Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 09/08/2026This bee has taken a liking to one of my seed trays. It spends a lot of time in this pot, and returns to it after every trip away. So in order not to inconvenience it, I’m going to have to leave that seedling undisturbed! 040
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Found an owl pellet on the back garden fence yesterday, presumably regurgitated by a local owl as it perched there. It contained the fur and bones of a small rodent. I've always wanted to find an owl pellet, and now I have! 040
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 24/07/2026We have a visit this afternoon from a cat adoption agency volunteer to check us out: we are thinking of a couple more rescue cats. Of course, one of our current cats is immediately sick several times, just to demonstrate what terrible cat parents we are! 030
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 09/07/2026It is the time of year when I am surrounded by a small cloud of Drosophila (fruit flies) that have presumably followed me indoors from the compost barrel. They make drinking hazardous: they regularly commit suicide in my whisky and I have to cover my wine glass. 130
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 18/06/2026I have achieved my main goal in coming all the way from Vancouver Island to London: a new £15 oboe mop from Howarth’s! Worth every penny… 030
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Apparently cats aren’t particularly intelligent, but as soon as I get out a suitcase ours know that something’s up. They either become clingy or sit glumly in the open case. Yet they love our cat sitter, who spoils them rotten. 020
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Just improved the oboe 2 part of Brahms’ German Requiem by omitting a couple of notes, changing a few sharps and flats (I discovered the hard way that he wrote far too many of both) and inserting an extra twiddly bit. All free of charge! 030
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 02/06/2026A peaceful Monday afternoon tea break in the garden with just the sound of birdsong and a cat loudly vomiting in the background. 020
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 20/05/2026Playing tenor saxophone in a small concert band means constantly being told that one is too loud. Apparently mf means pp! My only comfort is that the baritone sax sitting next to me is apparently also too loud. We mutter and groan as quietly as we can, our reeds complaining bitterly. 120
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 05/04/2026Recovering from plantar fasciitis is bad enough without all these posts from runners and hikers enjoying themselves. I grimly carry on doing the exercises and curse a lot… 120
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 15/03/2026So much for a little pottering in the garden. I was digging a hole to plant something when I struck a small stone, which got bigger and bigger! I might start a rockery…#gardening 020
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 14/03/2026My #oboe teacher has given me another reed to try, American scrape rather than the European scrape I’m used to. This, along with her insisting I should use the left banana key instead of forked F fingering I’ve always used means I have lots to practice. 230
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 14/03/2026A fine day pottering around the garden before the next atmospheric river dumps a week of rain on Vancouver Island (according to the forecasts). But that means I am prompted to sort out the greenhouse (much overdue) in the next few days. #gardening 130
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 06/03/2026Far from the madding crowd: View from the back porch this evening! Staying at The Alders, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, north of Courtenay. 020
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 19/02/2026>50 years ago I was working on an urban archaeological site where our accommodation was an old school slated for demolition. A passing oboist who had had to give up for heath reasons heard me practicing and very kindly gifted me a wonderful pile of #oboe music It included this piece by Longmire. 1/2 120
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 15/02/2026Spent this sunny and warm morning helping to remove invasive Scotch Broom from sensitive sand habitats at Island View Beach, Vancouver Island. Hidden by the Broom, a fine collection of Birdsnest fungi. #fungifriends. 0220
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 10/02/2026Oboe day at UVIC yesterday = >20 #oboes and 6 cors anglais. What an amazing collective sound! Plus a masterclass and many words of wisdom. Great fun! 010
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 09/02/2026Ran 7km today despite oboe day (good fun) yesterday and too much rum last night. Progressing cm by cm! 130
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 07/02/2026I need motivation to run, so I've signed up for a 10k race at the end of April. It's several years since I last ran in a race, six months since I last ran, so I'm going to have to work hard to get back into form. My goal is to finish in under an hour, but I'm older and creakier than before. 150
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 07/02/2026Rescued the first lizard of the year today! #cats 030
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 29/01/2026So this morning the annual tradition of sitting in a queue of 20,000 people on the Parks Canada web site at exactly 8:00 and not being able to reserve a camp site at Pacific Rim. Ho hum… It would have probably rained! 020
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 12/01/2026A morning spent happily removing invasive Scotch Broom at Whitty’s Spit, Metchosin, Vancouver Island with other CRD Parks volunteers. 020
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Playing with the magnifier feature on my iPhone in between removing invasive Scotch Broom in Francis/King Regional Park yesterday. The mosses are wonderful at the moment, and amongst them are tiny toadstools! #fungifriends 0252
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Changed/improved the scenery a little up in Mill Hill Regional Park this morning by removing invasive Scotch Broom, plus a twig of the day! #fungifriends #Saanich #habitatrestoration 070
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 20/11/2025A long time ago I attended Enfield Primary School, in Adelaide, South Australia. I'm in the centre of the back row of this 1960 photograph of my class, all of whom are in the latter half of their 70s now, but who in those days had dreams to look forward to. #south_australia #enfield 110
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 04/11/2025In the gloom of the forests beside Lake Cowichan it was pouring with rain. On a group fungus foray you can't linger too long over photos otherwise you get left behind! And of course I make trouble for myself by wanting to capture the smallest fungi using my iPhone! #fungifriends 3250
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Working on my photos from the fungus foray the other weekend. The heavy rain and lack of light meant that my results are even more amateurish than usual. But in the meantime, I found these just down the garden... #fungifriends 0300
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 27/10/2025It’s black cat day. There are three in this photo. 040
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 26/10/2025Cowichan Lake Fungus Foray day 2. The specimens on display. 165 species identified. Quite the haul. I haven’t had time to look at my photos yet but will post one or two soon…#FungusFriends 010
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 25/10/2025Evening 1 of the Cowichan Fungus Foray. We wandered in the dark damp forest shining our UV flashlights at various unsuspecting fungi and lichens. Being an archaeologist rather than a mycologist I oohed and aahed and then found some plastic beads (21st century) that fluoresced nicely! #fungifriends 000
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 14/10/2025Went for a stroll around Osoyoos this afternoon, in the breezy #Okanagan valley, looking across the lake to Nk'mip Desert, the so-called "Pocket Desert" (i.e. all that is left), home to, amongst other rare plants and animals, Burrowing Owls and Pallid Bats (a splendid name). 010
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 11/10/2025Jerusalem artichoke showing off in my vegetable patch this afternoon. It’s about 3 m tall! 1221
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 11/10/2025“Farewell to Spring” (Clarkia amoena) a little confused in a corner of my garden today, bidding farewell to late summer! 030
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 08/10/2025This is my revenge for being called “carrot top” (amongst other pejorative terms) when a child (I had red hair in those far-off days when I had hair!). #gardening 250
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 03/10/2025Fungus foray this morning. Not many specimens as it’s been so dry. But found some of my little favourites! 150
Reposted by Ralph Mills PhDCats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 02/10/2025RIP Jane Goodall. I feel like it's shortchanging her legacy to focus only on her work with chimpanzees when her compassion extended to ALL animals. One of the best ways you can honor & continue her legacy is to incorporate more plant based meals into your life. ❤️ news.janegoodall.org/2017/04/28/w...news.janegoodall.orgWhy I Went Plant-Based (And Why We Should All Eat Less Meat)Dr. Goodall went plant-based after confronting what that meat represents: pain. Since, she learned more reasons why the work to #eatmeatless is important. 221572245
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 01/10/2025I wonder how many of those who are celebrating the life of Jane Goodall today were also inspired by her veganism. She professed that it is paradoxical and unethical to declare a love for animals while abusing, killing and eating them. It is also unsustainable and environmentally disastrous. 000
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 27/09/2025For the first time in several years I remembered to buy a birthday card for my sister in time to mail it to her in the UK. I had written in it and addressed the envelope when the Canadian postal workers went on strike. Will she believe my excuse this time? 030
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 16/09/2025My monster! #gardening Never managed to grow a carrot this hefty before. 180
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 10/09/2025Last stayed at the Alders Beach Resort on Vancouver Island some 30 years ago. The chalet is still here. Looks like the same chair is still here also! And some of the same paintwork… 020
Ralph Mills PhD @ralphmills.bsky.social · 07/09/2025From my archive: why are there two identical privies in the middle of nowhere? #mystery #Okanagan 040