dhuartson: Don't let anyone talk you out of spending $15 on a new hobby. That $50 will be the best $400 you ever spent.

This is not wrong.

There's only one perfect photo for this year's Earth Day, and it's this one that the Artemis II crew took. Happy Earth Day.

Plastic grass, next to real grass with wild flowers growing in it

The stark contrast between plastic grass and real grass. One is devoid of life and shedding microplastics. The other is colourfully boosting biodiversity.
More: www.littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/gra...

World food systems ‘pushed to the brink’ by extreme heat, UN warns Severe heatwaves in commonly hot regions could leave farmers unable to work outside, with livestock mortality rates expected to rise Extreme heat is threatening the world’s food systems, with farmers unable to work outside, livestock experiencing stress and crop yields falling, putting the livelihoods of more than a billion people in peril, the UN has warned. Experts said food supply in some areas was being “pushed to the brink” by increasingly common and severe heatwaves, on land and at sea, in a major report written jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Continue reading...

World food systems ‘pushed to the brink’ by extreme heat, UN warns

Three books about the artist Monet, lined up so the spines read Monet, Monet, Monet.

Must be fonet
in the rich man's world

Why we should ditch the most popular GCSE English texts Research shows that merely adding new books to set text lists doesn’t lead to true diversity in GCSE English. To really make a change, we need to start removing the old faithfuls, writes End Sexism in...

Any wonder popularity of English lit courses is collapsing?

"In 2024 only 5% of students across England and Wales studied a whole text by a female author at GCSE, while even fewer studied one by an author of colour"
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Register to vote Register to vote to take part in elections in the UK. Includes how to get on the electoral register and how to update your address on the register.

Last day to register to vote in the upcoming elections! www.gov.uk/register-to-...

A Great Blue Heron takes flight. It's wings are concave as it is lifting into flight.

I saw a nice Great Blue Heron yesterday. I kept clicking as he departed and got a shot where the wings are perfectly concave. Fun, fun click to get!
#birds #GreatBlueHeron

Three years ago today I got lucky with the weather at Achmelvich 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿☀️⛵️

Could not agree more!

Tree fern fronds unfurling in front of a beautiful pink magnolia. The fern fronds bring to mind the kind of big round lollipops you get at funfairs!

The unfurling.
And the glory of borrowed landscape! Neither of these beauties is mine - in fact they're in two different neighbours' gardens - but they're a perfect foil for each other & the glimpse of them over the fence adds another layer of depth to mine. Also - the light! What a joy! 🌱

Tulips. Queen of the Night at the top - a deep, deep, rich purple with a classic tulip shape. The flower is just opening so still quite small compared to Jimmy in the foreground, who's been partying for at least a week. Jimmy is shades of pinks, apricots and yellows which gives an overall warm peach tone. The flowers are lit by evening sunlight bouncing off the window.

Queen of the Night has joined the chat.🌱#bloomscrolling

Truth. 🌱

🤣🤣

😂 I reckon once they finished filming she rolled up her sleeves and joined in!

I think Carol's hit the mother lode! #GardenersWorld

Photo of a pink Roseate Spoonbill tilting its head and staring straight into the camera like it's trying to flirt with me, giant peach spoonbill shining wetly

So many Roseate Spoonbill photos! This goofy one might be my favorite. :) #birds

A lot of today's social media is about as accurate as the bird was in the 60s.
Although, given the current global bin fire, she might have a point.

On Tender Hooks   Let me cut to the cheese: every time you open your mouth, I’m on tender hooks.   You charge at the English language like a bowl in a china shop. I wish you’d nip it in the butt.   On the spurt of the moment, another eggcorn tumbles out. It’s time you gave up the goat.   Curve your enthusiasm and don’t give them free range – the chickens will come home to roast.   Sorry to be the flaw in your ointment. You must think me a damp squid, I suppose –   but they spread like wildflowers in a doggy-dog world, and your spear of influence grows.   Brian Bilston

Today’s poem is called ‘On Tender Hooks’.

Could not agree more!

This is amazing news for young people.

What I like best about the Artemis II photos is that it was taken by actual humans. An actual person had to frame it and manually adjust settings. It's their own artistic rendition of what they thought looked best at the time, something no probe, rover or unmanned spacecraft can take. it's art

Buchanan Castle, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

So neat seeing nature reclaim it.

This makes me mad. I bought my Kindle at the beginning of 2012. It's basic & it still works perfectly. I don't want to throw away something just to add to a mountain of electronic waste! And I won't be forking out for a new one that runs ads unless you pay even more.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater’s formation. [alt text from NASA]

#Artemis II lunar flyby images are showing up! 😍

A crescent Earth setting behind the Moon.

Anybody else watching 'The Other Bennett Sister' and shouted 'DON'T WIND!' at the fishing scene?

I'm quietly confident!

The language they've used throughout has been absolutely sickening. A complete lack of any semblance of humanity. Horrific.

I would LOVE to see that!

I have to admit, this made me tear up a bit.
I'm a sentimental old fool.