Peter McCullough

Two white plates of caprese, with sliced tomatoes over a bed of basil leaves, topped with torn burrata.

It’s clean-out-the-greenhouse night. (Not the burrata, obviously),

No sudden rupture is now required for the far right to take power in this country. For what we're seeing is a steady normalisation of extremists by the Conservative and Labour Parties, BBC, Telegraph, Mail and others. A shift once considered unthinkable beings to look acceptable, even inevitable.🧵

Congratulations!

Truth.

Ok, just had the leisure to enlarge. Engagement membrillo? 👀

Good point. 👇

We need to get over the fact that no one takes VHS cassettes on free cycle days.

Woo hoo!

*swoon* I mean, their fabrics alone make one an addict.

Next year! (Hope springs eternal &c!)

A large wicker basket full of yellow quinces.

Hadn’t realised *quite* how many quinces were on our little tree. Jelly and membrillo day it seems.

It must be said though, that that story is so *North* Oxford as to look like a spoof. A part of the Oxford fabric, but still.

An Oxford treasure indeed. 👍

Wonderful, John, thank you (as always).

How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More - Consumer Reports AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.

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Thank you! It’s my second; old one in lighter fabric only lasted 5 yrs. LOVE the lining colour on this one.

New navy blue canvas shoulder bag with a dark yellow lining, zip close across top, two outer pockets, and a brown leather strap.

Well that almost broke me (stiff canvas, lining, zipper), but I now have a new bag ready for term to start. (Pattern and fabric from Merchant & Mills, Rye.)

Oh, and those lectures I wanted to revise . . .

The importance of ceremonies like these is not merely in honoring those who fought for what was right when so many were wrong. It’s also to remind us, in this age, that determined people doing the right thing is never easy — and always worth it.

From Berwick, Robert Gascoigne, a royal messenger, writes to Walsingham complaining of incompetence in the postal system the north-east; apparently letters took 17 hours to get from 30 miles from Berwick to Alnwick. The excuse was that the postman's boy fell in the water. 4/

Poster: detail from Lincoln's Inn stained glass window showing palatial buildings, with a forest covered landscape beyond. In the foreground are two men in hats and cloaks having a little chat. A dog runs towards them from the right. In the centre of the poster is a black circle containing the following text TEXT: Call for Papers on John Donne and Architecture 13th January 2026 Lincoln College, Oxford Keynote Speaker: Professor Peter McCullough Please send abstract of up to 250 words to Leah Veronese-Clucas (leah.veronese-clucas@univ.ox.ac.uk) & Paul Norris (paul.norris@bnc.ox.ac.uk) by 14th November 2025

Call for Papers John Donne’s Architecture Submission Deadline: 14th November 2025 Event Date: 13th January 2026, Lincoln College, Oxford Keynote Speaker: Professor Peter McCullough. We welcome 150–250 word abstracts for twenty-minute papers relating to any aspect of Donne and architecture from critics and historians of literature, architecture and related fields. Potential topics include (but are not limited to): The use of buildings in rhetoric or the arts of memory. Donne’s metaphorical use of architecture, as well as related disciplines such as geometry, cartography, and visual art. The buildings in which Donne lived, worked and preached (e.g. the Chapel Royal, York House, St Paul’s Cathedral, Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, St Dunstan’s in the West, etc.) and their influence on his life and work. Donne’s encounters with buildings on his travels through Europe. The relationship of literary to architectural form. Please send proposals or enquiries to Leah Veronese-Clucas (leah.veronese-clucas@univ.ox.ac.uk) and Paul Norris (paul.norris@bnc.ox.ac.uk).

Very excited to be running this conference with Paul Norris. Delighted to have @mcculloughp.bsky.social as our keynote speaker. We can't wait to hear your ideas! Please share widely

I couldn’t possibly comment. 😂

👀

We had egg hunts too, but probably more rustic in the Gold Country (e.g. always found some in the woodpile). And OMG how’s this for a 70s tragicomedy of trying to look butch with an Easter basket in the obligatory annual family photo?

And yes, about what’s beyond the hedge!

Oh that’s wonderful to know. Where was it? Ours is heavily influenced by my partner’s grandparents near here, where he also grew up. I guess what I bring to it from CA is the family tradition of veg growing (out of shot in this one) and Dad’s 70s organic obsession.

Surely you jest?

What could possibly go wrong with putting Mr ‘I haven’t had to solve a real problem since 2007 and now I believe AI will solve everything’ in charge of a neo-colonial project he was unable to succeed in as a much younger man.

What the?

Also, and to me only, known as The Humanities Centre. Thank you.

Thank you!