@oburbidge.bsky.social must. Try.

With crumble, of course

Grateful for @nationaltrust.org.uk for hosting in their stunning grounds!

Two people stood in Bhutan with rice fields behind them

A guy wearing a backpack with four other hikers behind

A group of people smiling stood in front of a huge trans pride flag at pride

A man wearing a green coat with a black and white dog staring at the camera

- did some amazing things and made loads of memories with @xanderbur.bsky.social and our adorable fluffball Crumble.

And that’s just a quick overview of what 2025 had in store for me.

So here’s to 2026 building on this!

It's #PantoDay, so what better time to share a first look at our fun-filled adventure in Oz! 🌈✨❤

📷 Paul Hood

The fucking fireworks have just begun again. 😭😭😭 when will they stop?

Will Crumble ever have a night when she’s not a trembling wreck?

It’s been every single night since September.

Can we just ban fireworks once and for all?

I don’t want to pretend that the country is perfect. No country is. But their desire to preserve their culture, the spirituality at the heart of all they do, and most importantly, the kindness they’ve shown, is beautiful. We’ve still got three nights left but I already know I’ll come back.

A closeup of one wall painting in the homestay

Some of these crafts take 9 years to study before you’re fully qualified. And the end result is amazing. Even in our little home stay, the walls are adorned with hand painting imagery. Who needs to buy art when your house is a work of art in itself!

What’s inspired me most is the craft. From beautiful handwoven fabrics, to intricately carved wooden masks and adornments, to hand sewn outfits and incredible paintings. Most come from the Buddhist tradition, from elaborate scripts in paintings, to masks used for ritual dances by monks.

Next is the stunning landscape. If you’re used to the Alps (like I am) you don’t expect trees above 2000ish metres. Here, the airport is located well above that and still the mountains are covered in thick forest. The snow line is above 6,000m in places!

The first thing you notice is how Buddhism is at the centre of the country. In the same way you may find road shrines in Italy, here you find prayer wheels and flags, and stupas and temples all over. And they’re still building more! (2/?)

Punahka Dzong - a fortified Buddhist temple at the heart of Bhutan’s ancient capital.

The entrance to an average Bhutanese building, showing incredibly detailed and intricate wood carving and painting.

A tall waterfall, shown as long exposure shot.

The view of the Himalayas from Dochula pass on a clear day. Two stupas can be seen on the right

We’ve been in Bhutan for three days and three nights and it’s quite frankly blowing my mind.

This country is beautiful and its people are incredibly kind. They are grateful for the tourists that come and go out of their way to make them feel comfortable and at home. (1/?)

Greg Jackson explains how energy giants suppress renewables | Climate 100 Octopus Energy CEO and renewables champion Greg Jackson delivered the keynote speech at The Independent's Climate 100 event in New York City, marking the launch of the 2025 Climate 100. The list celebrates leaders on diverse paths with a singular goal: tackling the worsening climate crisis. Jackso

Solar and batteries are following the same exponential growth curve as the phones in our pockets, said @gjuk.bsky.social, CEO of @octopus.energy, at #NYCW.

☀️ Solar is 300x cheaper than 40 years ago
🔋 Battery prices per kWh have fallen 10-fold in 10 years

Why is it so hard to identify a substation? Steve Day Last week in our inaugural newsletter edition, Pete Clutton-Brock gave an inside view into the journey we've been on with Yottar's funding so far and what we learnt from it. This week, I'm g...

Oh god a substation data question... 😂

I must say, I assume it's a Low Voltage substation though I am not sure. The demand and supply is monitored inconsistently (putting it generously) across substations. Definitions even vary on what constitutes a substation! (www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-so...)

Great day at @renewablesgrid.bsky.social in Brussels today, hearing from TSOs, stakeholders and others about the challenges and opportunities in ensuring our grid can support the energy transition and electrification. #RenewableEnergy #EnergySky

I suppose so!

Awww lovely. I haven’t done that walk since we did that together!

I love parkrun so do it as much as you can, we’ve build a great community at rising sun parkrun. Well come run with you one day at Morpeth if you fancy though!

Ooh what’s your local?

Yeah it was beautiful! And I had the mental images in my head from our lovely walk - definitely one I’ll be doing again!

Poster sat in a pink head behind a glass with metal straw

Route showing a start and finish in St Peter’s, first heading east towards Howdon, through the Tyne pedestrian tunnel, and west towards the millennium bridge.

Shout out to @neheritagelib.bsky.social for inspiring my half marathon course today. With the rich industrial heritage of the Tyne in my mind I had a beautiful run in today’s weather. And a great coffee and bagel in St Peter’s at the end

Troutbeck Valley, Cumbria ©National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Hilary McGrady, Director-General of the
@nationaltrust.org.uk, on #SpendingReview:

"Nature and wildlife aren't nice-to-haves. They underpin our health, our economy, our communities, and the food, water and air we need to survive... (1/5)

Steel Magnolias at The People’s Theatre The North East is blessed with a raft of great theatres, but, perhaps unusually, we also have a couple of genuinely lovely amateur spaces. I had my first trip to The Little Theatre in Gateshead ear…

Review of the warm, witty production of Steel Magnolias @peoplestheatre.bsky.social

prodigalgeordie.blog/2025/06/11/s...

I love this analogy from Eurelectric:

Renewables are like owning a house. It’s an investment and you keep the benefit.

Fossil fuel based energy is like renting. You’re sinking money, especially when you don’t have your own fossil resources.

#EnergyIreland

These are amazing!

A black and white dog wearing an orange harness. She is sat in a sea of green ground elder and wild garlic.

A black and white dog wearing an orange harness. She is posing in front of a clump of gorse bush in flower.

A black and white dog wearing an orange harness. She is sat on a shingle beach with her tongue out. The sea is behind her

A lovely day spent walking along the Durham Heritage Coast. Walking from Noses Point, south to Beacon Hill and back.

Anyone else on Bluesky at #AIUK today? Some great sessions on the security of national critical infrastructure, as well as learning about what children want from AI, including how it can be used to protect the environment

No pressure 😖😱

A black dog with white paws and chest laid on a boulder, looking at the camera. She’s wearing an orange harness.

A black dog with white paws and chest sat on a boulder, looking at the camera. She’s wearing an orange harness

Sometimes we can get her to sit still long enough to pose for the camera.

Usually by holding a treat in front of her off camera 😅

#RomanianCrumble

A black and white dog, wearing an orange harness stood on sand with sand all over her snoot.

A black and white dog, wearing an orange harness stood on sand with sand all over her snoot. She has a smile on her face and her ears are flapping in the wind

Crumble absolutely adores the beach.

She’s now curled up on the sofa snoring like a freight train.

It was an honor to sign the guest book in the home of Anne Frank.

I was here as a younger man and thought about her life as a dark chapter of history.

Today, I can’t help but think of her story as one of caution. Our world is fragile, and it’s incumbent on us not to break it.

Crumble, a mostly black dog with white chest and paws, smiling while stood on the grass

Crumble's first ever venture into the field without her harness on.

Because I broke it about 5 minutes before.