iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

That's the weekend sorted, French polishing then perhaps the Lash.

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Voting today in the constituency of Rushen, in the land of my birth. Isle of Man House of Keys election. The world's oldest continuous parliament, 1,047 years old. Hardly surprising that across the pond, the 237-year-old US Congress is still having growing pains. #IsleOfMan

021

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Solar system. (Though relegated to the dwarf planet league, I understand, perhaps Pluto's planetary premiership promotion proves possible, pending professional panel persuasion.) #beachcombing #allwashedup

021

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

We squeezed cordon apple trees, variety Saturn, into our small garden. Fine apples that also please our jackdaws.

141

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This is from Steinbeck's 1960 American road trip, Travels with Charley.

020

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

2 of my fave Steinbeck books. If you haven't read then you are in for a treat, particularly if you like dogs, travel or scratching round the rock pools.

020

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

In 4 weeks of dog walk blackberry picking not met anyone else collecting. But people will mindlessly buy supermarket fruit from South Africa, South America and even Israel !

040

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Windows open, listening to rainsong. A soft day in the Isle of Man.

060

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Bourne Plaice takeaway in Ramsey noticed we had the dog with us. Thank you. #IsleofMan

092

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

None of the first but plenty of the other.

030

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Meanwhile in the little rocky Isle of Man, where almost all journeys are short, 2 headlines that highlight the bad driving culture & high accident rate that comes with narrow country roads with no speed limits, little enforcement & too many who measure their self worth by how fast they can drive.

111

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Inevitably, school holidays & weekends in the Isle of Man can mean someone else on my beach.

061

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Flea market finds, now gathering dust. 10 German, 1 Swede, 1 Dutch, 1 Italian.

042

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Cold north wind and curlews calling.

160

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

"Govt-backed road racing reinforces the Isle of Man's bad driving culture: narrow roads, no speed limits, little enforcement, drivers who measure self-worth by their vehicle's size & speed. Result: high accident rates & unsafe, unwelcoming roads that discourage cycling & other active travel."

011

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

"So many things I would have done But clouds got in my way"

051

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Though only a small Island, in the south of the Isle of Man, fortunately, you wouldn't know motor bike racing is on again. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

040

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Better than all that eclipse colander faff.

061

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Didn't find salmon today but found tea. #Scotland

030

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

In NE Scotland, tourists race over a bridge on heavily promoted North Coast 500 racetrack. Hidden below, Berriedale & Langwell rivers both flow under the single bridge before a shared estuary. Many diseased & dead salmon in the rivers. Drought, low oxygen levels, high water temp. Not very pragmatic!

021

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The deep wooded gorge of the River Kirkaig can be midge madness, but this year few midges & so far no ticks. Now if only I can find a salmon.

051

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

As the light fades and the tide starts to flood, the lobsters walk out onto the sand, from the cover of the rocks and weed. If you stand still while wading, they will sometimes come and explore the gap between your wading boots as a possible new house. #fishing

090

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

In the Isle of Man the big (spring) tide low waters are always early morning and early evening. Tonight looks perfect for bass on the fly rod. I trust that the footballers can cope without me.

030

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Noctiluca scintillans, an algal bloom. Douglas Isle of Man

030

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The sea felt very warm last couple of days. This is data from Buoy a couple of miles off coast. Closer inshore it is even warmer.

050

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Isle of Man. Devon or Cornwall but without those lovely tourists.

192

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

To help cool down, I am reading The Art of Patience: Seeking the Snow Leopard in Tibet. My French is poor, so I have only read Sylvain Tesson's books available in English. I enjoy his writing so much, I find myself reading very slowly, rationing, to make them last as long as possible.

020

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This well, in a Bavarian forest, has been such a welcome, cool relief for the dog and us on early morning runs, on these fierce hot days.

040

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

A bit hot today in Germany, tar and me melting. Pavement too hot for dog's paws. So good to have a nearby forest where the shade makes it cool enough to walk early and late. And someone kindly built me a high chair to enjoy the quiet.

01058

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I haven't seen Jays in IOM. I save any blue feathers I find on travels for tying a sea trout fly, the Claret Bumble, one of Kingsmill Moore's patterns. He was an Irish Judge whose casting style earned him the moniker "Windmill Moore". As well as judging, he wrote the classic book, "A man may fish".

052

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Last day in Italy & another fab hike & climb in the crumbly Dolomites. A well deserved snow bath for our fine mountainy dog. She hasn't put a paw wrong in 2 months. But tomorrow over the Alps into the heat of Bavaria.

0123

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Hot night of Italian culture in Vicenza. Chanced on a boxing match. But told we had missed the pole dancer who had been on earlier.

010

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

There is a fishing permit box, but this bridge was not built by fishermen. We need somewhere to lean against the parapet, peer into the water & for a while, to dream of fishes.

121

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The ordentlich or even obsessively pretty villages in Italian Tyrol, Austrian, Swiss Alps are not to my taste. It is the cool rivers, the shade of the quiet forests & the spectacular hikes & climbs in the Dolomites that we come for.

061

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Oven set at 36⁰ in North Italy. But may have found paradise on Google Maps.

150

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Fascinating hike up, & inside Monte Pasubio on Strada delle 52 Gallerie. In WW1, the Italian soldiers & miners cut the trail into the cliffs in just 9 months. They dug 52 tunnels, 2 km in total, some steep and twisting up through the rock, all slippery underfoot but cool on a hot day. #Italy

0123

backoftheocean @backoftheocean.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

For fishermen & other odd people, the little fishing museum at Cassone is a treat. 100 year old German outboard, fishing spears and 2 tirlindana, weighted fishing boards that had many hooks attached and were towed behind a boat.

151