Message to the 14-Year-Old Me   Believe in yourself. You can do anything you set your heart on – except A level physics, perhaps. Well, all the sciences really.   DIY is a bit of a no-no, too. See also: driving; skiing; map reading; cooking pasta in the right quantities; relationships; origami.   Don’t even think about running your own business. Or singing in tune. Best to steer clear of all activities which require good hand-eye coordination.   Forget ice-skating, tending house plants, dealing with spiders, the correct spelling of the word ‘enjambement’. I could go on. But do not despair – for given time   and with a little luck on your side – you can achieve a basic level of competence in a limited number of simple, unremarkable things, you just need to believe in yourself. Brian Bilston

Here’s a poem called ‘Message to the 14-Year-Old Me’.

I have another #buyastrangerabook day offer for you.

@mrslscarles.bsky.social is offering to buy someone a book by the brilliant Olaf Falafel.

Here's what I can get right now.

If there's one that you'd like, get in touch.

HarperCollins Brilliant New Books Giveaway - Join the mailing list! Looking for your next great read? Win one of three amazing book bundles worth up to £140! Prizes up for grabs 10 book mega bundle: A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage, Queen of Faces, The Bab...

Win books with @harpercollins.bsky.social #booksky
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A small group of snowdrops

Snowdrops are not indigenous to Britain, & likely introduced around the 1500s, but now fully naturalised

They likely began their life here in monastery herb gardens, perhaps used medicinally

They have long been linked to celebrating light's victory over darkness

The cover of Friends of Dorothy by Sandi Toksvig. It's blue with a red slightly worn looking two seater sofa sporting a rainbow cushion. There are three pairs of shoes on the floor. The cover blurb is from Graham Norton "Warm witty and wise ... the perfect balm for these turbulent times"

Friends of Dorothy by Sandi Toksvig is a bargain 99p on Kindle today #affiliatelink
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1 [Scene is a GREGGS interior. A lone MAN, the only customer in the shop, is standing at counter] MAN: Please can I have a sausage roll. 2 GREGGS SHOP ASSISTANT: Certainly sir [She pulls a leaver on the panini machine and WOOSH the man disappears through a trapdoor]. Whoosh 3 [The MAN appears through a chute in an underground bunker. A voice from off-scene greets him]: Welcome, friend 4 [We see the voice is of a military-looking resistance COMMANDER with a moustache] COMMANDER: You said "please can I have" instead of “can I get”… So now you're one of us. 5 MAN: W-where am I ...? [We see him looking at a hi tech UNDERGROUND MILITARY BUNKER - it has resistance vibes, and has lots of screens with maps etc] 6 COMMANDER: You've joined the resistance… ...against people saying things all American. 7 COMMANDER: We are an underground network of sleeper agents poised to have a right go at young people the moment they say "mom" or "bangs”. 8 LIEUTENANT [Staring at screen]: Agent 244 has just given a Zoomer in Halifax the “could/couldn't care less" speech, sir COMMANDER: Very good 9 [Show the map of the UK with digital pop ups on it saying ‘GOTTEN’, ‘ZEE’, ‘MATH’ etc COMMANDER: You may have heard our name... We are... 10 COMMANDER: ...the Fight Against New Yankee Pronunciations and Americanisms Corrupting the King's English! 11 [Show the military command center panel. It says on the wall in big metal letters]: F.A.N.Y.P.A.C.K.E. 12 MAN You've called yourselves the 'Fanny Pack' COMMANDER: We didn't spot the acronym [/end]

This took me fucking ages

Snoakes's review of The Names 5/5: I absolutely love a story with a Sliding Doors theme and The Names by Florence Knapp is a fabulous example. In 1987, Cora is on her way to register the birth of her son. Her husband has decreed...

5 🌟 to The Names by @florenceknapp.bsky.social
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Just saw this and thought it may be useful as sightings may be possible, will need better weather though I think #thegardenjungle #Butterfly #Moth #ButterflyConservation

The cover of Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen, featuring an inflatable flamingo beach toy sporting a MAGA-style red baseball cap. There is a quote from the New York Times saying "If you could use some wild escapism right now, Hiaasen is your guy"

I badly needed some light relief, so I'm reading Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen

The cover of Box Hill byAdam Mars-Jones. It's just blue with white text.

Box Hillby Adam Mars-Jones is a bargain 99p on Kindle today #affiliatelink
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Thought of you Saturday night & had another vodka.

The cover of Dominion by Professor Alice Roberts in all its purple and gold glory. Subtitled The fall of the Roman empire and the rise of Christianity.

Domination by @profaliceroberts.bsky.social is a bargain £1.99 on Kindle today #affiliatelink
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Cover of The Artist by Lucy Steeds

The Artist by Lucy Steeds is a bargain 99p on Kindle today #affiliatelink
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Caravan is awful.

... although less used to autocorrect and its unwanted apostrophes 😉

Connections
Puzzle #963
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨

Haha! I'm getting used to Connections and it's foibles...

fifteen picture flat books, i'm giving away to a school.

SCHOOLS!

Here are fifteen books.

I'm giving them away.

If you're a UK school and would like them, let me know.

I'll pick one of you this evening.

You can share it too, if you like.

Ta.

Monetisation

The advert said
MONETISE YOUR FOLLOWERS
so he thought
he would respond

by painting them
in the changing light,
like waterlilies
in a pond.

Snoakes's review of Cleopatra 5/5: Cleopatra is a beautifully written and well-researched novel that covers the beginning of Queen Cleopatra's reign. Although her father named her as his heir, she was destined by tradition to sha...

5 kohl-lined 🌟to Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Snoakes's review of And Away... 5/5: And Away... is Bob Mortimer's memoir, in which he tells his life story in two alternating strands. The first is typical biographical fare, from childhood to fame with his comedy partner Vic Reev...

5 🌟 to And Away... by @bobmort.bsky.social
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

About half an hour after our #BigGardenBirdWatch ended, a blackcap showed up. Typical!

Three books on display. Burns Encyclopedia, Baby, and the Best of Robert Burns

Disco Inferno 🔥🔥🔥

#BurnsNight

A picture of The Artist by Lucy Steed in front of a painting of Cape Cornwall by Bill Mitchell

Fabulous #bookpost to brighten up a dreary day - thank you @biggreenbooks.bsky.social & @whyalice24.bsky.social #buyastrangerabook #booksky

The #BigGardenBirdWatch 2026 starts today

(Artist: Clive Uptton)

Mnemonic   Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. Unless a leap year is its fate, February hath twenty-eight. All the rest hath three days more, excepting January, which hath six thousand, one hundred and eighty-four. Brian Bilston

Annual reminder of how many days there are in each month.

[Scene is heaven, in clouds. JESUS, acting as God’s PA, is briefing God, a big ball of light with arms sat at an executive desk, with a computer on it]. Jesus [holding a tablet computer]: OK, so - The next one to check in on is… ‘Earth’. God: Spelling? Jesus: E-A-R-T-H. [God types into the computer] tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap. God: F—ing hell. What’s happened here!? We need to complain - get me the manager. Jesus: Uh, well, the most powerful one is… [Jesus turns his iPad round to show God. We can’t see the screen] God: What is that. I mean, it’s been a while but that’s definitely not how I designed them. Are you sure we’ve got the right planet? Jesus: Yes, this is the… top human. God: Off and on it again Jesus: I’ll book the meteor [Ends]

Off and on it

Accidentally posted before doing the alt text - apologies. It's a photo of some mountains in Mallorca

Share a photo of mountains that you've taken

I've wanted to read it for a while, so thank you 🙂