iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 17h

I do love owls. Whenever you see an owl, they always look like they are trying to destroy you with a look.

An owl (painting) looking exactly like owls always do. Sick of your bullshit.

Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Poor Steve, or Sally, or Shelley ... Snails don't like travel. They usually head to their own garden if they are moved. But this one won't be getting back to Ilfracombe from Barnstaple. Sorry. 🙁 All photos taken while parked up.

Same snail same wing mirror different angle

Another angle of the same snail. Also the same wing mirror.

At the risk of sounding repetitive ...
Actually this one also shows me reflected in the aforementioned wing mirror. Snail is still there though.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Got a lovely birthday card from my sister. There is something of an "in joke" here that sort of shouldn't need explaining and wouldn't really help much if I did. Suffice to say this is the best birthday card I have ever had that didn't have money in it. 😊😊😊

A Christmas card featuring a Christmas tree with the gold star and red baubles stuck on making it 3D
The background is red with pictures of wrapped presents, bows, and stars.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Vaguely reminds me of the cover of this book

Book cover showing a proper Devon cream tea on a lace covered table with a flint wall behind it and lush green fields beyond

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

"You should've seen it sir." In Going Postal the character Tolliver Groat describes the grandeur of the Post Office in its heyday. This is the sort of thing I imagine.

Publicity shot from the live action Going Postal features Moist Von Lipwig (front left) in the golden suit delivering a letter. Front right is Adorabell Dear heart. In the background, left, Sacharisa Crisplock and centre, William Devon Word (of The Times reporter and owner respectively) right is the Golem known variously (from memory) as Pump 27 and Gladys

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Since I stopped all Amazon advertising in April my sales have gone down. No surprises there. But since I was spending MORE per month on the advertising than the maximum revenue generated (£90 in February) per month, I am now making a profit. Conclusion, no more Amazon adverts ever. #SelfPublishing

Revenue chart from KDP shwoing monies earned this year. Approx figures Jan £55, Feb £90, Mar £62, Apr £81, May £50, Jun £35, Jul £35, Aug, £22 so far
Monies spaffed on Amazon advertising, typically around £80-90 a month and every month, I discovered when I took the time to look into it, it was more than I had made in sales.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

@ndbiosphere.bsky.social What's this? Loads washed up on Wildersmouth beach Ilfracombe this morning. Low tide, rising.

Strange (to me) looking organism. About four inches long roughly rectangular with rounded ends, vaguely resembles an iridescent sanitary towel. Dark blue around the edges fading to white and then pale pink in the middle. It also has a membranous transparent "sail" along the top.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This book just arrived A Walk Around Bideford in the Victorian/Edwardian Era Available from the author and from Walter Henry's in Bideford or from Blue Poppy Publishing website.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

You've been murdered, who do you want on the case? Image source www.discworldemporium.com/product/the-...

Carrott, Vimes, and Angua from Ankh Morpork city watch.
Image taken from Discworld Emporium link in post to compensate them for using their image.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Ironcrust's bakery, famous for dwarf bread, "The bread wi' now't taken out", has gone upmarket with a range of wholerock nutrient bars. #Discworld Sir Terry Pratchett GNU #BookSky

Samples of driveway or patio surfaces. Squares of aggregate materials bonded with a porous resin that somewhat resemble wholegrain cereal bars

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Pics from the dog walk this morning

Shadow on a wall of palm tree and lamppost

Odysseus the dog running to me on Capstone

$The sleeping elephant at Ilfracombe harbour resplendent in the morning sun$ Verity, by Damien Hirst. A 60ft bronze statue of a flayed pregnant woman holding a sword. It's a bit of a marmite piece.

Verity, by Damien Hirst. A 60ft bronze statue of a flayed pregnant woman holding a sword. It's a bit of a marmite piece.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Reading this. It is hard work and the stories mostly make NO SENSE in a modern context. That's not why I'm reading it. I want to broaden my knowledge of ancient #myths, but I don't know if this is good or bad of its type. #BookSky #AngloSaxon

Image of a book, Anglo-Saxon Myths: Struggles of the Seven Kingdoms by Brice Stratford
It shows a huge dragon in hues of blue with orange highlights and flames, with a man riding on its back or neck. The text on the cover is silver foil.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I managed to get Odysseus to sit still long enough to get some nice pictures. #Doggo

My doggo Odysseus sitting and grinning like an idiot. He is brown and beige similar colours to a German Shepherd but he is a collie cocker cross.

Odysseus coming to me when called like he's not really Odysseus at all.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Seems like a lot, to my uneducated eyes. It's the most I have collected in a single short walk. Interestingly, no seagulls or pigeons.

Merlin app readout of birds heard
Black cap, blue tit, jackdaw, chaffinch, sparrow, wren, robin, and greenfinch

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Lincoln the Tesco Cat, is one of those cats who hangs around the shops all day getting attention from shoppers and has his own social media profile. Now he's got his own book, published by @bluepoppypub.bsky.social written by @raggyrat.bsky.social www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12787257...

Front cover of Lincoln Gets a Job, by Catherine L. Owen, all about a ginger tom named Lincoln, who frequents Tesco in Hornsea, East Yorkshire. The cover shows Lincoln standing in front of a local newspaper, "The Gazette" with the headline, The Supermarket Cat, and a picture of Lincoln sitting in an ampty tray that once contained screen wash. There is also a fish, because you will find a fish on every page if you look for it.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I can't draw. But I did publish a book about a hedgehog and all the illustrations were done by a person. Here's one of the illustrations from the book.

Some hedgehogs are having a picnic in the woods while one hedgehog walks a tightrope between the trees. Squirrels and rabbits watch.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Stroll up Hillsborough this morning with the doggo. #Ilfracombe #NorthDevon #SouthWestCoastPath

$Ilfracombe harbour from Hillsborough Blue sky with whispy white clouds above the town, left helf of image, spread out in shades of stone, nestled among the verdant hillside and, on the right a shining blue sea. Although sunny it is not clear enough to see Lundy or Wales in the distance.$ Same view different zoom

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Primroses, Primula vulgaris, are blooming in profusion along the South West coast path just now. #Ilfracombe #Devon

Primroses, Primula vulgaris, growing and flowering profusely in front of a Devon stone wall.
Flowers are a pale yellow, like fresh butter.
The ridge of the wall features flat stones arranged like books on a shelf. The wall is covered in misses and lichens and probably houses a great many insects too.

Closer look at Primula vulgaris, two plants both brimming with flowers, over a dozen blooms on each. The flowers have darker yellow centres, highlighting the place where the visiting insects should go.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

And with this latest poll, @greenparty.org.uk just overtook Labour in Election Maps' polling average. Now, every vote for Labour is a vote to let Reform in! @zackpolanski.bsky.social was 100% correct. We are here to replace Labour. 💚

Election Maps polling averages chart which is compiled using all the opinion polls weighted for acuracy and frequency.
It shows Reform still falling now on 25.6%
Greens rising on 17.8% equal with Conservative falling slightly, and Labour just behind, but also falling and on 17.7%
Lib Dem 12.8% and SNP 2.4%

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Sad to see so many dead dogfish on the harbour beach. Sunny weekend. Not what we want tourists to see. Also, surely this is an ecological and sustainability issue? #Ilfracombe #Fishing @ianroome.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk

Half a dozen dead dogfish on the beach
This is a daily occurrence

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Anyone know what is going on here? #Ilfracombe harbour beach. Is there something living just under the sand?

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

We often don't appreciate how lucky we are in Ilfracombe. Although I do still find myself quietly celebrating the fact that I live here. This is Runnymede Garden with a carpet of wildflowers instead of boring grass. No idea what they are though. 🙂

Pink and white small flowers in a patch of feathery vegetation.

Wide angle of the flowers and a palm tree in the middle of the bed

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Anyone know how to stop Windows putting this annonying crap at the bottom of my screen?

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I walked up Capstone in Ilfracombe yesterday with the doggo Quite like this snap of Ekaterine Frolov with the sun behind her. She was a 14 year-old Russian girl who, tragically, fell to her death from Hillsborough. The statue was erected here, however, where more people would see it.

$Statue of Ekaterine Frolov at the top of Capstone in Ilfracombe. The sun is directly behind her head casting the statue into silhouette$

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Following hard on the heels of YouGov putting the Green party on 21% here's Find Out Now's latest poll which includes Restore and YourParty figures. FON are notoriously generous to the Greens but, even so 20% is the highest they have ever given us.

Screenshot of the latest Find Out Now poll, headline figures shown as a barchart.
Note, the poll was conducted on behalf of Restore and includes figures for them and also for YourParty.
Reform 24%, Green party 20%, Conservatives 17%, Labour 16%, LibDem 10%, Restore 7%, SNP 2%, Plaid Cymru 1%, YourParty 1% Others 1%

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

I've been doing a fair bit of behind the scenes stuff but I do have a young adult fantasy coming later in the year #DevonBookHour

Physical mock up of The Feathered Tree paperback
Artwork shows a face framed by magpie wings

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Despite the absolute lies being told by Labour, they are adistant thrid in Gorton and Denton. Only the Green Party can beat Reform this Thursday.

The only credible poll published shows the Green party on 33%, Reform on 29%, and Labour on 26%
There are a lot of undecided voters left, they need to vote Green to stop Reform.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Driving to Britain's best pannier market (South Molton in Devon) this morning on the first sunny day of the year and I caught a glimpse of the just risen sun and ... ... I thought, "Oh, it's a full sun today!" Like it has phases! 🤣

A stunning sight, the "rare" full sun just rising over the swimming baths and South Molton central carpark.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Sure enough, there's a full rainbow right across the sky and, if you stand in the right place like I did, the end is right over the pannier market. So hopefully it will be a good day.

A pale rainbow over South Molton pannier market. Glowing golden and full of hope.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Couldn't help noticing the bright sunshine of the new dawn fighting against the incessant rain and realised that a rainbow must surely be there. ...

View through the large red doors of South Molton pannier market from inside. Outside it is raining steadily but there is a golden glow of sunshine, from the recently risen sun, just visible above the trees in the left hand corner of the sky. It promises that things will get better.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Ordered this months ago when I realised I couldn't afford the hardback. 🙂 I can barely afford this one now so soon after Christmas 🤣

$Paperback copy of "Pagans" just bought from my local bookshop in Ilfracombe.$

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

GET IN! Drinks are on me tonight boys! 😂 First PLR payment in about three years. One pound and seventy-two pence. I don't care, it's free money. I am a bit confused that 172 is not a multiple of 12.4, but presumably there is a reason. 🤷‍♂️

Screen shot of my PLR payout for this year. £1.72
Apparently based on 12.40 pence per book loan, so that means my books have been borrowed 13.8 times.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I am sixty. I will never not be excited by rainbows.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

It's still not published yet, but here it is in all its ridiculous glory. "Dent-O-Nip" I remembered wrong plus there's an autocorrect to "debt" 😀

Two pages from a forthcoming book the first page says, "We'll be back after this short commercial break. Don't go away now!" in large letters taking up the whole page.
The following page has a picture of a tube of toothpaste featuring the name "Dent-O-Nip" and a picture of a sprif of catnip, 'Nepeta cataria', alongide the copy, "Ebarrassed to smile? Yellow stained teeth? Then you need ... "Dent-O-Nip (Tradmark symbol)" with the fresh taste of cat-nip.
Dent-O-Nip makes teeth purr-ly (spelled P U R R L Y) white.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

I have an artist slowly working on illustrations for a WIP Three done so far, four to go for the main characters. Eve, human 40+ ranger Jenna, her daughter, 15-16, bard Conker, 3-4yr-old mare. If you like her work she can be found here www.artstation.com/acapeluso

Eve is a weatherwon forty-something mother of six who is especially good at foraging and cooking and all the things a hardworking mum and wife ends up having to be good at. She also had ambitions to be The Chosen One in her youth. Now she must go after her daughter who has been banished for breaking the prophesy.
She is seen here with a longbow and travelling clothes in shades of brown and green. Her face is dirty with soot where she has been mourning her daughter, although she is not dead yet and Eve will do everything to ensure she survives.

Jenna is the daughter of Eve. Her colours are brighter featuring some dark pinks and a blue bag. She carries a bone flute which she made herself and has learned to play. She is caring and loving but won't be pushed around either despite the societal expectation that girls will always be subservient in her world.

Conker is the fine mare given to Jethro, the Chosen One, as a mount for him to ride and fight the dragon in the mountains. She is badly burned in the very first encounter and she runs away from Jethro. She however rejoins the party and is cared for by Jenna and Eve.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Political compass analyses the parties by a consistent and objective method. Corbyn's Labour was left. Starmer is very slightly to the right of LibDems and more authoritarian. Just facts.

Political compass chart of UK parties based on their 2024 manifestos.
Labour are shown slightly to the right of LibDems and more authoritarian.
Further to the right and even more authoritarian are DUP, Reform and Conservative.
On the left are SNP and Plaid, as well as the Green Party who are also the most libertarian.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Got my loo roll to hand. Already welling up! 🥹😭 😂 "Is he sick?" "No, worse, he's discouraged." The writer should have been given an Oscar for that line alone.

Opening scene for "It's Wonderful Life" showing the sign saying 'You are now in Bedford Falls '.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

I know this is a scam, 100%. But even if it were real it would be pretty tacky. To be clear, it is definitely a scam. Annie Proulx is not going to have a gmail address with an integer string after her name. So sick of AI being used for shit like this.

An email claiming to be from Annie Proulx, Pulitzer prize winning author of stuff like Brokeback Mountain.
Text as follows;

Hello fellow writers,

I’m Annie Proulx, a Pulitzer Prize–winning and internationally bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction (best known for The Shipping News, Barkskins, and Brokeback Mountain). One of the things I love most about writing is connecting with fellow authors and helping their stories reach more readers.

A few author friends and I are putting together a small reading cart featuring books by writers who are still growing their audience or haven’t yet received many reviews. We’d love to include your work. This is a genuine opportunity for visibility within a supportive, encouraging community.

If you’d like your book considered, simply send the Amazon link to the title you want added. (Any genre is welcome!)

You can also find me here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APSVII
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16292.Annie_Proulx

Latest Releases:
• Brokeback Mountain (standalone edition)
• Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis

This is all about writers supporting writers — no strings attached, no promotion required, just community and encouragement to help your story find the readers it deserves.

Looking forward to seeing your books,
Annie Proulx

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

I had to kill time in Hertfordshire yesterday. Went t Bencroft Wood Nature Reserve. What a lovely wood where fallen trees and branches are let where they are providing habitats for countless insects and other organisms.

Panorama view of a fallen tree, perhaps about eighty feet long, which fell in such a way as to be held horizontally about four feet above the ground.

The base of the tree where it has seemingly sheered off from the stump as it fell. My guess is that the wood was already damaged or the tree had died before being blown over.

At this end the trunk is wedged between the twin trunks of a smaller tree forcing them apart but held firmly at chest height.

In the middle, the trunk fell on a sapling which bent down under the weight but survived.
Its smaller branches were forced to the ground but in years to come the sapling will inevitably turn up towards the light and then when the dead tree rots away leave an extraordinary shaped tree behind with no obvious cause for its deformity.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

So, yesterday, Paul Gambaccini played 12 songs for the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" Some good choices were made, but what songs would you have chosen?

Image showing icons for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas as featured in the song.
12 drummers drumming
11 pipers piping
10 lords a leaping
9 ladies dancing
8 maids a milking
7 swans a swimming
6 geese a laying
5 golden rings
4 calling birds
3 french hens
2 turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Racism = Bad, but apparently ageism = absolutely fine. Yes, support for Reform rises with age, but that doesn't make the average boomer stupid, it is just reform voters who are. Oh, and people who lump everyone of a certain demographic group together and assume they are homogenous.

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

The people who came up with "Black Dog" as a brand of free range eggs, and then designed this sign, didn't entirely think it through did they? Or am I the only person who thinks Dog Egg is a euphemism?

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Fuck you Co-op, not just for this shitty label which is impossible to peel, so I can't read the instructions, but also for not being on Bsky but I bet you are still on Twitter. So much for ethics.

An almost completely destroyed label from a joint that had the instructions peel here except that it cannot be peeled off

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

This is remarkably close to the current averages (as given on Wikipedia) with (rounded) Reform 30%, Labour 18%, Con 17%, Green 14%, and LibDem 13%

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Just gasped audibly at "a spoonful of laughter" What a lovely turn of phrase. #BookSky

A snippet of text from "The Barrow Ship" by John Wilkinson,
"Finch waited. His mum and dad were pottering about in the kitchen before going to bed. He heard a spoonful of laughter, light as thistledown, from his mum."

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Oliver J. Tooley (Olli Tooley) @otooleyauthor.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Odysseus is a right pain in the backside but he's not too bad when he is like this. #Doggo

Odysseus, a dark brown dog with cappuccino highlights. He's half cocker, half collie, all idiot. Gently curled up and snoozing on the armchair.

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