Shelly Dennison

two stuffed animals are standing next to a lamp with the words light the lamp not the rat below them Alt: two stuffed animals are standing next to a lamp with the words light the lamp not the rat below them

Christmas cards written.

Have a not very relevant Muppet Christmas Carol gif to celebrate.

We made a strategic decision to get an early start so we could hopefully be heading home before it got properly busy, which I think we just about achieved but it was still too crowded for me really. It doesn't help that they put the Christmas wonderland kids thing right outside JL.

Christmas gift buying completed! Everyone in the world appeared to be in John Lewis in Milton Keynes this morning, although mercifully not in the cafe where we managed to obtain not only a table but tea and scones, so I'll take that as a win.

We've got one of those. I leave it to my husband to put together 😂

Creation Care and Christian Mission.

Creation Care and Christian Mission. The course is online, and is taught by me & Margot Hodson, with guest speakers. It will begin on Tues 13th Jan. 2026 at 2pm (for between 1.5 and 3 hours a week) and run for 10 weeks out of the next 11. For more information: www.allnations.ac.uk/courses/crea...

Yep.

One of my most ridiculous habits is apologising to people who spell my name wrong.

It's a slightly clickbaity headline if you read his comments in full tbf.

We have raised a complaint so we'll see. UPS do at least make it reasonably straightforward to talk to a human being.

Why are courier companies like this?

It comes in the same category as 'it never did me any harm' - clearly it did if you think it's an excuse for causing distress.

Place your bets now. Will today be third time lucky for UPS and their attempts to deliver a parcel to us?

They keep recording it as a no answer, despite the fact we've been in on both occasions and it's not so big a house that we'd not hear... 🙄

😂

Some sort of fluey thing I think. I don't feel too bad at the moment but we'll see how it goes.

Husband's gone to back to bed feeling rotten. I don't like my chances.

Lots of post today. None of it for us mind. Mostly for next door plus one for a completely different road 🤦‍♀️

Starting to feel very thick headed this afternoon. I do not have time for a cold... 😬

A Bedfordshire A-Z My series of posts for CPRE Bedfordshire was designed to help readers to explore the county via an A-Z of Bedfordshire places, landscapes and history. Each post included tips for walks and places t…

You can find the full list of the features here: shellydennison.co.uk/2024/07/14/a...

I've prepped T is for which should be published in January and am working on outlines for U-Z so if you've been following the series it should hopefully be continuing after I leave.

S is for Shire CPRE Bedfordshire is working to enhance, promote and protect Bedfordshire's countryside. Love Bedfordshire's beautiful rural areas? Find out more and get involved.

The latest (and last!) of my A-Z features for CPRE Bedfordshire is now up.

In this post I go right back to the beginning to ask how Bedfordshire got its name and what life was like for those early residents of the area.

www.cprebeds.org.uk/discover/s-i...

It's perfect for this time of year.

Flocks of seabirds on the Wash.

@tarsociety.bsky.social @aransome.bsky.social

Winter Holiday Finding the North Pole with Arthur Ransome

The final post (for now anyway!) in my series revisiting some of my favourite childhood books looks at Arthur Ransome’s Winter Holiday.

It’s lovely and sunny here today so this doesn’t feel quite as seasonal as I’d hoped but never mind!

shellydennison.substack.com/p/winter-hol...

The badgers segment (assuming you're watching Wild Isles) was just the loveliest thing.

And don't get me started on Bingley being linked to Lancashire.

I assume we were all shouting Pride and Prejudice at the television this evening... #OnlyConnect

Monday, 1st December Sealed Roman Sarcophagus | Prehistoric Mass Murder | Stone-Age Chewing Gum | The Languages of Al-Andalus

My new project! 📰

A WHOLE LOT OF HISTORY is a new Substack newsletter written by me.

AWLOH curates fascinating history and archaeology stories and media from around the world - giving you the peer-reviewed paper link - and brings them all directly to your inbox: open.substack.com/pub/historyh...

a dalmatian dog is looking at a clock with the words `` counting down '' written on it . Alt: a dalmatian dog is looking at a clock with the words `` counting down '' written on it .

This December feels more than usually like a countdown month, there's always Christmas and my birthday but this year I'm also leaving my job so it's very much a 'how many days to...' vibe at the moment!

Happy 12 days of being annoyed by corporate social media accounts who don't know when the 12 days of Christmas are, fellow-pedants.