pigeon with an onion ring round its neck lookin fly

it called fashion sweaty

Instead of March Madness this year I’ll be doing Starch Sadness which is where I just eat potatoes until I feel better

It has come to my attention that in order to make new friends you have to talk to people you don’t already know so like THAT’S a big ole bucket of no thank you and

Today I learned: Jupiter has rings

“I feel truly unhappy that I have to neglect my plants… so completely” - Mendel’s comment on his promotion is so ridiculously relatable (quoted in The Gene: An Intimate History)

Fun fact:

Trees exchange nutrients with one another through underground fungal networks that connect them.

Trees also exchange nutrients with the fungal networks themselves. They’ll give sugars to mycelium in exchange for phosphorus, for example.

ROBBER: everybody lie down!

ME: [already setting my alarm and away message] take your time thx

A Blackbird clings to the side of a moss-covered tree, peering around the trunk with a sharp yellow eye. Its sleek black feathers contrast against the textured bark, and its bright yellow beak stands out against the deep green background. It looks alert, almost as if it’s eavesdropping on your scroll. Who’s watching who?

Nothing to see here, just a Blackbird keeping an eye on things. Carry on...

📷 @kiransimpson.bsky.social

That Kiwi millennial conditioning to reply to any statement of “not many” with “if any”

The worst thing about wearing glasses is how much it ruins going for walks in the rain

TIL about mushroom plugs; I have an awkward shaded space in the allotment that can’t really be dug, considering rummaging around old wood and making a mushroom spot

any party, actually

This is so pretty!! I’m working on the “a hobby just for you” thing and am inching towards picking up a paintbrush again!

A Jackdaw peeks out from a perfectly round hole in the weathered trunk of an old tree. Its sleek black feathers contrast with the rough, textured bark, and its pale eyes glint in the sunlight. The hollow frames the bird snugly... a cosy nook that looks preferable to any working Monday!

Monday? No, thank you.

I'll politely decline and stay in this nice tree instead.

#MondayMotivation

Lunar occultation of Mars 9 February 2025: The Moon will pass in front of Mars, creating a lunar occultation visible from countries and territories including Russia, China, Canada and Greenland amongst others. –…

In 5 hours, at 18h UT on 9 February, the Moon will pass close to the red planet Mars (mag. −0.8). The event will be visible worldwide in the evening sky. However, from parts of Russia, China, Canada & Greenland the Moon will actually pass in front of Mars.🔭

Details:

TIL that Sonic 2 (Megadrive) almost had a zone called “Genocide City”

A terrifying bunch of ants, so many they just look like a red mess, floating on top of flooded ground

Today I learnt that red fire ants can build themselves into a raft when their nest is flooded, with workers at the bottom, the queen in the middle, and larvae at the top, and it looks like this!

The other day, I learnt that there may be more than one star in the solar system!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis...

touch of insomnia last night so i read the wren, the wren. tbh for a book set in Ireland, i didn't expect Rangitoto to be catching criticism

Today I’ve learnt:
- the glymphatic system of the brain was only discovered in 2012
- female artists weren’t allowed to study nudes from life until c 1900

Today I completed Thin Places. It’s a bit of a difficult read (in the best of ways), I think I’ll be keeping this one for the rest of my life.

A brown hanging planter with green stalks, one of which has a tiny leaf that has just emerged

One of the things I absolutely love and admire in plants is their ability to keep going despite how hopeless things can seem; this wee baby was dying when I got it, had bugs and pests and was stressed, and spent the last six months as nothing more than stalks. Look at that recovery, she has leaves!

The Andromeda Galaxy CREDIT!NASA

[someone offering me good advice]

oh no thank you I’m allergic

I finished this 26th January. Loved it, loved it; fantastic writing, sardonic, made me think - my favourite characters were Lee and Samuel (though I think Samuel's written to be admired by anyone reading)

I completed this also 19th January. It was okay, but I don't think I've ever read a book and gone "I know exactly when this was written", the subtitle might as well be "Written in 2010"

I completed this 19th January, but had been reading since December. I didn't know very much about Alastair Campbell so went in a bit blind (things I knew about Campbell: he was in the UK Labour gvmt early 2000s - and I found that out from the cover).

i completed this 10th january! it was a re-read, i really enjoyed it a few years ago and wanted to see if it was as good as i remembered, and it really was!

reading log - i completed this 8th january

one of my goals for this year is to learn something new every day, so i'm going to be using this account to keep track of the cool things i learn and am reading!