Photo of two sheep grazing. One has two sets of horns: curly and straight.

Really hoping someone at the MERL @themerl.bsky.social knows what these are. Spotted on a walk along the Thames today.

Intensity from the vault: Judas’ Death - Jesus Christ Superstar (Live Arena Tour, 2012) Universal.
 
#DigitalHouseOfTimothy
#Backstory
#JesusChristSuperstar
#JudasDeath

He is back.

Absolute Units turns 1! Thanks to everyone who has listened in, supported us, and joined us in the booth in these past 12 months.

Here's our special anniversary episode, answering many of the questions you very good people sent us yesterday.

merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Brilliant day out today at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich with the other volunteers from Reading Museum and the MERL. Visited the lip-smacking Windrush Food Culture exhibition and sketched around the NMM galleries. Thank you to the organisers! #MERL #NMMGreenwich #NationalWindrushMuseum

Sketching Reading Pride doing a great job of cheering on the Reading Half Marathon runners today at the halfway stage.

Sketching at the Ashmolean followed by a visit to the rather excellent In Bloom exhibition. #ashmolean #urbansketching

Ps excellent smocking! And is that a rat dressed up as Paddington Bear?

These are the best-dressed rats I’ve ever seen! And not even slightly cheesy!

I’m volunteering here today and I have been encouraging visitors to to push a button in another part of the museum so they can hear part of the song being sung. I confidently predict that I’ll be humming this for the next few weeks…… 🎼🎶

I love the summaries you produced. Still a lot more to come I hope!

Go on, read our blog post! I’ve really loved working on this project and enjoyed the stories that emerged from the work of my fellow volunteers very much!

Drawing using black ink and watercolour pencils to depict waterlilies in a pond.

Image of waterlilies in a pond created from multiple exposures.

I based a recent watercolour pencil sketch of waterlilies on one of Honey J Walker’s winning images in the IGPOTY competition currently on show at Kew. She manages to link so many things I love - plants, photography, art - all in one stunning image. Just wonderful!

Channel 4’s Dirty Business is a clarion call to nationalise the water industry As the drama shows, private firms no longer able to pollute the coast of England of Wales just switched to rivers instead

Channel 4’s Dirty Business is a clarion call to nationalise the water industry

As the drama shows, private firms no longer able to pollute the coast of England of Wales just switched to rivers instead
#DirtyBusiness
#Sewage

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Loved this episode. However I missed a few episodes and suddenly realised the “baa” was missing. I miss the “baa”.

That is fantastic news! Congratulations!

Roman Britain Reimagined in Reading Reading Museum's Roman Britain Reimagined in Reading project will refresh the Museum's Roman Silchester Gallery to tell new stories about the Roman town of Calleva, based on the most recent archaeolog...

We will redisplay nationally significant Roman collections from Calleva Atrebatum, in a new accessible and engaging gallery, supported by community and learning activities, and volunteering opportunities

The new Calleva Gallery welcomes visitors from 2028

www.readingmuseum.org.uk/roman-britain

That’s such fantastic news! Congratulations on winning the funding. It’s such an important collection for Reading and deserves the very best presentation. I’m already looking forward to 2028!

Wow it was cold today in Reading. Luckily our urban sketching group had the option of being indoors at Carluccios. It was a great turnout. #uskreading #carlucciosreading #urbansketching

A London barrister declared a river sacred. This is what happened next. YouTube video by Right To Roam

Currently only 8% of land in England has a ‘right to roam’ and only 3% of rivers enjoy an uncontested right of access – a major obstacle to community guardianship. We’re campaigning for that to change.

Film directed by Connor Newson
Music: ‘Hope and Heisenberg’ by Spearfisher
youtu.be/7sjOGOguq5A

This is so much better than I expected! An example of great artistic collaboration between artists/musicians. Stanley Donwood/Thom Yorke exhibition “This is what you get” @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social

These are seeds of Holcus lanatus- also known as Yorkshire Fog because from a distance it supposedly resembles the smoke that once billowed from the chimneys of northern factories.

Well worth a listen, even if you’re not that into museums or rural life. The mouse story is so sweet and sad and I will never look at the mousetrap in the same way again.

Three giant absolute units fly over the English countryside. The text reads: 'Absolute Units, a podcast from the Museum of English Rural Life.'

Thank you to everyone who tuned into our new podcast and left such sweet feedback! Your kind words, reviews and ideas mean the world to us.

If you missed it: here's episode 1 of Absolute Units, the official MERL podcast!

merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

This small museum inside a baroque church in Lagos, is simple but spectacular. I particularly like the wooden figures in the cabinet of curiosities. What a contrast with the preserved church interior.

A fascinating visit to the recently reopened Merchant’s House in Marlborough today. Some links to the MERL via a WH Smith connection. Also a beautiful (if out of tune) harpsichord in the rather grand dining room.

I spent World Book Day in London. At the Tirzah Garwood exhibition, Dulwich Picture Gallery, I was mesmerised by Tirzah’s wonderful sketchbook, a personal item produced for her family.

Sketching and painting by the sea. Mostly blues, greys and golds.

Fell in love with this luscious painting - Saffron Field by Balraj Khanna while on a CityLit sketching course at Tate Britain yesterday. Fantastic day, learned a lot, had my eyes opened, met some lovely fellow artists, mostly beginners like me, guided by our wonderful tutor, Mario.

Is it too late to wish everyone @themerl.bsky.social a Happy Valentine’s Day? I and some of my fellow volunteers just love this charming St Valentine’s telegram currently on display in the Charles Hasler exhibition.