iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

New top suggestion for beating the heat - retreat to the champagne tunnels of Reims/Epernay. Admittedly a niche option, but highly recommended

The champagne ‘train’ at Mercier - an electric vehicle trundled through the 18km or so of tunnels underneath Epernay

A painted wooden sign reading ‘champagne Mercier’ in a dark tunnel about two wooded a frames stacked with champagne bottles

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Have I been missing out on all the fun parties again?

A screenshot from the NBN atlas for Scotland, showing a result for swifts from the data resource “swift screaming parties”

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Argh. Aurora. Although somehow it still feels appropriate

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

The author followed us home from Norway!

A red arora fills the sky, changing to a pale green at the base with silhouetted hazel

A vivid green aurora floods the sky, changing slightly to red at the top, at the bottom are the silhouettes of trees

Green, almost turquoise aurora with the silhouette and lights of a house below

Paler red and green streaks of aurora shoot into the sky side by side, the silhouettes of larch trees below

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

My 8yo definitely takes after me - he told me he made a church (complete with chapter house) and also a cherry picker for maintenance.

Brightly-coloured magnetic tile toys arranged into two towers, a main rectangular structure and an adjoining hexagon complete with flag. At the pack a small child’s arm is visible and is holding on to a tall thin structure with a black platform at the top - essential for enabling proper roof repairs.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Tag yourself - taxidermy edition. Never a boring visit to the Tring branch of the Natural History Museum!

Realising I should have spent more time reading the labels rather than sniggering at the poor animals and their unfortunate expressions. A taxidermied small furry mammal looks quizzically at the camera.

Again, my bad for not taking proper notes. A taxidermied mammal with prominent front teeth looks as though highly shocked

A very confused looking animal this time - it looks as though its thoughts pain it

A surprised seal, also slightly recoiling

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

My boys perfected making tea - Sunday mornings now get to involve me having a lie-in and being brought supplies!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

New additions to the uranium glass collection - spooky vibes.

Two glass syphons glow a fluorescent green in the dark.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Possibly the best use of a morning off work in quite some time - three hours to learn to make all of these tarts! Thankfully two growing boys are helping to destroy all my work.

A selection of tarts - twelve mini tarts with a brownie filling topped with praline ganache; a large oval pear and ginger frangipane topped with chocolate dipped mousse and little dollops of various ganache; and four square tarts with a pistachio friand filling topped with raspberry cremeaux with a red glaze and various berries. It’s a lot of cake/chocolate/tart

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Off tomorrow to a site which “While not officially confirmed to be a place of Satanic rituals” certainly seems to have a lot of interesting issues! Should have arranged for the end of October. Bad planning.

media.tenor.com

a group of people with horns are standing around a fire in the dark

Alt: A group of people dressed in black cloaks and wearing skull masks are standing around a fire in the dark, two are dancing. Stereotypical? Absolutely.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Seems like a good day to start watching The Leftovers

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Tha glamour of my job really is something to envy: I’ve just agreed to meet some people in a cow tunnel beneath the Edinburgh bypass.

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Reposted by Katie Carmichael

EarthworkBec @earthworkbec.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

🚨 JOB ALERT - come work in my team?! Vacancy for an Archaeological Investigator with #LandscapeArchaeology experience. Full time, fixed-term contract until 31 March 2026, based in Cambridge with hybrid working. Apply by 26th Aug 👉 app.beapplied.com/apply/pbdaw6...

Colour photograph showing a person with their back to stading on moorland scrub looking out across a valley towards green pasture fields. The sky is bright blue and the far fields show remnants of prehistoric field banks within the modern plots. The person is wearing a pink coat, black trousers and a knited hat. They are holding a 1m red-and-white pole.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Applications are open to become the new Graduate Trainee at HES - after seeing how much fun our most recent trainee had I’m quite jealous! Please share widely: ekov.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

ekov.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com

Heritage Graduate Trainee

Here at HES, we are welcoming applications for the role of Heritage Graduate Trainee, which is a Grade 1 Fixed Term position working full time hours, based in Longmore House, Edinburgh.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Ugh that’s awful - had that happen to us too as it turns out our initial buyers had an offer on a second place the entire time! All worked out in the end of course, but the Scottish system definitely makes more sense than the English!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Another yeah, another cake theme done. The party had more smoke grenades and ammunition than I ever expect when I had kids, but as there don’t seem to have been any lasting injuries or burns I’m calling it a win for the day and am off to collapse.

A Minecraft themed birthday party made from piled-up cubes of chocolate cake topped with buttercream icing, as well as rice-crispy treat ‘sand’ blocks and jelly cubes in an alarming shade of blue for the water.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Always nice to have a quiet moment at the castle before it opens up for the day - I may be here a lot now but it’s always special!

Edinburgh castle in the quiet before the storm - the main route past the one o’clock gun is empty and the upper ward is silhouetted by the sun.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Today’s adventure was being allowed to climb down into the dewatered lock chambers of a section of the Forth and Clyde Canal in Falkirk to inspect the maintenance works being carried out - really something quite special!

Two men in high-vis jackets and hard hats stand on the wooden-planked floor of the base of a canal lock chamber, looking at the massive wooden lock gates which stand partially open before them.

I feel sorry for the masons who nicely finished the stonework shown in this picture only to have the surfaces hacked back to allow for the depth of the sluice doors within the lock doors.

A view from a footbridge looking along the length of a section of the dewatered canal with several sets of lock gates standing open, scaffolding towers are visible within.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

The entrance to the secret path is starting to look glorious - always a lovely few weeks when the rhododendrons are in full bloom!

A blaze of purple rhododendron flowers against a backdrop of verdant foliage with just a sliver of a bright blue sky peeping through. At first glance it appears to be a wall of plants but AHA! The secret path lies hidden in plain sight

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

With the exception of scheduled monuments of course!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

How is your day going? My kids just phoned their uncle as he’s on the way to the hospital to have his first child to wish him luck, and to say they hope nobody dies. I mean…

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Oh no! That’s really shitty, I’m sorry.

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Reposted by Katie Carmichael

Don O'Meara @donomeara.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

The role of Inspector of Monuments has come up in the Yorkshire region. A great opportunity for an archaeologist to shape the work of Historic England. app.beapplied.com/apply/zr945m... #archaeology #heritage

app.beapplied.com

Inspector of Ancient Monuments

SummaryWe are the public body that looks after England’s historic environment. We champion historic places, helping people understand, value and care for them.Historic England have a fantastic opportu...

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

My youngest bought himself a laminator earlier and has immediately made bookmarks for my husband and I, and a checklist of daily events for himself….

A laminated checklist with the tasks:
Get dressed
Eat breakfast
Brush teeth
Sort bag/shoes
Lunch
Newsround
Chores/homework
Dinner
Wash
Get pyjamas on
Brush teeth
Stories

And two smaller laminated pieces of paper -
one reads ‘ I luv too daddy’ and the other reads ‘I lov yuo mummy’

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Not a bad day for site visits I must say - lunch with a view!

Tantalum Castle with the Bass Rock visible to the left, all under azure skies with whispy white clouds

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Whoop! The swallows are officially home to roost for the summer, I do love seeing them flitting around in the evening sunshine. Zero chance of a decent photo of course.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

And let’s not even start on much of the soul-destroying decor.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

I can’t help but wonder about the categorisation of tasks that results in FIVE kitchens/utilities in sequence. What happens in the final room of shame? www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Emboldened by the veil of mist, an increasingly confident gang of lambs plot their great escape.

Six lambs gather around a blue digger sat in a field, the distance is blurred in mist. The four lambs to the front of the digger look at the camera as if caught in the act.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

And yet when I do canal visits I look like a total dork in high vis, hard hat, life jacket and site boots. No fair!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

One very cool uranium decanter and a glow in the dark plastic Jesus (in joke) - not the usual presents perhaps!

A bright green glow-in-the-dark plastic Jesus with arms outstretched stands next to an etched uranium glass decanter/jug/vase which glows even more brightly green under the blue glue of a UV light.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Nothing quite like being ‘woken’ by a 7yo presenting you with tea in bed. The tea in question being a blackcurrant tea bag from school. With milk.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I always zoom in on your pictures to look at the details anyway, so if you prefer to show them with borders/wall then that can just add to the overall effect!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

One of mine - that’s a real surprise!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Scotland is not a serious country. 18 and sunnny = THE COUNTRY IS ON FIRE. (I jest, obviously it has been very dry and it’s a real threat….. but still)

A clip from a BBC article warning of an extreme risk of wildfires on Friday

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

I think you’re right - there’s something indulgent about going back to something you’ve read and loved before isn’t there? Some unexpected surgery but all better out than in and getting better by the day!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Oooh I haven’t read that in years, that’s a good suggestion!

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

I’ve been signed off work for two weeks and I’m going to be a NIGHTMARE at home - I don’t do well at staying still. All recommendations for books/series etc welcome - highbrow and trashy alike.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Even more so in person (as these things always are!) - I just wish I’d had the time to sit and really look at it closely! Another time.

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

A quick scoot over to Linlithgow this afternoon and was much taken by the spectacular stained glass in St Katherine’s Aisle - installed in 1992 to commemorate the 750th anniversary of St Michael’s church, it was designed by Crear McCartney on the theme of Pentecost.

A shocking blaze of colour: the stained glass on the lower windows is largely shades of blue with accents of red, pink and yellow. The upper glass is more purple, with a central blaze of yellows and reds. The traceries window itself takes the form of a huge, curved-sided, equilateral triangle containing cusped circles and ovals, sitting upon six cusped columns

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

I came home from work yesterday to find we have a new orchard of pear trees! A local brewer/cider/perry maker had trees but no space, so we’re essentially fostering them. We only had the one vole guard, but he seems to be taking the job seriously at least.

A black cat perches atop a tall fence post, behind him is a former horse field covered in the remains of last year’s raspberries and willowherb, amongst which 40 young pear trees have been planted - each with tall wire around them in attempt to stop them being eaten by the deer. We shall refer to the former horse field orchard as ‘The H’Orchard’

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Katie Carmichael @kcarmichael.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

A glorious day to see some areas of Edinburgh Castle that are currently closed to the public - the Western Defences offer gorgeous views and some lovely historic graffiti is a bonus.