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shedworking.bsky.social
Alex Johnson
@shedworking.bsky.social
200 followers 58 following 980 posts
Writer of non-fiction books. Latest: When Books Go Bad. Online editor at Fine Books magazine, columnist at the Idler. Coined term "shedworking". Half-decent snooker player. https://thewritinghut.substack.com/
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Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
Other work by the Ladybird artists.
Mallards over the Marshes
Artist: Roland Green
A dramatic scene in moonlight as the birds take flight against the dark sky and flat landscape
November 24, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
Other work of the Ladybird artists.
‘Evening party at the big house’
Artist: Ronald Lampitt (1958)
A large 1930s house brightly lit in early evening. A small group of smartly dressed people walk towards the house, with a sense of occasion
November 23, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
stalbanscityfc.com
⏹️ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄, 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖!!!!

#SACFC 😇
November 22, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
On this day 22nd November 1859 Cecil Sharp, founder of the English folk-song revival was born. (Here he’s pictured overhearing a gardener singing)
Artist: Martin Aitchison
The gardener is pictured with a seedling box, singing his heart out in the greenhouse while Sharp approaches from the garden path
November 22, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
It would have been artist Martin Aitchison’s birthday this week (b.1919 - d. 2016)
Here are some of his books for Ladybird
A photograph showing the front covers of a pile of about 60 different ladybird books, including a number from the Peter and Jane Reading scheme and some ‘well-loved tales’
November 21, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
laurajcleaver.bsky.social
Are you interested in how people thought about the past in Middle Ages? Want to understand the books they wrote about it? We have an online short course for you! Book now for January 2026 👇 #MedievalSky palaeography.uk/study/short-...
Writing History c. 1000-1250: An Introduction to the Manuscript Sources – a short course taught by Charlie Rozier, Manuel Muñoz García and Laura Cleaver
The course will run online from 14:00-17:00: Monday 26 January – Thursday 29 January 2026. The past was a popular subject for writers in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, partic…
palaeography.uk
November 21, 2025 at 10:35 AM
shedworking.bsky.social
Out now!
jonathangibbs.bsky.social Jonathan Gibbs @jonathangibbs.bsky.social · 5d
There's still time to sign up for @shedworking.bsky.social's Personal Anthology - a dozen favourite short stories, picked and introduced.

Hitting inboxes 2pm!

Details below...
jonathangibbs.bsky.social Jonathan Gibbs @jonathangibbs.bsky.social · 6d
It's Wednesday evening, and so nearly the weekend – and A Personal Anthology. This week's guest editor, picking and introducing a dozen favourite short stories, is Alex Johnson a.k.a. @shedworking.bsky.social.

Sign up to get it your inboxes this Friday!

apersonalanthology.substack.com/about
November 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
finebooks.bsky.social
Vincent Van Gogh’s Still Life 'Romans parisiens' Sold for $63m
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...
Vincent Van Gogh’s Still Life 'Romans parisiens' Sold for $63m
Vincent Van Gogh’s Piles de romans parisiens et roses dans une verre (Romans parisiens) has been sold at Sotheby's $62.7 million which is the second highest price for a still life by the artist.It app...
www.finebooksmagazine.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
jonathangibbs.bsky.social
There's still time to sign up for @shedworking.bsky.social's Personal Anthology - a dozen favourite short stories, picked and introduced.

Hitting inboxes 2pm!

Details below...
November 21, 2025 at 1:10 PM
shedworking.bsky.social
Amusing myself this morning by amending the words of Salt-n-Pepa's Let's Talk About Sex, replacing the word 'talk' with 'write' and 'sex' with 'books', and singing it quietly to myself. Can hardly keep my cardigan on with so much chuckling. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydrt...
Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by SaltNPepaVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:25 AM
shedworking.bsky.social
Always happy to see my The Book Lover's Almanac and A Book of Book Lists (still selling well after all these years) on any book wishlist.
audryt.bsky.social Audry T. ~ she/her @audryt.bsky.social · 16d
I can't buy every #book I want, but I can take photos of books that I might be able to buy later (or borrow from the #library)...

#booksky #bookstore #booklover
Downshot of a display table covered in two rows of books for sale with their front covers on display. Top row from left to right: QUEER AS FOLKLORE; LETTERS TO MY YOUNGER QUEER SELF; HER NAME IS ALICE; unreadable green book on far right with a hand holding a phone that *might* have the title THANK YOU FOR CALLING [UNCLEAR] LESBIAN. Second bottom row of books, left to right: LITTLE BOOK OF LGBTQ+; 300,000 KISSES; PRIDE AND PREJUDICES QUEER LIVES AND THE LAW; cut off book on far right that might have the title QUEER HEROES OF MYTH AND LEGEND and author name that starts with "dan" Downshot of clear glass bookshelves in a bookstore. Sitting on the top shelf is a paperback from Peguin with a pale colored cover in dusty blue with a dark sky suggesting it is night. The illustration is of a forest with fir trees. A figure drawn in all white is a young child sitting on the back of a deer with majestic antlers. In the foreground is another person with their back to the viewer, with long hair and what might be a short dress or skit and jacket. At the top of the cover is a title with every letter circled in brown: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. Photo of two shelves of books on display face out in a bookstore. Top shelf left to right: MANUSCRIPTS IN THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS, Claire Breay & Joanna Story; ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS, ART WORD WAR, British Library; THE BOOK LOVER'S ALMANAC, Alex Johnson. Bottom shelf left to right: THE PHILOSPHY OF COCTAILS, Jane Peyton; THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS; THE ART OF THE SCRIBE - PRACTICAL PROJECTS INSPIRED BY THE CALLIGRAPHY AND ILLUMINATIONS OF MEDIAEVAL MANUSCRIPTS, Patricia Lovett; MAIDENS OR MONSTERS? TALES OF THE AMAZONS, GODDESSES QUEENS, TEMPTRESSES IN MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS by Chantry Westwell; DRAGONS, HEROES, MYTHS & MAGIC: THE MEDIEVAL ART OF STORYTELLING by Chantry Westwell, British Library; A BOOK OF BOOK LISTS, Alex Johnson; THE BRITISH HISTORY PUZZLE BOOK by Philip Parker Photo of a wall of books on display face out in a bookstore. At center is a cutout of an illustrated rearing white horse. This figure is also on all the covers in the book display as a white figure on a black and red background. A framed promotional post at the top of the image has the following text: "Picadilly recommends A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL, T. Kingfisher (new line) Retelling the story of 'The Goose Girl' with dark wit and imagination." To the left is another display board in burgundy with white text: 'Kingfisher never fails to dazzle' Peter S. Beagle
November 20, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
jonathangibbs.bsky.social
It's Wednesday evening, and so nearly the weekend – and A Personal Anthology. This week's guest editor, picking and introducing a dozen favourite short stories, is Alex Johnson a.k.a. @shedworking.bsky.social.

Sign up to get it your inboxes this Friday!

apersonalanthology.substack.com/about
About - A Personal Anthology
A weekly guest-editor picks and introduces a personal anthology of twelve favourite short stories. Click to read A Personal Anthology, by Jonathan Gibbs, a Substack publication with thousands of subsc...
apersonalanthology.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
sbrackenborough.bsky.social
I'm baffled by Radio 3's continued insistence that its listenership need instructions on how to use the smart speaker that they (apparently) own
November 19, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
leeinroyston.bsky.social
This #internationalmensday I'm delighted to announce that #Letchworth #MensShed has been shortlisted for the UK Men's Sheds Shed Awards www.thecomet.net/news/2562328... Men building social networks and communities
Community project could soon receive national recognition
Letchworth Men’s Shed has been shortlisted in the Community Project category at the UK Men’s Sheds Awards 2025 for its work refurbishing the…
www.thecomet.net
November 19, 2025 at 12:01 PM
shedworking.bsky.social
Heavy snow in St Albans
November 19, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
financialtimes.com
Good morning, New York. While you were sleeping, this was the most-read story on.ft.com/47WDgKJ
November 18, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
richove.bsky.social
Good to see the problems facing our colleagues @britishlibrary.bsky.social being raised here by @hetanshah.bsky.social (of @britishacademy.bsky.social). If this had happened in France it would be considered a national problem to be urgently addressed! www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
“The beech is one of our largest and most beautiful forest trees”
(Trees, 1963)
Artist: SR Badmin
View of a beech wood looking up at the lovely autumnal orange foliage . In the foreground, we see the fruit and a close-up of the leaves
November 17, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
“On a willow twig a kingfisher perches. It watches the eels with interest, but these are well-grown and too big for him to catch”

‘What to Look for in Autumn’
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe Writer:
EL Grant Watson
A tiny kingfisher gleams out from dense overarching willows bordering a narrow river
November 16, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
calonbooks.bsky.social
The weather is now well and truly wintery...which is perfect reading weather!

Why not curl up with @shedworking.bsky.social's wonderful book about books 'My Year of Reading Welshly: Discovering Wales in 52 Books' and find some inspiration for your next read too!

www.uwp.co.uk/book/my-year...
November 14, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
finebooks.bsky.social
Letter Written on Prison-Issue Toilet Roll in Women's Suffrage Auction
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...
Letter Written on Prison-Issue Toilet Roll in Women's Suffrage Auction
The Bonhams Deeds Not Words: A Women's Suffrage Collection online auction running November 10 – 20 features a single owner collection of rare suffragette memorabilia.The sale includes letters, photogr...
www.finebooksmagazine.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
Happy Friday!

‘Gallant Old Engine’ (1962)
(Ladybird Artist John Kenney also illustrated for Rev. W. Awdry’s Railway Series)
Scene from Railway Series book of a red steam engine battling through rain and gale - with a very annoyed look on its face
November 14, 2025 at 8:10 AM
shedworking.bsky.social
New specs. Be honest.
November 12, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Alex Johnson
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘November’ (1958)
Artist: Ronald Lampitt
The bottom of a very large garden sees lots of gardening activity on a sunny autumn day. A man digs a border, a woman and small dog sweep up and another woman wheelbarrows away debris
November 11, 2025 at 7:05 PM
shedworking.bsky.social
"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever; and this is our testimony to the whole world." Declaration of Friends to Charles II, 1660, better known nowadays as The Quaker Peace Testimony.
November 11, 2025 at 10:45 AM