iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Radiating aggregates of pyromorphite crystals from Driggith Opencut, Caldbeck Fells, Cumbria, England, UK. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy #MineralsOfBluesky

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

An old-time piece from the English Lake District. Calcite & baryte from Greenside mine, Patterdale, Cumbria, England, UK. Specimen ~ 100 mm wide. Ex. William W. Jefferis & Carnegie Museum of Natural History collections #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

A specimen of calcite from Ladywash mine, Eyam, Derbyshire, England, UK. ~ 230 mm tall with single xtals & twins to 25 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

One of next door's gremlins sheltering from the sun in my back yard. #caturday #AdoptDontShop #RescueCat #CatsOfBluesky

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Amethyst from Calton Hill Quarry, Taddington, Derbyshire, England, UK. Fov~ 40 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

A silicified greisen containing voids after feldspar lined with combinations of cassiterite, quartz & tourmaline. From Cameron quarry, St. Agnes, Cornwall, England, UK. FOV ~ 35 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy #IgneousPetrology

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

A rich specimen of the tin ore cassiterite, SnO2, from Old Beam Mine, Bugle, Treverbyn, Cornwall, England, UK. Specimen ~ 100 mm wide. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Last chemo session today. It's been a gruelling 6 months, but I can't praise highly enough the staff on Ward 202 & my oncology team @UHNM_NHS who've made the process bearable. Love & light to all fellow cancer travellers everywhere.

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

A limestone breccia cemented by purple fluorite. From the replacement orebody on the north side of the Dirtlow Rake vein. From Laporte Minerals openpit, Dirtlow Rake, Castleton, Derbyshire, England, UK. Specimen ~ 95 mm wide. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

A brown botryoidal crust of the zinc carbonate smithsonite on purple fluorite from Balleye mine, Cromford, Derbyshire, England, UK. Specimen ~ 70 mm wide. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

I managed a dawn stroll up #BerryhillFields this morning for the first time in a while. The swallows are back & I did spot a male stonechat & heard a couple of grasshopper warblers #StokeOnTrent #Staffordshire #birds #mist

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Brown smithsonite pseudomorph after calcite from Balleye mine, Cromford, Derbyshire, England, UK. FOV ~ 40 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Brown botryoidal smithsonite on purple fluorite from Balleye mine, Cromford, Derbyshire, England, UK. Specimen ~ 60 mm wide. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Fluorite, galena, sphalerite & siderite from Allenheads Mine (Beaumont Mine), Allendale, Northumberland, England, UK. 1st image largest xtal 18 mm. 2nd image fov ~ 80 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Calcite crystals in parallel growth from Ladywash mine, Eyam, Derbyshire, England, UK. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

A lemon yellow twinned #fluorite group, modified by faces of the hexoctahedron, nestled amongst regular cubes. From Hilton mine, Scordale, Cumbria. FOV ~ 22 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Polished specimens of the barium sulphate #baryte from Laporte's openpit on Dirtlow Rake, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK for #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

Transverse section across two intergrown baryte pseudostalactites. There is colour zoning from dark pink in the centres to pale pink towards the outer margin. The hollow tubular centres are lined with a later generation of tiny baryte crystals. There are some fine-grained galena inclusions towards the outer rim of the specimen. There are also some tiny marcasite inclusions altered to goethite. Specimen 49 mm wide.

Cut and polished transverse section across a pseudostalactite of baryte. Colour-zoned from dark pink in the centre to pale pink towards the margin.There is some galena included towards the edge of the specimen along with tiny marcasite inclusions altered to goethite. Diameter 26 mm. The particular pseudostalactite this specimen was taken from was some 180 mm long.

$Polished slice of baryte displaying pale pink arborescent baryte overgrown by colourless coarse crystals intergrown with layers of fine-grained pink baryte. A fracture surface on the left of the specimen cuts across the baryte layers and is coated with brown calcite. Specimen 50 mm wide.$

Polished slice of baryte displaying, from right to left, pale pink arborescent baryte overgrown by colourless coarse crystals, which in turn are overgrown by alternating layers of fine grained pink baryte and more coarsely crystalline material. Specimen 53 mm wide.

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Grey crystals of the lead ore galena, PbS, intergrown with black crystals of sphalerite, ZnS. From Brownley Hill mine, Nenthead, Alston Moor, Cumbria, England, UK. ~ 180 mm longest dimension. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Two mining & two kleptoparasite #bees from the same mini ecosystem on the bank of the River Trent, Abbey Hulton, #StokeOnTrent. The Tawny mining bee I rescued from a watery grave (I didn't need to do CPR on it!). Pics taken in 2019. Details on the alt text.

A black & grey bee perched on a blade of grass, wings spread wide. Ashy mining bee, Andrena cineraria.

A fox red hairy bee clinging to a green twig. Tawny mining bee, Andrena fulva. I rescued this one from drowning in the River Trent!

A kleptoparasite bee, Nomada sp., with a yellow & black abdomen, lurking next to a mining bee burrow.

A kleptoparasitic bee, Nomada sp., with a yellow, black & reddish striped abdomen, looking for a mining bee burrow in which to lay an egg.

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

I'm finally happy to have found out who painted the original of this late Victorian/early Edwardian photogravure print previously owned by my paternal Nana's mum. The image is of "Ophelia" by Henrietta Rae, painted in 1890. It depicts a scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 5).

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

A brachiopod, Productus sp. This was gifted to me, unfortunately only provenanced as from the Lower Carboniferous somewhere in Derbyshire, England, UK. Even though someone bodged a repair job, it's still a nice example. #FossilFriday #palaeontology #paleontology #geology

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Olive green aggregates of Vésigniéite xtals with malachite, cuprite & chrysocolla from New Cliffe Hill Quarry, Stanton under Bardon, Markfield, Leicestershire. Vésigniéite formula is: BaCu3(VO4)2(OH)2 FOV ~ 30 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Fluorite & chalcedony from Wheal Mary Ann, Menheniot, Cornwall. Xtals to 6 mm on edge. The fluorite shows blue fluorescence under LWUV. The cross section shows an unusual fibrous texture in the fluorite. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

Fibrous fluorite on "normal" fluorite interbanded with chalcedony.

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Calcite & fluorite from Lambpart Lane Openpit, Bradwell, Derbyshire, England, UK. FOV ~ 20 mm. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Small cabinet specimen of fluorite & galena from Heights mine, Westgate, Co. Durham, England, UK. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy #fluorite

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

A colourless topaz crystal in granite pegmatite from Rumi Tucu mine, Cerro León Muerto, Papachacra pegmatites, Papachacra, Catamarca Province, Argentina. Topaz xtal is 16 mm long. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Dolomite pseudomorphing calcite from Alston Moor, Cumbria, England, UK. ~ 58 mm wide. Despite the label, the specimen is likely to be from further west in Cumbria. Probably obtained by a dealer based in Alston protective of their source. #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

1/2 An emerging Broad-bodied Chaser #dragonfly (Libellula depressa). I got my feet wet taking these photos in May 2018. #BerryhillFields #StokeOnTrent #Staffordshire #nature

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

A large red #damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) & a couple of frisky daddy long legs. Photos taken in May 2018. #BerryhillFields #StokeOnTrent #Staffordshire #nature

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

A specimen gifted to me when I was at school back in the Jurassic Period. Galena with smithsonite pseudomorphing calcite from Ball Eye mine, Cromford, Derbyshire, England, UK #MineralMonday #Minerals #Geology #EarthScience #mineralogy

Massive metallic grey galena & pale cream baryte. The left of the specimen displays brown smithsonite, some of which pseudomorphs (replaces) calcite crystals. There is also a small patch or reddish brown sphalerite included in the galena. Size 80x50x45 mm.

Brown smithsonite pseudomorphing scalenohedral calcite crystals. FOV ~ 40 mm.

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Morticia, Gomez & Wednesday a couple of weeks after I adopted them in 2016. They are still bonkers today! #Caturday #CatsOfBluesky #AdoptDontShop #kittens #RescueCats

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Andy @fuelledbyoatcakes.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

A mould in clay ironstone left behind after a coprolite (fossil poo, possibly from a fish) weathered away. Collected from the Carboniferous Coal Measures at Birchenwood Brickworks Quarry, Kidsgrove, #Staffordshire. ~ 35 mm long. #FossilFriday #palaeontology #paleontology

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