Simon Varwell

Text in love heart inset: IN MEMORY OF JOHN MAINLAND AGED 31 YEARS WHO DIED 30 FEB 1887

The gravestone in context. St Magnus Cathedral to the left

Kirkwall's 30 February gravestone

That seems a reasonable explanation if nothing better.

Jurassic Park meme

Jurassic Park meme

Jurassic Park meme

Blue sky in Aberdeen shocker

What’s the story there?

Ireland announces scheme to provide basic income for artists The Basic Income for Artists (BIA) project is believed to be the first permanent one of its kind in the world.

Intrigued by this, but of course it isn't a universal basic income because it is limited and by application. The whole point is that by offering it to all you avoid some of the bureaucracy of selection. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I hope that was his goal celebration.

Sounds like you have a great sense of humous.

I was raging, blew my big top.

Not only did tonight’s match for Killie make them unofficial Scottish champions, it was also notable because of a hat trick for The Cat’s nephew.

I got sacked from the circus. So I sued them for funfair dismissal.

That boundary presents many questions. That one’s the biggest.

Blow up your Ring cam
Migrate your Substack
Go to the country
Build you a home
Plant a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus
On your own

Self-styled 'middle of nowhere' restaurants awarded Michelin stars Killiecrankie House and 1887 in Torridon were both awarded one star this year.

Apparently Killiecrankie, a little over an hour and a half from Glasgow, and Torridon, a similar distance to Inverness, are remote. #RemoteWatch
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I wish I had not heard about this controversy.

This is fascinating. Sending that to my work self!

It was!

Über-woke, net-zeroist rejoinerism sounds fabulous actually. Where do I sign up?

A metaphor for something, I hope.

A lasagne in an oven.

A serving of lasagne with some salad in a shallow pasta bowl.

…and then put it in the oven and then, obviously, eat it.

Verdict: could’ve made more béchamel, and perhaps added a bit more flavour to bolognese sauce (don’t think I remembered to put in salt). But overall pretty good.

I had no idea she was buried down there! Well well.

'The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots' by Robert Herdman, 1867 in Kelvingrove At Gallery, Glasgow.

She was beheaded #OTD 8 February 1587 at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire. The execution was reportedly a messy one, several strokes being required to remove her head. 1/3

A view of military buildings through an arched tunnel.

A chapel and small shed, both in red brick.

A tree overshadowing a parade ground. There are grand looking military buildings in the background.

A somewhat battered briefcase next to a swastika flag, in a museum display case.

Fort George as a complex is a funny place. Impressive architecturally, but cold, exposed and a bit austere. Plus tone deaf about the colonial legacy it is a part of. There is a briefcase used by Hitler however (not, I believe, recently) in the regimental museum.

A Lego reconstruction of the Treasury in Petra, Jordan.

A Lego reconstruction of the statue of Zeus. A seated figure is in a columned room.

A Lego reconstruction of the old London Bridge. Which is a bridge in London but old. It’s got buildings and stuff on it.

A Lego reconstruction of a tram stop. And yes good infrastructure and trams are all a part of modern wonders of the world.

Went yesterday to Fort George to see the Brick Wonders exhibition. Impressive stuff.

The makings of a lasagne: two small pans (one with a bechemel sauce in the making, and the other with hot milk which I’m feeding into the sauce bit by bit), and behind that is a bigger pot with bolognese sauce in, and on the left is an oven dish with me beginning to layer different foods on top of each other.

…assemble the lasagna and bung it in the fridge on day 2 (or the morning of day 3 if you are out on day 2 and get back to late to do it)…

Not as vital as the similar circle required to link Inverness, Elgin, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, Lochearnhead, Tyndrum, Fort William and back to Inverness.

I thought this was an amateurish spoof at first.

Goodness. As if Ukrainian drivers don’t have enough to worry about.

Stars in the dark night sky, plus a wisp of cloud. The stars are Orion’s Belt.

And here’s Orion’s Belt. In case he’s looking for it.

A photo of a night sky. A cloud illuminated by urban lights is not a million miles away from looking like the Isle of Mull.

Just seen a cloud that looks like Mull.