Helen Parker

Shout out to the cashier in Tesco who couldn't believe I actually wanted to buy 24 stamps! '3 books of 8?! Are you really sure? Really?' Explained they were for Christmas cards - 'Wow you must really love those people - A LOT!'

A survey for Health Care Professionals with ME and/or Long Covid. If you're affected please consider filling it in, or sharing with those you know who fit the bill. #slpeeps

111 responses in one week. Thank you all. Responses from over 20 professions. A few professions not reached yet - Dentist, Chiropodist/podiatrist, Hearing aid practitioner,
Orthoptist, Paramedic, Radiographer. Please share widely thx @physiosforme.bsky.social

www.physiosforme.com/hcpwithmesur...

Pastel shades, flat sea

26th November 2025 07.40

Ooh tricky to choose - thank you for the recs! I reckon possession sounds like the one! Thank you and happy birthday!

I've had a #BuyAStrangerABook before, but wouldn't want this birthday offer to go unappreciated! Beth Moran is my fave, like a bit of chronic illness representation, enjoy 'chick lit' light reading but also a deeper read sometimes, jodi picoult etc. Read BBC 100 books and enjoyed most of them!

Reams can come true

My dad has cheese salad sandwiches for his lunch every weekday and has done for all 38 years of his marriage (probably longer)! In a heatwave it changes to a cheese salad (no sandwich) but that's about as much variety as he has!

Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita needed a locksmith to get back into their convent, defying Church leaders.

I love this! Well done fabulous nuns!

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

I hold a book in two hands to read - I struggle with strain when holding single handed. Tried one of those opener whatnots - it definitely improved it, but for me, I just stick with double-hand holding. Pushed open the spine a tad more, but not in a damaging way

Thinking I might have it as my bedtime reading tonight in honour 😢🥰

Each Peach Pear Plum was one of my fave books - I still have it and still know all the words!

I kinda wanted to know how old it thought I was, but was also *very* pleased that it didn't tell me how old it thought I looked!

MPs and much of the media have spun a false narrative about tonight’s Universal Credit vote. The PIP pause has created the myth the government has fully u-turned on its disability cuts. But £2 billion is about to be pulled from the sickest and poorest people in the country.

Kendall says Pip claimants who get reassessed after November 2026 will be reassessed under new rules, not current ones Vicky Foxcroft, who resigned as a Labour whip over the bill, asked if the Timms review would have the power to review the budget savings being achieved by these cuts. And she asked what would happen if someone requested a reassessment because of worsening health conditions. Would they be reassessed under the old criteria or the new one? Kendall said that the Timms review was not being driven by the need to save money. (That did not fully address the question. Foxcroft wanted to know if it would be able to recommend more spending.) And Kendall said people can request a reassessment. If that happens before November 2026, that will be under the old system. After that, it will be under the new system, she said.

NEW: Liz Kendall has told MPs that if a disabled person currently on PIP requests a reassessment after November 2026 because of worsening health, they will be assessed on the new tougher criteria.

This confirms The Guardian’s report that those with fluctuating conditions will not be protected.

Changes to benefit reforms reduce saving from bill by £3bn in 2029-30 but create huge difference in support between claimants | Institute for Fiscal Studies These changes more than halve the saving of the package of reforms, making the Chancellor’s already difficult Budget balancing act much harder.

Starmer's concessions on disability benefit cuts are divide and rule.

A disabled person applying before Nov 2026 would get Pip and UC health element, receives £8,930 in total.

Person applying after Nov 2026 would get £2,370, no PIP.

Inhumane Bill must be stopped.

Thank you Lib Dem MPs

Come on Beeb - a computerised/AI translation of the new Pope's speech?! So disappointed!

Hmm I think I do it in a kind of all in one movement?! I think it it's probably similar to the suggestion above of arm-head-arm. But of course as soon as you think about it, any idea of your natural technique goes out the window!

IT'S WEDNESDAY!

It's #buyastrangerabook day.

The grooviest of all the days.

I'll give out TWO books.

FOR FREE.

If you'd like one, let me know.

Also, if you'd like to #BuyAStrangerABook too, let me know.

It's a thing! Look.

www.biggreenbookshop.com/stuff-you-mi...

UK ONLY.

If you like reading, consider taking up this offer (similar ones every Wednesday)! Don't feel like it's not for you, enjoy the boost from knowing someone wants to brighten your day. And think about how sad the person will be if no one wants to take up their lovely generous offer!

That is dedication! I'd have thrown the whole thing at the wall in anger long ago! Lol

I've heard the trans museum exhibit is excellent. (I can remember very little about either the museum or exhibition name, but I'm sure if you Google it, it will help you!) Transcestry springs to mind I think

I have never understood TikTok (something which makes me feel very old!) But if it's your bag, here's a BlueSky version for you!

If you’re on #DisabilityBenefits, it’s ok to have hobbies, holidays, food deliveries, and so on. Benefits exist so disabled people can live safely, independently, with quality of life. Don’t let government rhetoric make you feel guilty for existing.

Unless people say otherwise, no collars (I reckon most people won't bother) and like mid casual - not dungas but not smart trousers

This is shocking and unacceptable. And the fact that mainstream media aren't reporting is poor.

Thank you so much for your generosity @apcrft.bsky.social -you've made a gloomy day a lot brighter :)

I would love this today if noone has already snapped it up.

Benefit cuts with a red rosette are in many ways no different than those stained in blue. Joints still throb when the heating has to be switched off in winter. Stomachs still pang with hunger when there is only a biscuit for tea. And yet cuts signed off by a Labour Chancellor are in a sense particularly brutal. They come with a tinge, not just of fear, but despair and betrayal. The feeling that if this is life under the “good guys”, there really is no hope that anything will get better. Politicians, it turns out, really are all the same. That is the sort of loss that can’t be measured by a Treasury spreadsheet. It is also one that - once lost - is deeply hard to get back.