaver, Liberty's and Druce & Co of Baker Street. In each book, he ringed possibilities with a fiery red Roché pastel, folded corners and placed dozens of newspaper bookmarks. When he finally finished, he presented the tall pile & his three-page list to Old Fox, who had the unenviable task of sorting through it all to find a reasonable & balanced selection, which could also be ordered in time.
November 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
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silverpebble2.bsky.social
If you’re daunted by the prospect of late autumn & winter & are able to get outside, here’s a film I made for @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social with 5 scientifically proven nature-based tips to alleviate anxiety & lift your mood 🌿🧠:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
BBC Two - Autumnwatch, 2020, Episode 3, 5 simple ways: Nature can help your mood
Emma Mitchell guides us through a natural take on wellbeing this Autumn.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
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racheldeering.bsky.social
🎃 #Gothtober #31daysofhalloween
Vintage Halloween card BEWARE! THE TIME IS HERE IN WHICH THE WITCHES DO APPEAR. A woman with blonde hair in a blue dress peers around a grandfather clock with ALL HALLOWEEN as the numbers on the clock and a pumpkin as the pendulum. Also a black cat leans around the other side of the clock with the shadow of a witch.
October 8, 2025 at 8:35 PM
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sarahdesigns.bsky.social
I've had a productive day and am very pleased to have a lovely box full of cards ready to deliver to a local shop tomorrow.

PS It would be silly not to mention that the designs are also all available on Etsy in the UK! 😁
#greetingcards #shopindie #EtsyUK

www.etsy.com/shop/SarahRo...
This is a photograph of a cardboard box full of greeting cards. Most of them are linocut designs and are in packs tied with twine.
October 6, 2025 at 7:29 PM
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silverpebble2.bsky.social
Just 5 spaces left on my small museums for mental health w'shop this Sat,on how collecting & arranging small objects improves mental health.
Incl BRILLIANT research showing that playing TETRIS makes us more resilient to stress
👇Earlybird price expires tmrw👇
workshops.emmamitchell.uk/courses/smal...
September 29, 2025 at 5:38 PM
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ottoenglish.bsky.social
Nathan Gill is no fringe politician.

He was the leader of the Reform Party and before that UKIP in Wales.

A Brexit Party MEP.

A friend and ally of Nigel Farage, who in 2016 called him:

"terrific," and "as honest as the day is long."

This is a MASSIVE story

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery
Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 27, 2025 at 10:05 AM
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coldwarsteve.bsky.social
September 18, 2025 at 10:21 AM
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silverpebble2.bsky.social
My new small museums for mental health w'shop is on Sat 4 Oct
Recent compelling research shows that collecting & arranging collections neatly alleviates anxiety & lifts mood.
Includes:
🌿2 hr zoom-we'll make & photograph small museums
🗝️30% off my Etsy shop:
workshops.emmamitchell.uk/courses/smal...
September 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
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sarahdesigns.bsky.social
Some customers leave the nicest reviews and it's always hugely appreciated!
''Always a treat to receive a parcel from this maker and seller. Beautiful cards, sustainably packaged with stylish care.''

sarahrobinsondesigns.etsy.com/listing/1709...
A photo of 4 greeting cards from linocuts featuring designs of Bluebells carved out in white on green and blue backgrounds. They are on a wooden table, surrounded by wild flowers.
September 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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annelouiseavery.bsky.social
Old Fox climbed the familiar track winding through the gorse, Meadow Browns fluttering before him like sombre heralds, up to the top of Barrowdown. There in that light, that gold-milled early September light, he called for help, help from the tattery ghosts of thatch & field & acre.
Illustration by Cecil Aldin. Meadow Brown photo by UK Butterflies. Autumn Scene, Hengistbury Head from Southbourne, Dorset, Arthur George Bell (1849–1916), Red House Museum and Gardens.
September 1, 2025 at 9:54 AM
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silverpebble2.bsky.social
Feeling slightly low? Look for the tiny Hawaiian Trochus shell in my photo👇🏼, drilled around 100 years ago to make into a beautiful bead. When you find it your brain will release a ping of dopamine, lifting your mood slightly-a small brain hack for you 🐚
silverpebble2.bsky.social Emma Mitchell @silverpebble2.bsky.social · Sep 1
For much of this year depression has burgled almost everything about me. I’ve made this photo to show that I’m still here, even if I’m in tiny bits: old marbles, Roman beads, a tiny 17th C fox, 1930s toy flowers, a medieval key. Making this helped my brain, looking at the details might help yours…
September 1, 2025 at 12:50 PM
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folkloretwitcher.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Activists blend science and folklore as they try to revive Somerset’s eel population
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Feargal Sharkey back campaign to save the animal, which once inspired placenames, songs and stories
www.theguardian.com
August 28, 2025 at 8:33 PM