Tobias Jones

Stunning Salamanca.

Carcassonne!

Yes, that's the one!

Road trip Parma-Portugal. First stop Nîmes.

Moodstorming I aint feeling it

Emotional credibility: the best way to get this reader to suspend disbelief.
And an appeal for funds for Windsor Hill Wood!
Please read, share, subscribe, discuss, donate.

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Moodstorming I aint feeling it

Emotional credibility: the best way to get this reader to suspend disbelief.
And an appeal for funds for Windsor Hill Wood!
Please read, share, subscribe, discuss, donate.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Thank you!

Hey Mohammed. We're horrified to hear about what is happening. But I can't see any campaign link - what page? Your Bsky one?

Best village name in Abruzzo (here on the crest below the summit: half-abandoned, half-rebuilt):
Buonanotte (aka. Malanotte).
Quite the story / legend:
it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montebe...

Percentage increase of wages in real terms 1994-2024.
Don't come to Italy if you want to earn well.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

Two nations, two cultures, one Euro 2020 final – and my divided family Nationalism is more nuanced when you’re from an Anglo-Italian family. And this tournament has been about more than football: it’s a celebration of diversity

Since there's another big game between Italy & England:

www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Slinging Product Some thoughts about money and currencies in writing

Thinking about the alchemy of turning words into dough:

tobiasjones.substack.com/p/slinging-p...

Classic cashmere purveyor Loro Piana placed under court monitoring over worker abuse Cashmere king Loro Piana, part of LVMH's luxury empire, became on Monday the fifth high-end brand to be put under judicial administration in Italy over worker abuses in supply chains, after an investigation that has tainted the image of Italian luxury goods.

Once again, a luxury brand is revealed to be using sweatshops in Italy where gangmasters exploit "illegals" and minors. The mark-ups say everything: from €4, to €118-128, to €2-3 thou!

www.reuters.com/business/ret...

This is like an official pass, right? Thinking I might get me one.

Shiney, plump blackberries hanging on garden steps.

Of all my crops, the most bounteous is always the one I do no work on!

Sister Corita Kent’s 10 Rules for Students, Teachers, and Life, Beloved by John Cage “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.”

Wasn't this at the very least co-created by Sister Corita Kent?

www.themarginalian.org/2012/08/10/1...

Tools of the Trade ... and joys of messing with your materials

This is a great read!
Share and subscribe - done for love not money ('tis free).

open.substack.com/pub/tobiasjo...

Made it. Great cycle paths. Another lovely, pink-brick castle!

Cycling from Parma to Ferrara, so stopped for a night in Carpi. Unusual castle 👇

Have explored a great new place this week. It's a mouthful: the Parco Naturale delle Capanne di Marcarolo (just north of Genova). The swimming & cycling were unbelievable. Dense with butterflies. Fireflies like gentle sparklers at night. Almost no humans! Nobody in Parma has ever heard of it...

They say: "drowned in butter and dried with parmesan"!

San Giovanni in Parma: tortelli d'erbette to be eaten in the garden (where you're supposed to wash your face with the dew come dawn!) We made 173, but some are so big they're doublers 🤦🏻[note good use of F clamps!]

Voice Finding it, Using it

Some thoughts about voice:
(do subscribe, it's free!)

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Una residenza a fine luglio per chi vuole partecipare (una settimana in Abruzzo con cibo eccelente, vino buono, piscina fresca, compagnia premurosa ecc.!):

www.comesiscriveunagrandestoria.it/residenza-di...

Ooh, I recognise that prose!

Having just taken a few women clothes shopping around Parma (long and happy story) I enjoyed this article:

www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025...

Billionaires make bad politicians. Musk and Trump think business smarts translate to government, but politics isn’t about winning at all costs. It’s compromise, not control. And history shows: when entrepreneurs enter politics, chaos usually follows.

Full story by ‘Slicker’ in the latest issue.

Commandments for Good Writing (which can all be broken!)

Top writing advice from the experts 👇
Do subscribe (it's free!)... or you can buy me a cuppa once a fortnight if you're feeling generous.

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A couple of weeks ago I was wakened by the sound of a pack of wolves in the valley below. Quite a visceral feeling, but you do feel you are part of something not really in your control.