I watched a squirrel sitting on top of my fence take a bite out of something and then just chucking the rest. And it kept on doing it 😒
Likes history, genealogy, art, movies, small furry animals and terrible jokes. Possesses a (mostly) logical mind and a vivid imagination. Born and rared in Belfast, and back there after wandering round Scotland and London.
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I watched a squirrel sitting on top of my fence take a bite out of something and then just chucking the rest. And it kept on doing it 😒
Tiny mushrooms after the rain, with blades of grass for scale Mortonhall #Edinburgh #FungiFriends
🥳💃
Their toasted teacakes are also a thing of joy
Roger Lewis’s biography of Hawtrey, including incidents which happened here, is illuminating and utterly depressing.
It's gone around as a meme a few times, I just googled it :-).
Use it anyway. There's even a footnote you can borrow.
#Caturday
TBH I didn't realise at the time what it was, I wasn't expecting it and it looked very different at that angle. It was flying low, and making a lot of noise (the birds were freaked out). I only looked out the window because of the noise, and it flew over, turned, and flew back again overhead.
A Lancaster Bomber just flew over my house.
Hi, welcome to our new website. It looked AMAZING on our consultant / designer / brandtrepreneur's tablet, sorry it's absolute bobbins on a laptop.
I will do that if I think I can find the answer, but in this case it became obvious that there wasn't enough info for a conclusion I could be confident in. I'm getting better at picking and choosing my challenges, unless I'm in a particularly stubborn mood!
Scattered around, but the locations don't really help. I've given up for now, in the hope that more clues come to light, because otherwise I was just wasting time.
It's probably appropriate for Rayner to resign, but it's galling to know that people are openly doing much worse and will never face any consequences, because of rampant hypocrisy.
Honey, weve all been there.
Trying to find the identity / maiden name of Mrs Distinctive Husband's Name, with little to go on but the name. It should have been fairly straightforward, but unfortunately Mr Distinctive Name (whoever he was) had lots of Cousin, Uncle and Nephew Distinctive Names.
(The quote is a genuine one, btw)
Male artist writing of other male artist's painting of a female model: "He has read this woman’s soul and put it on canvas with infinite power and pity." Female model: He had better pay me in full and none of that funny stuff this time. Wish he'd close that window. I'm getting cramp in my leg.
Whistling at the Proms must be absolutely nerve-wracking. Slightest touch of nerves, mouth dries up, nothing comes out...
#IrishGenealogy
Probably not. He's been on the run for a couple of months. I wonder if they've only just noticed, or if they were hoping he'd come back in after his holidays, no questions asked - maybe bring them back some duty free...
He's absconded twice. The first time was when he was on compassionate bail for a funeral. The second time was... when he was on compassionate bail for a funeral.
The Sesame Street library is coming to YouTube Beginning in January ‘26, YouTube will have the largest digital library of Sesame Street content, with 100s of episodes coming to the Sesame Street channels. Join us as we help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder, 1 episode at a time
The cement mixer has been switched off for the day, and it's like the eerie silence during an eclipse.
NEW PUBLIC LECTURE PROGRAMME We are delighted to announce our programme of free events taking place in Edinburgh and online. Register now for lectures on colonial histories, the Lords of the Isles, the creation of an illustrated guide to the Picts, and more: www.socantscot.org/upcoming-eve...
Anyone who even thinks about taking away an otter's cuddly toy is a cold-hearted monster.
My card doesn't entitle me to the journals and magazines, alas, but the uni has the only copy I've been able to locate of a book I need, and I'm sure I'll find lots of other goodies while I'm at it. Working on my 'fellow kids' outfits so I blend in on campus.
The finest response I've seen so far.
Today's @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange is ceramics. These pieces are by influential Castleford art teacher Alice Gostick. They are in her 'Peasant Pottery' style. Gostick taught at Castleford Grammar School and delivered evening classes. Among her students was a young Henry Moore.
#Timelinecleanse Just a squirrel in my garden eating an apple.
American actress and dancer Mitzi Gaynor was born #OnThisDay in 1931. She was photographed wearing this 1958 Arnold Scaasi gold floral damask dress, with a crinoline of satin and tulle underneath, outside her Beverly Hills home in 1965. Sold by Bonhams. #Fashionhistory
My day has improved significantly - just received a shiny new library card via the uni's civic borrower scheme (pictured here with my swanky new-ish diary 😊)
We had heavy rain overnight, but today it has been good building weather (unfortunately?)
Thankfully it has, though there is still time... 😄
Awoken by a dawn chorus of builders and a malfunctioning fire alarm.
It sounded great on the radio.
Reading about the 1927 wedding of Barbara Cartland (it was next to the article I was meant to be reading), and she was to have a Matron of Honour, which apparently was a new-fangled thing out of America.
Makes room for even more records 😊
www.huffpost.com/entry/michae...
Census of Ireland, 1861 The 1861 census returns were never in PRO/never open to the public. Not knowing this, Samuel Gilmore wrote to PRO seeking info from 1861 census, providing a mock-up for the Patterson household, Lisburn. Click link: virtualtreasury.ie/item/VRTI-CE... @narireland.bsky.social
I've had a run of good research finds in an area where I have experience, but today I have moved out of that area and am convinced I know nothing about anything. Just have to remind myself that research is research, small steps can still cover big distances, and (😬) if it were easy, it'd be boring.
Bring on the Lebkuchen!
Were they looking for a landscape architect 😉?
Saw a very obvious bot get offended when someone called it a bot 😂. I almost want to play with them.
Can you stick them in a loosely-sealed bag and then thwack them with the rolling pin?
Listening to a podcast about people who claimed to be channelling great writers like Shakespeare, and I wondered - if you found yourself accidentally channelling William McGonagall, would you admit to it?
One to follow for #IrishGenealogy...
Back to school time!
Yep, and then I'm afraid if I say it out loud like that it'll sound like I'm making fun of the locals.
Can anyone help - I’m trying to find a publication I used in a class I taught 15 years ago (alas, younger me was not good at filing). It was a micro history of a village, I think in East Anglia. There was an archival reference to rice or rice pudding that revealed a global network of trade.
Here is small otter. He is so small he’s probably still learning how to otter properly. Good luck, little otter!
It has a lot of church records that aren't available elsewhere - not sure if that is true for RC records, but for C of I and Presbyterian, it is often the only place I can find them without a trip to PRONI or Dublin. I'm also finding the transcriptions of 1864-70 death records useful today.
I'm cautious about RootsIreland, as the quality of transcriptions varies wildly between counties, but I've bought a day subscription to look at a bunch of Co Armagh records, and I'm impressed - obviously I can't compare with the originals, but they seem thorough in recording details. #IrishGenealogy
It was. They seem a lot chirpier on it than I do.
The builders have been building since 6.30 this morning. I am going to be even less coherent than usual today.
I will NOT be distracted by a passing mention of a "now-famous parrot doing its routine". I will NOT be distracted by a passing mention of a "now-famous parrot doing its routine". I will NOT be distracted by a passing mention of a "now-famous parrot doing its routine". I will NOT be distracted by a
This is great news, but the Assembly Rooms have decayed significantly over the last few years, and a solution needs to be found to rescue them fast, before it's too late.
What they didn't mention about today's reorganisation is that there are now two people employed to follow him round with Union Jacks on short flagpoles in case any photo opportunities should arise.
He did have 'God Save The King' as his ringtone, but he was so busy being respectful'n'patriotic each time he heard it, he kept missing calls.
Great news!
Not enough flags and not enough gold twirly bits. 2/10.
Once I had stopped banging my head, I followed up the one useful thread in the article, and it has led me, by a convoluted path, to contemporary newspaper accounts of two events I had been struggling to date. Insert 'Hallelujah Chorus' here. Off for a break now.
It's one way to make your kid spend all their time in the library.
Just found what could have been a really useful newspaper piece about the loan of a portrait. It sings the praises of the painting's composition and the artist's technique. Only problem? It doesn't say which portrait it is 😶😂 If anyone wants me, I'll be off banging my head against a wall.
If you are a Member of NIFHS and want to extend your knowledge of DNA, come along to our DNA Special Interest Group. We are so fortunate (and grateful) to have extremely knowledgeable DNA experts in our Society to lead this group and keep us on the right track in our DNA research!
'And She Was' is one of my official happy songs.
Would make the nickname of our local artwork 'Nuala with the Hula' a bit laboured.
I have never once pronouced Fionnuala like that (always been Fin-OO-la).
If anyone is going to be at a GRONI terminal, could you do me a look-up (index only, so it won't cost you)? #IrishGenealogy
Get your tickets for 'Ireland and the American Revolution: 250th Anniversary Perspectives'. Prof. Eliga Gould and Prof. Nicholas Canny will be giving keynotes. Full conference programme coming soon. Link 👇 www.eventbrite.ie/e/ireland-an...
Happy first of the month! Cartoon by Sandra Boynton.
A judge is about to rule if some of the advanced DNA analysis by Astrea Forensics is admissable in court.
I see beavers pausing while chewing trees to listen for movements so that the tree doesn't fall on them, I share beavers pausing while chewing trees to listen for movements so that the tree doesn't fall on them. Those are the rules.
Found it!!!! Need to give my eyes a rest now (and take a break from my laptop).
Trying to find a C20th marriage of uncertain date, and all my clever shortcuts have failed, so now it's down to pure slog. #KeepTheCoffeeComingItsGoingToBeALongOne
Records relating to Northern Ireland's Mother and Baby homes have been brought together to provide a 'one-stop shop' for the children, relatives and survivors. The project is part of the Truth Recovery process and is being carried out under the guidance of PRONI.
This is the first time I've been tempted to make AI photos.
Not yet... :-)
I really want to work out the father's origins, in order to confirm his relationship to another same-name family, but I haven't spotted any clues yet in the new info, and the other side of the tree isn't showing any signs of linking up 🤔
Thanks to @ainedonnghaile.bsky.social and FamilySearch, I've now been able to confirm (!! 🥳🎉💃) I found the right people and can start reconstructing the family. Most of them died young, but it looks like the remaining siblings plus the parents could be another stubborn brick wall.
If I had public trees on Ancestry, I would so throw a few things like that in (preferably sourced) 😄
I know the unusual gaps in this family's records will all make sense when I find the missing piece of the puzzle, but at the moment that missing piece may as well be alien abduction.
I think it's co-ordinated protests around the venue, and the other attendees aren't best pleased...
Yeah, that's an odd one.
Anyone know what the woman at the Proms is yelling about?
I can think of no better leverage that Denmark has over the United States re: Trump's Greenland fixation than withholding LEGO shipments to the United States.
Baby bottles found during excavation of Tuam mass baby grave [ From BBC News NI ]
I’ve written lots about the problems with historical photo colourisation (which also uses forms of AI). This is an extension of this practice (an extreme one) reliant on the same logic of emotional ‘impact’ outweighing veracity, and ignoring or refusing to accept the historical limits of imagery.
On this day in 1930, after petitioning the Secretary of State for Scotland for assistance to help them leave the island, the remaining 36 inhabitants of Hirta (St Kilda) departed on board HMS ‘Harebell’ [source: Edinburgh Central Library]
I want to explain a few things and then it might be clearer why UK trans people are upset. In 2001 I married my wife, Sylvia. In 2005 I started medical transition. (1/13)
Specially designed for doctors' surgeries.
At last, some proper British vandalism. (source - www.facebook.com/share/p/1MeV...)
The bootleg baptismal register I shouldn't have a copy of is once again proving highly useful (for non-nefarious research purposes) 😂
However, this categorically the best family document I have, again involving my dad's dad. I feel like it compresses vast universes of interwar British history into two short sentences.
A photo of Hunter Street in the Sandy Row area of Belfast, taken by A.R. Hogg, on 2 April 1932: the Elim Pentecostal Zion Tabernacle with Pastor Mooney preaching after opening. Courtesy of the Hogg Collection National Museums of Northern Ireland (and NI Historical Photographic Society)
*slaps on some flying buttresses under cover of darkness*
"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?" Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
Think I played the Sarasate 'Carmen Fantasy' once upon a time, but any resemblance between the noises that came out of my violin and what we are hearing at the Proms tonight was purely accidental.
The BBC website has started doing AI summaries at the top of some articles. It's like cooking a meal and then sticking it in a blender because someone can't be bothered to chew.
Dan Jenks 