iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Something interesting afoot at #StanstedAirport this afternoon - first a Dubai Royal Air Wing 747, then a Royal Flight of Oman 747 and now a United States of America 737 flying in.🤔

09-0540 United States Air Force Boeing C-40C (737-7DM(WL) BBJ). Courtesy of Planespotters.net

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

No matter how many times I watch this goal, I cannot believe that these were the starting positions. Bogle's run was absolute madness. 😯 #lufc

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

I know, I know, don't count ya chickens and all that, but... #lufc

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I hope you like orchids. They always raise my spirits.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Time to wheel out the UberEats "managers in waiting" again... #lufc

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Dahlia, Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire. Almost perfection! #AlphabetChallenge #WeekCforCloseUp

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

@stansaidairport.bsky.social Opened the curtains to photograph this fabulous sunrise and inadvertently caught a formation of UFOs heading for Stansted Airport. Then I switched off the room light to see better... #Sunrise #UFO #Photography #Idiot 🤣

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

My own rendering of 'Operation Infatuate' amphibians - Terrapin and M29 Weasel - in 1/72 scale. #WW2 #History #Military #Miniatures

Part of a display of 1/72 scale military models including an 8-wheeled 'Terrapin' amphibious vehicle and a smaller tracked 'Weasel' being unloaded from a 'Buffalo'.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone! 🎅🎄 And a big thank you to friends, followers and the wonderful #BlueSky community for your support, likes, and engagement this year.

A chopping board made into a Christmas decoration. Downstairs a living room where a nutcracker stands beside a decorated tree underneath which are family presents. A framed photo of Mum, Dad and daughter hangs on the wall. Up in the loft an almost identical scene, but smaller, for a family of mice. A Happy Christmas from both families!

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

OK, no bending of rules in this post, here's a genuine 'zero'. Especially for those of you who were wondering how my hair looks so healthy and shiny. 👴😂 #AlphabetChallenge #WeekZforZero

Part of the text on a shampoo bottle, claiming to have 0% harsh chemicals, artificial colour and perfume.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

I have no idea what I was playing with all those years ago. But I'm going to claim that I was learning my numbers, starting (of course) with 'zero'! 😂0️⃣ #AlphabetChallenge #WeekZforZero

A smiling toddler sits on the grass and plays with a number of flexible, ring-shaped objects.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

#HappyMonday, John. Here's my meagre contribution to 🇪🇬 stamps! Bird Floor decoration from Akhenaten's palace. £1 Egypt 1978 #stampcollecting #philately #stamps

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

No red Santas allowed in my house! 😂

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

@lottarain.bsky.social Seeing your profile, Carlotta, I'm reminded of a Cologne highlight from the summer - Café Reichard fruit flans, of course! Mmm😋

In the foreground is a cafe counter display of fruit flans. Behind are two members of staff preparing orders.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

"Langhals" (Long Neck) statue in Osterspai, Germany, marking the start of the 7.7 km Langhalsweg Trail. August 2025. #WeekYforYearPast #AlphabetChallenge

Atop a stone column, from which bubbles a stream of clear water, sits the statue of a smiling, long-necked boy.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Quite a year for movies, 1963. Not only blockbusters like 'Cleopatra', 'From Russia With Love' and 'The Pink Panther' but also some best forgotten like 'Goldilocks and the Three Bares'. 🙄

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Nice picture! You reminded me of this little place in Riquewihr, Alsace... #ShopfrontFriday #AuMarchéDeRiquewihr

Two windows of a highly decorated 'market' shop front in Riquewihr, Alsace.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Feels like it was continual sunshine this year. Another sunny reminder of the summer - a giant pair of scissors at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire in September. 🌞 #HappyFriday Bluesky peeps! 😊 #WeekYforYearPast #AlphabetChallenge #photography #sculpture #art @nationaltrust.org.uk

A man and his daughter pose by a giant pair of scissors set into the grassy lawn of Anglesey Abbey.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

As it's #ThrowbackThursday here I am with the family heading for Bridlington beach. Smartly dressed, one and all! Oh yes, that's me in the pushchair. #seaside #holiday #photography #Bridlington #Yorkshire #1950s

A black and white commercial holiday snap from c1954. Mum and Dad with three sons, the youngest in a pushchair. Grandma completes the group.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

As it's a cold, dreich December day here in the UK, what better than to look back to a sunny August day on the Rhine. #HappyWednesday all you lovely BlueSky people out there! 😊 #WeekYforYearPast #AlphabetChallenge

Looking northwards from Boppard towards a sharp bend in the River Rhine with the steep hills of the Rhine gorge as a backdrop. In the distance two cruise ships are approaching. In the foreground a display of pink and red flowers.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

A waltzing Firefly? That's a 10 from me!

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

I think I must have been in 'be careful what you wish for' mode when I posted this back in January. I refuse to be downhearted. 👍 #lufc

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

@heisholt.bsky.social "Lær mer norsk" - Det er mange år siden nå, men jeg husker denne læreboken veldig godt! 😊

The cover of a textbook from the Norwegian language course "Lær mer norsk"

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

I always felt that Patrick Bamford's brief flirtation with plastic chickens was slightly unsettling. I do hope he's over it now. #lufc #CamdenMarket

Still from a Greater Anglia TV advert featuring a Patrick Bamford impersonator getting a bit too friendly with a plastic chicken. Apparently it was meant to inspire a visit to Camden Market.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

The Dutch war film, The Forgotten Battle (De Slag om de Schelde - Netflix 2020) was a pretty good effort at showing the war from a Canadian perspective. With Hollywood nowhere in sight. 🇨🇦🇬🇧

A still from the movie "The Forgotten Battle" showing Canadian soldiers moving up for an assault on the Walcheren causeway, November 1944. (Photo Credit: Darkknight / MovieStillsDB)

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

I honestly don't know how old this Nativity set is, but the original box says it came from Woolworths. Anyway, it's time for its annual appearance... #AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXmas

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Some of this aerial view might look familiar perhaps. I've circled where the Norths had a house, retail shop and workshops. #batley

Aerial view of Batley, Yorkshire from 1951. Image taken from "Memories of Dewsbury and Batley"

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

My all time favourite photo from the family album could be a scene from Dodge City but in fact it's from the Wild West of Batley, Yorkshire. My great grandfather's brother William North with the staff of his joinery business, taken about 1874. #OldPhotos #FamilyHistory #Genealogy #VictorianPhotos

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

You know we're in for a rough winter, flu-wise, when the BBC lets Dr Chris out of his cupboard. #SuperFlu 😷 #StaySafe

Dr Chris Smith, virologist. Picture from BBC.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Don't quite know what it is but there's just something incredibly sexy about a page of Brewster Buffaloes in Finnish markings. 👀 💙 (Page from "Finnish Aces of World War 2", Osprey Publishing) #aviation #aircraft #WW2 #avgeek 🇫🇮

Brewster Model 239 Buffaloes in Finnish markings.

Book cover showing the Messerschmitt Bf 109G of Ilmari Juutilainen, Finland's top fighter ace with 94 confirmed aerial victories.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Growing up not too long after the end of #WW2 my childhood #aviation hero wasn't Douglas Bader, "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham, or Johnnie Johnson. After reading his autobiographical "Fighter Over Finland" it was definitely Eino Luukkanen. 👍🇫🇮

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

In Jan 1943 Dad joined his last ship, HMS Moyola, operating as escort to several Atlantic convoys until June when the ship was re-deployed to the support of over 20 convoys between the UK and West Africa. Here the threat was not only u-boats but also 'Condor' bombers. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #Veteran

HMS Moyola, a 'River Class' Frigate launched in 1942. Moyola served with the Royal Navy until Oct 1944 when she was transferred to the Free French Navy and renamed Tonkinois.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

After my father-in-law qualified in “Higher Submarine Detection” he was posted to HMS Boadicea which deployed to the Med in support of the allied landings in North Africa (Nov 1942). This included the rescue of 449 survivors from the torpedoed troopship “Viceroy of India”. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #Veteran

HMS Boadicea, a B-Class Destroyer launched in 1930. IWM photograph.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

If you're interested in reading some background to #RoyalNavy escort operations during #WW2 I can recommend Nicholas Monsarrat's three-part autobiography, published together as "Three Corvettes". He went on to write "The Cruel Sea" on which the classic movie was based. Also recommended!

The covers of two books by Nicholas Monsarrat. "Three Corvettes", an autobiographical account of his time in the Royal Navy during WW2, and "The Cruel Sea", a novel based on his own experiences.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Just a bit late for a Happy Monday, but I knew I had some Papua New Guinea stamps lurking somewhere! This set of Kingfishers from 1981. Happy Tuesday!

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Dad served on HMS Kipling from Nov 1940 until Dec 1942 and saw plenty of action in the Mediterranean. In May 1941 Kipling rescued survivors, including Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten, from sister ship HMS Kelly which had been attacked and sunk by German bombers. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #Veteran

HMS Kipling, a K-Class Destroyer launched in 1939. Sister ship to HMS Kelly which was the inspiration for the fictional HMS Torrin in the movie "In Which We Serve". Image from IWM collection.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

HMS Ivanhoe, my late father-in-law's first ship which he joined in April 1939 at the age of 18. Ivanhoe survived an attack by German bombers at Dunkirk in June 1940 but later that year had to be scuttled after striking a German mine off the Dutch coast. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #Veteran

HMS Ivanhoe 'D16', an I-Class Destroyer built for the Royal Navy in 1937.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXmas A few nutcrackers to scare away the evil spirits and bring you good fortune!

A Christmas shop's display of traditional nutcrackers. Various sizes, in a mix of green and red uniforms.

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

No excuse needed to post a picture of a holiday coach. Found ours lurking on the quayside at Dordrecht during our walking tour of the city. Here's to more adventures in 2026! 🥂😊

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John M 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @john0109.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Your grasp of English is much better than a lot of people on here, my friend. And I've just noticed that there's a little bit of the Laughing Cavalier about you. Are you related? #lufc 😂

"The Laughing Cavalier" by the Dutch master Frans Hals.

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