iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This was interesting; got 136/150, errors only in HU, RU, RO, FI (8, 8, 6, 4/10 respectively). Interesting how little help Western Romance is for Romanian; my Czech carried the other Slavic, and I do have some Greek (though needed some lateral thinking) and Hungarian.

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Really hope this is reversed. Enjoyed so many visits there in childhood (and more recently)

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

𐀃𐀉𐀮𐀂𐀊 𐀹𐀈 ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑΝ ϜΙΔΟΝ - Saw the Odyssey; magnificent visuals and some interesting takes (liked the idea of neglect of sacred hospitality leading to civilisational collapse). Of course not quite as Homer would have seen it, but that's what the original is for. Re-read beckons:

Man wearing a T-shirt with image od dolphins from the Dolphin Fresco, Knossos, next to poster for Christopher Nolan's Odyssey

Book seen spine-on, text: HOMER, THE ODYSSEY 1 A.T.MURRAY HARVARD HEINEMANN

Double-page spread showing beginning of Homer's Odyssey; Greek on left-hand page, English translation on right: "Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy" etc

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

And the album is out today! orcd.co/hertsparryel... for link to purchase options and to play on streaming services

orcd.co

Hertfordshire Chorus - De Profundis: Parry and Elgar

Choose your preferred music service

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Since I posted this picture in a reply elsewhere thought I might put on main timeline; over a decade ago...

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Learnt today through work (long story); one Italian name for the roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus, is Mimì maggiore. Time for a Puccini/Warner Bros crossover to the tune of "Mi chiamano Mimì"? (The cartoon character is actually Beep Beep in Italy).

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Just listening to the latest CD from Hertfordshire Chorus; It contains Parry’s psalm settings De Profundis (first official recording, though Vaughan Williams considered it Parry’s “finest work “) and God is our Hope and Strength; followed by Elgar’s Snow and songs From the Bavarian Highlands.

An image of sunlight streaming through a barred window forming a CD cover. Text: Signum Classics Parry De Profundis, God is our hope and strength; Elgar From the Bavarian Highlands, The Snow. Sophie Bevan soprano, Dominic Sedgwick baritone, Rufus Frowde piano, London Mozart Players, David Temple conductor.

CD back cove details; De Profundis, choral works by Parry and Elgar. Parry De Profundis: 1 De Profundis clamavi ad te Domine. 2 Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus 3 A custodia matutina usque ad noctem 4 Apud Dominum misericordia/ Et pose redimet Israel. 5 Parry God is our hope and strength. Elgar: 6 I The Snow Elgar From the Bavarian Highland: 7 The Dance, 8 False Love 9 Lullaby 10 Aspiration 11 on the Alm 12 The Marksmen

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Enjoyed a long weekend in Bath finishing up with singing with Herts Chorus in Bath Abbey. Contrasting pieces; Rutter Gloria, Bernstein Chichester Psalms and less familiar (on its second performance) Judge Smith’s prog-rock Requiem Mass with rock band plus brass

Interior of Bath Abbey, looking past temporary staging to stained-glass East window, as musicians gather to rehearse

Photo after the concert; composer Judge Smith on left, me on right, another fellow-singer in the middle

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Off to the Hawai’i exhibition at the British Museum; fascinating and informative (including details of the royal visit to the UK) with lots of artefacts; carefully explained where possible but sadly some details are now lost to the modern population.

Ki’i akua- god images in wood. Precise deities unknown.

Kapa (tapa elsewhere in Polynesia ) - barkcloth

An exhibition case full of various cloaks, capes, lei, pendants, fans etc. Cloaks made with vast numbers of tiny feathers.

‘Ahu ‘ula (feather cloak) in red and yellow and letter seeking British protection sent from King Kamekameha I of Hawai’i to George III. His name is written Tamaahmaah in the letter as the orthography was not yet standardized (the sound written k now is t regionally). The cloak would really have needed a 7- foot monarch…

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Interesting to look at this list: think I've completely read 17, in original language where relevant (e.g. Manzoni), and read other works by 12 of the remaining authors.

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

There is some dispute about the real location of Ithaca (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseu...), but it's not usually a binary choice between these two options...

en.wikipedia.org

Odysseus Unbound - Wikipedia

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Looking forward to listening to my friends singing this on Saturday (I have sung occasionally with Chorus of Dissent over the years abd can very much recommend them)

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Looking forward to singing in this on the 21st!

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Just read Francis Spufford's latest novel, Nonesuch; a great central character in Iris, against a background of early WWII, love, finance, early television; and a plot to change history and angels! Impossible to do it justice in a skeet, but highly recommended (though beware cliffhanger at end...)

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

If you are looking for an alternative saint's day to celebrate than the obvious one, how about Sts Cyril and Methodius, inventors of literacy in Slav languages? (Probably with the alphabet in the second image, the Glagolitic, rather than the first one, now named after Cyril).

Two clerics holding a scroll between them containing the Cyrilllic alphabet as used for Church Slavonic

A list of the letters of the Glagolitic alphabet accompanied by transliterations

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Enjoyed singing this on Thursday- 230 singers in the Festival Hall, from Herts Chorus and Crouch End Festival Chorus, plus excellent soloists

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

What does 'The Ruum' mean to you? A robot which has been taking specimens of animals of a given weight since the time of the dinosaurs? Or an Indonesian coffee shop (based on a recent trademark)? I think I would be reluctant to risk a visit to the latter just in case...

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Two weeks to go before I sing in Elgar's Kingdom at the Festival Hall - two choirs joining forces, one (CEFC) on the back of a recent CD release, the other (HC) has previously enjoyed rave reviews for live performances of it. But we intend to improve on both of those versions...

Crouch End Festival Chorus joins Hertfordshire Chorus and four world-class soloists to perform one of Elgar’s great choral works, The Kingdom, in a concert to celebrate its landmark recording.
7.30pm Thursday 29th January 2026
Royal Festival Hall
London SE1 8XX

Francesca Chiejina soprano
Dame Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Hulett tenor
Ashley Riches bass
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Hertfordshire Chorus
London Orchestra da Camera
David Temple conductor

In 1906, following the success of The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles, the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival commissioned Elgar to write a third large oratorio for its festival that year.

Conceived as part of a trilogy of oratorios, The Kingdom continues the narrative started in The Apostles. Elgar focuses on the lives of Jesus’ disciples and the Holy Women, in particular on Peter, John, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene in the days surrounding the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and on the work of the early church community. The followers of Jesus are portrayed as down-to-earth ordinary men and women who encounter extraordinary events.

The Kingdom is considered by some to be Elgar’s greatest choral work. A mixture of gentle conversational sections and astonishingly dramatic choral passages, The Kingdom also features some of Elgar’s finest orchestral writing. Three of the soloists from Crouch End Festival Chorus’ recording of The Kingdom will join the choirs in this concert, which includes the hauntingly beautiful soprano solo, ‘The sun goeth down’.

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

For something more uplifting than current news; a community choir tour to Tokaj in Hungary in 2024 by the Chorus of Dissent of Stoke Newington (which I participated in): youtu.be/WCTaGnzDAU4

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Merry Christmas everyone! (My annual multilingual card; choice of languages a bit random but also reflecting recipients over the years. Details in alt-text)

Image of the Nativity with Mary, Joseph and Jesus among arches, with angels above. Margin with flowers. Latin text below: Deus in adiutorium meum intende. Domine ad adiuvandum me festina. Gloria patri
O God make speed to save me, O Lord make haste to help me. Glory to the Father… plus English text Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, plus translations of Merry Christmas

Nadolig Llawen Welsh
Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus Latvian
Glad Jul Swedish/Norwegian
Hyvää Joulua Finnish
Feliz Natal Portuguese
Nollaig shona Irish
Mutlu Noeller Turkish
Bouan Noué Channel Island French
selamat hari natal Indonesian
Bon Nadal Catalan
Afishapa Akan/Twi
Gleðileg jól Icelandic
كریسمس مبارک kerismas mobārak Persian
С Рождеством! S Rozhdestvom! Russian
Boldog Karácsonyt Hungarian
חג מולד שמח Chag molad sameach Hebrew
Καλά Χριστούγεννα! Kala Christouyenna Greek
Nollaig Chridheil Scots Gaelic
Sretan Božić Croatian
Muve neKisimusi yakanaka Shona
გილოცავ ქრისტეშობას! gilotsav krist'eshobas Georgian
Nollick Ghennal Manx
Frohe Weihnachten German
Veselé Vánoce Czech
Feliz Navidad Spanish
Häid jõule Estonian
Jwaye Nowèl Haitian Creole
メリークリスマス Merii Kurisumasu Japanese
즐거운 성탄절 jeulgeoun seongtanjeol Korean
圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè Chinese
Buon Natale Italian
Joyeux Noël French
ﻋﻴﺪ ﻣﻴﻼﺩ ﻣﺠﻴﺪ Eid milad majid Arabic
Շնորհավոր Սուրբ Ծնունդ (Shnorhavor Surb Tsnund) Armenian (Eastern)
शुभ क्रिसमस Shubh krismas Hindi
शुभ नाताळ Shubh natal Marathi
Khuxalborit Natalam Konkani
Wjesole hody Sorbian (Upper)
ⵜⴰⵎⴻⵖⵔⴰ ⵜⴰⵎⴻⴳⴳⴰⵣⵜ Tameghra tameggazt Berber
Vy'apave heñói Guaraní
Cualli netlācatilizpan Nahuatl
Ki'imak Navidad Yucatec Maya
Prettige Kerstdagen Dutch
Maligayang Pasko Tagalog
Bo Nadal Galician
Eguberri on Basque
கிறிஸ்துமஸ் வாழ்த்துக்கள் Kiṟistumas vāḻttukkaḷ Tamil
Mele Kalikimaka Hawaiian
з Різдво́м Христо́вим z Rizdvom Khrystovym Ukrainian
Ⲡⲓⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁⲫⲙⲁⲛⲥⲫ Picristos afmansf
ܥܐܕܐ ܕܡܘܠܕܐ ܒܪܝܟܐ Eda mawlada brikha Syriac

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Looking forward to singing in this!

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Reposted by Andrew Woode

Hertfordshire Chorus @hertfordshirechorus.org.uk · 24/11/2025

Last Chance TODAY to get a 20% early bird discount on our HUGE concert at the Royal Festival Hall on Jan 29th when we perform Elgar's masterpiece, The Kingdom. With 235 singers from TWO of the UK's finest choirs, this will be POWERFUL Promo Code 'HERTS' at the start of booking, link in comments

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Recording session at St Jude’s, Hampstead Garden Suburb with Hertfordshire Chorus; singing Hubert Parry’s 12-part De Profundis (his best work according to Vaughan Williams) and his double-choir God is our Hope and Strength. This will be the first proper recording of these neglected works

Interior of St Jude’s, Hampstead Garden Suburb, with Hertfordshire Chorus plus guests and London Mozart Players ready to record. Looking towards back of church and stained-glass window.

Exterior of St Jude’s on an overcast day

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Today on BBC Radio 3's Essential Classics they used Hertfordshire Chorus's recording of the first movement of Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man, on which I sang: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (from 31:10 including the presenter introduction).

bbc.co.uk

Essential Classics - The very best of classical music - BBC Sounds

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music.

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

#EuropeanDayOfLanguages - most recent minority language reading, Mistral’s _Mirèio_, which I was reading on a recent visit to Avigno(u)n, with excursion also to Les Baux whose landscape plays a role in the poem

Book showing the words: Mistral Mireille édition bilingue above a stylised rural landscape

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Linguistic though; HMP works for both Her and His Majesty’s Prison. But Welsh CEM (as seen on sign for Berwyn last night) surely can only mean the former? So if they don’t update the sign should Welsh-speaking prisoners be released on grounds of grammatical invalidity?

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Yesterday at the Eisteddfod; Eurig Salisbury on poet Huw Morys, Cass Meurig playing crwth, crowning ceremony for winning bard, and musical The Stand about supporters of Wrexham football

Eurig Salisbury at lectern, Welsh manuscript displayed on screen, seated listeners

Cass Meurig playing crwth, flanked by sons playing trumpet and guitar respectively

Crowning ceremony, Archdruid and robed Gorsedd members with the winning poet in his robes as the huge sword is partially unsheathed above his head to the question “Is there peace”

Pavilion, view of the stage with cast of musical “The Stand” dressed in red and white as a Wrexham football crowd

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Neithiwr es i dros y ffin i Wrecsam am y Gymanfa Ganu yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol - yn mwynhau canu’r holl harmonïau, gan gynnwys gwaith o gyfansoddwyr lleol fel Caradog Roberts o Rosllannerchrugog/

Eisteddfod choir ready to sing in the Pavilion, view from my seat looking towards the stage

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Hertfordshire Chorus at Holy Sepulchre, Holborn; Paul Patterson’s Magnificat followed by Judge Smith’s prog rock Requiem Mass, getting its first live performance a mere 50 years after composition (I suspect it will get more outings soon). Both works heavy on brass. A very hot day for performing!

View of east end of Holy Sepulchre Church, Holborn, with Hertfordshire chorus (dressed informally) on staging in front of the window

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

So yesterday I ended a rainy working week by flying nine hours to a warm and sunny country… yes, I was flying back from Mumbai to London after a business trip. Not much opportunity for sightseeing but a few pics:

Multilingual “welcome to Mumbai” at Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Visit to Dunham Massey National Trust, with the rain holding off and a good tour of house and gardens plus bonus deer. A lot of history (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshi...)

Plants including a Chilean Fire Bush (Embothrium coccineum) with striking red colours, and a lake

Part of the Rose Garden, various roses, some close to a brick wall

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Looking forward to singing in this concert!

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Bank Holiday trip to Tring. First to the Natural History Museum, based on the collections of Walter Rothschild, who kept kangaroos locally, drove a zebra-drawn carriage (they had _real_ zebra crossings in those days) and took his pet kiwis to university…

Model of real Mauritius dodo on right; incorrect reconstruction of an alleged Reunion Island dodo on left

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Something I will be involved in later in the year - we did a rare performance of the work a couple of years ago. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/world-firs...

crowdfunder.co.uk

First-Ever Recording: Hubert Parry's De Profundis

Help Us Bring Hubert Parry's 'De Profundis' to Life – A Historic First Professional Recording

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi hapus i bawb! Happy St David’s Day. A little late, I know, but it was today I got to the service at the Welsh Church of Central London. Enjoyed both listening to Côr Llundain performing and tackling Welsh hymns in harmony myself, a rare event these days in my sixth language..

Daffodils for St David? Even if it’s a day late and in Welwyn Garden City

Welsh Church of Central London- view towards organ.

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Off to the Catalyst Museum in Widnes to catch up on local chemical heritage (it’s in the family though not my own speciality). At the site of the old Gossage’s soap factory. Lots about Brunner Mond ať Northwich including places I know well, and mentions of eg the Solvay process…

Catalyst museum from the outside showing old building with external lift and modern extension

Indian advert for Brunner Mond & Co as represented by Keshowjee Ramdass of Bombay. Texts in Gujarati and Devanagari script as well

The Periodic Table; wall display with samples of elements in cases

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Enjoyed singing in Hertfordshire Chorus ‘s Bach St John Passion yesterday at St Albans Cathedral- which was looking a bit different this time with the large moon installation.

St Albans Cathedral by night with tower lit up

St John Passion score held up against the huge model of the moon hanging in the Nave. View towards West Window

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Panshanger Park walk (between Hertford and Welwyn Garden City), this afternoon…

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Off last night to @thechoircefc.bsky.social ‘s concert at Sloane Square with impressive performances of a varied programme; Paul Patterson, Barber, Tavener, Grace-Evangeline Mason, Jacob Collier

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Looking forward to singing Bach St John Passion (in English) with Hertfordshire Chorus in St Albans Cathedral at 7:30 pm on Sat 8 Feb. All welcome!

Picture of Christ on the cross and text giving details of the concert: Hertfordshire Chorus St John Passion, J S Bach, featuring Ben Johnson as Evangelist, Andrew Ashwin as Jesus, Zoë Brookshaw soprano, Diana Moore alto, Gwilym Bowen tenor, Ashley Riches bass, The Hanover Band, Hertfordshire Chorus, David Temple conductor. 7:30 Saturday 8th February 2025, St Albans Cathedral AL1 1BY. Tickets £35, £26, £10. £5 children and students, hertfordshirechorus.org.uk/tickets. "In the magnificent setting of St Albans Cathedral, with a stellar cast of soloists, and accompanied by the period instrument specialists, The Hanover Band, Hertfordshire Chorus's performance of Bach's dramatic and moving setting of the Passion is not to be missed"

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

BBC Radio 3 this morning turned Rossini’s péchés de vieillesse (sins of old age) into pêches de vieillesse… I want to know how old you need to be to claim your pensioner’s peach allowance

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Reposted by Andrew Woode

The Byzantine Legacy @thebyzantinelegacy.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Health, Life, Joy, Peace, Good Cheer, Hope Υγεία, Ζωή, Χαρά, Ειρήνη, Ευθυμία, Ελπίς 4th-century mosaic from Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) At the British Museum

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

When you have to go back that far for past glories… (Grosvenor Museum in Chester)

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Swans a-swimming deliveries are tomorrow for the 7th day. Sneak peek at one of Truelove Industries’ swan storage areas. Not yet discovered where they keep milkmaids, lords etc

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Happy Boxing Day/ Gŵyl San Steffan hapus. Went forth on the Feast of Stephen to see Flint Castle and town and a bit of the coast path

Sun breaking through mist above ruins of Flint Castle

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Merry Christmas everyone! Always looking for new languages for next year…

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Friends will be staying near Monmouth over Christmas and I see Jingle Street on the map nearby. Surely it should be the location for some twee Christmas song: “Santa’s sleigh’s driving down Jingle Street” or similar. (Name might actually be related to nearby Dingestow/Llanddingad)

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Andrew Woode @andrewwoode.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Challenge for linguistic reconstruction; instead of Bible-related fakes in Greek/Hebrew/Coptic, someone should concoct a manuscript of the Epistle to the Galatians translated into Galatian (not that far away from Gaulish)

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