Great use of Twitter

I love this idea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-16332930

Redwing on the holly

But no camera to hand, and couldn't bear to move while it was there in view. Lovely creature, like a thrush, but smaller, and with red under the wings, clearly visible when it fluttered to keep its balance and grab the berries on the ends of branches. Not many berries left, though.  I checked the other bush, and almost missed the goldfinches on the feeder.

Higgs-Boson joke

at several hands' distance via facebook

 Higgs Boson walks into a Catholic Church. Priest says 'What are you doing here?'. Higgs replied 'You can't have Mass without me'

Pendle Hill story

I'm noting this link - as a rationalist, I think one thing - as an enthusiast of dark stories . . .

A link to synch with idiosyncracy

Too good to  miss - too long to copy - click on title or click here  - the vagaries of English orthographical diversity.

More family stuff - baby brother is 60!

A few pics from the party at the White Hart in Duffield last weekend. I didn't get any decent ones when it was dark and dance-time.

Poetry and Science

Excellent short article by Ruth Padel.

My thoughts for what they're worth - 

Seeing the full moon in a clear sky on a cold night like last night can take the mind on a journey both poetic and scientific. I think the urges to understand and to express mystery have the same source - our endless curiosity and need to communicate and speculate.

Visit to Leeds, and Abbey House Museum

An afternoon with Rose in the (Kirkstall) Abbey House Museum, where the toys kept her occupied for a good two hours on a wet and blustery afternoon.
Then I realised I hadn't taken any pics of Isaac, since he'd been at school all day, so here's one taken next morning.

Guinness cake

I made two of these 'pre-Christmas' cakes today.  Slightly altered recipe - no mixed peel, but currants instead.  Not bad considering I bought the ingredients from memory.

La Belle Dame sans Merci

I didn't know this Keats poem was based on a 1424 French poem by Alain Chartier La Belle Dame sans Mercy.


There's an interesting article on the poem and on Keats.

Full text

Festival of Christmas lights

I spotted my first house decorated for Christmas, and illuminated, on the evening of November 30th.  At the bottom of Rockingham Hill.