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Katharine Schopflin

@schopflin.bsky.social
2.2K followers 998 following 8.8K posts

Information manager, Long Covid, dementia care, choral singing. An atheist of Jewish extraction who really likes Anglican churchgoing. She/ Her.

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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 5h
Post-funeral, pre-birthday trip to Bournemouth. We got an upgrade!
Picture from a hotel balcony. White art nouveau style railings. You can see a pool and beach house and in the distance, blue sky and sea.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 7h
Bloody hell Aviva. You were one of the first people I told when Mr S died. And you *didn't tell your debt collection company*. They were very polite when chasing the missed DD and apologetic but seriously.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 11h
When I'm on my way to a spa weekend I am reminded of that etiquette bloke's tacky list. In the next 24 hours I'm absolutely guaranteed to: 1. Eat on a train 2. Use a hot tub and 3. Drink prosecco. I'm not much of a one for pudding but I'll try and get salted caramel in too.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 15h
It was my husband's funeral on Wednesday. It went well, I was surrounded by love for us both. But I'm definitely feeling that now I have to face the hard bit. However, I am going away with three close friends for the weekend and thank goodness!
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Honestly, there is genuinely no good reason for Lord Peter Wimsey to be there during police investigations.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Just gone to the funeral wake pub to pay the deposit. They were expecting it in cash, something they didn't make clear. Oh and my paper booking form had 'Bride' and 'Groom' crossed out.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
World's least spontaneous person makes flash decision to buy interrail pass in the sale! I am supposed to be travelling to Tallinn for new year, so ...
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Off to first rehearsal of term and we're learning some music by Rihards Dubra, completely new to me. Anyone sung any? Dubra, Rihards (b1964) - Composer - Hyperion Records - CDs, MP3 and Lossless downloads share.google/nqnDPLAvFph7...
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Rihards Dubra (b1964) on Hyperion Records
<blockquote>‘Just as everyone has their own pathway to God, so every composer has his own pathway to emotion in music, and through that—also to God.’ (Rihards Dubra)</blockquote> <p>Rihards Dubra has ...
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Reposted by Katharine Schopflin
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Here's today's column on the astonishing, ongoing mistreatment of people with #ME/CFS. Please spread it far and wide: the only thing which can break the media's wall of indifference is seeing an article about the issue go viral. Thank you. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot
Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Anyone near Bury St Edmunds - I won't be able to make this on 3rd October but I know two brilliant singers performing in it, in aid of Dementia UK. Bury St Edmunds Dementia Support - Fundraising Events share.google/kC9GP3t8b2Sc...
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Fundraising Events
An abridged concert performance of Purcell's Fairy Queen at All Saints Church, Park Road, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3QW at 7.30pm on 3rd October 2026 Perfomed by the Suffolk Soloists supported by...
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Tom McKinney praising the 'vintage sound' but I don't like it! Guys and Dolls is wicked and a bit grubby, it shouldn't have this glossy nostalgic quality.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I know people talk about 'death by PowerPoint' but webinars without slides are actually really hard to focus on. A talking head is not the same as an individual speaking in person. Even just a few headings would break it up.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
For once I'm watching an ER I've seen before. It's the James Wood ALS one and bloody hell, it's A Lot.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Reading the print Vittles 3 interview with Nigel Slater and Jonathan Lovekin. It's so good! Also reminds me what a massive inspiration Real Food and Appetite were to me. They don't mention *the* Instagram rhubarb tart but that possibly wasn't JL.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
My very first time on the 310, which travels from Stamford Hill to Golders Green, should those two Jewish communities ever want to visit each other. Also joins up swimming spots West Reservoir and access to Kenwood Ponds.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I was trying to remember details of an Elektra I saw that stood out as just one of the best opera experiences of my life. I think it was this one from 1997 Welcome to Royal Ballet and Opera Collections share.google/hB5mczAGDsWo...
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Welcome to Royal Ballet and Opera Collections
Royal Ballet and Opera Collections Online
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Oh was today Super Thursday? I did actually order one book published today (and also got one through the post).
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This morning I passed a brightly coloured car branded with 'Kafana Balkan Plum Spirit'. The only thing that's wrong with it is, if you buy plum spirit made in a factory, I believe you may not really be Balkan.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Arrived at a (generally very nice) pub. 10 keg taps, 6 cask, 4 pale ales, 1 stout, a very insipid golden ale (my first drink). Barman: ah this is cask, are you familiar with cask?
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Was thinking about how we used to invite people round to see holiday photos. My grandparents had them printed as slides and would get the projector out.
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Reposted by Katharine Schopflin
will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
*library appreciation message* how have i never worked at the warburg before? everything is on open shelves! incredible collection of rare french books relevant to my interests! catalogued and organized in a unique method that is best described as unhinged genius vibes!
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
So relieved. Had leak coming in from upstairs, no reply and I'd somehow lost landlord's contact. They passed my number on and I got managing agents' number. Now all in hand but I felt completely stuck as upstairs *never* answer their doorbell.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
From @ianvisits.co.uk - reminding us that not everything is rubbish. A decade of London’s bus hopper fare share.google/uyNlxMB0tOiA...
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A decade of London’s bus hopper fare
London’s Hopper bus fare turns ten this weekend, having been used for more than 1.4 billion free bus and tram changes since its introduction.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Stopping to reflect how kind people are with funeral help. Here are some tasks people are helping with: organising the choral pieces (including chapel recce and planning setup), making a photobook, setting up a donations page, populating a Spotify playlist, choosing the food for the wake.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I don't think it's a spoiler to share that the person of the day on Maptap is Chad Varah. I hadn't heard of him and I'm very glad he existed. www.theguardian.com/news/2007/no...
theguardian.com
Obituary: Rev Dr Chad Varah
Obituary: Founder of The Samaritans Rev Dr Chad Varah has died aged 95.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Article says keeping the lid down 'may not' prevent pathogen release but unless you live with someone immunocompromised you don't have to worry in a home setting.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Sunday was my day for visiting my husband. I went to swim in Kenwood Ladies Bathing Pond today. Parliament Hill / Kenwood is my happy place (literally, there's one spot that was my safe place when I was doing EMDR).
Landscape (it's Hampstead Heath) showing parched grass in the foreground, a fishing pond, trees and sky
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Reposted by Katharine Schopflin
Daisy Christodoulou @daisychristo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Our start of term Substack is on the relative difficulty of the Guardian cryptic crossword over the last century. Comparative Judgement is amazing at measuring the difficulty of tests over time, so this was an obvious case study! substack.nomoremarking.com/p/the-diffic...
substack.nomoremarking.com
The difficulty of the Guardian Crossword, 1930 to 2026
Waugh is put out, Slope goes down and Golding is ungilded
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Friends: send care packages and flowers. That one friend: err Me: are you going to a bookshop today? Him: always happy to. Me: [the below]. I know I'm a bit late for Mr S but I loved Ashes to Admin so much and frankly it's never too late @christinamartin.bsky.social
The book 'Get ahead of being dead' by Evie King on a wooden table.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I only do rustic baking, so sue me.
Knobbly baked white bread (it's home-made foccaccia) scattered with rosemary.  On a baking tray. For some reason there's an open drawer beneath the worktop showing implements. Tart just out the oven, still in fluted tart case and on baking tray. There's a crusty brown paste (it's frangipane ) and some large fruit bits (they are halved plums) oozing juice and both spilling over the crust. Toaster and coffee grinder in the background.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Something to muse on, so far the death admin has been so much clearer than anything involved in supporting a vulnerable person. It's almost as though digital citizenship were actually quite easy, but is deliberately made hard when you need help for the living.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Everyone: you won't want to think about cooking (sends cheese). Me: makes foccaccia and a plum frangipane tart.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
So you could get Champagne cheaper because it's stronger?
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I've had a few people offer to come with me to register my husband's death. It hadn't occurred to me, I worked very happily in Hackney Service Centre for a few years, so it sort of feels like home to me. But it makes me realise how hard it is for other people.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Come on Dolly, this was Mr S's day! It's just like Mother Theresa and Princess Di (and György Sölti) all over again.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Mr S died this morning. I was so lucky to have him in my life, even through the difficult times. Here he is with our late cat Pushkin.
Picture of a handsome man with grey hair holding a very lovely black and white cat. He's in bed, wearing a blue towelling dressing gown, and you can see a door in the background with clothes hanging from it.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
No cheating. Post the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.
View from a window. You can see the concrete edge of a building to the left and over the top a gothic steeple (it's Malvern Abbey). To the right, a car park in front, and above the green landscape a grey abd cloudy sky.
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Reposted by Katharine Schopflin
Sue @suegreenlady.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Plastic grass lawns are disastrous for the environment, they contain PFAS and other toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. There are many low maintenance natural options. Please sign and share www.change.org/p/ban-the-pr...
change.org
Sign the Petition
Ban the production of plastic grass
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
In other news, Mr S is hanging on. I thought I was going to work today (he's a ten minute bus journey down the road) but my brain isn't right.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I watched a reel of Goran Visnjic speaking in Croatian for Vogue Adria (because) and now guess what I'm being served.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
It's 15 years old, but Private Island by @jamesmeek.bsky.social still has a lot to tell us about how we ended up here. Private Island: Why Britain Now Belongs to Someone Else | Verso Books share.google/oo21S3JaSfyy...
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Private Island
“The essential public good that Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and now Cameron sell is not power stations, or trains, or hospitals. It’s the public itself. it’s us.” In a little over a generation the b...
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Reposted by Katharine Schopflin
A Shiny Blue Thing Collected By A Bird @shinybluething.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
People say this shit about autism, too. There. Are. No. Supports. Provided. To. Late. Diagnosed. Neurodivergent. Adults. Might get tiny gestures of accommodation at work, but more likely mistreated. There are *very limited* supports made available to neurodivergent children with early diagnosis.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
So, bit funny in Schopflin world. Mr S is winding down and I slept on a z bed in his room last night. Still with us. He always modelled himself on Keith Richards.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Is a Bairstow anthem opening choral evensong Bairstow Eves? (This is a very niche east London property reference)
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
It should be illegal to run a train without a tea trolley if it mostly calls at stations that don't have coffee kiosks or anything at all anywhere near them.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Rehearsing Blest Pair of Sirens. MD: I don't believe this is about original sin, we can sing in tune with heaven. If I were a Christian I'd choose that one, thanks.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Arriving at music course. 'Do you have a car, no of course you don't, you probably arrived by steamship'
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Train defect on the Cotswold Line. Everyone off at Oxford. No idea how I get to Malvern. Sigh.
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Katharine Schopflin @schopflin.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Lovely, from @seamas.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Illuminated - The Grand North Atlantic Home Video Archive - BBC Sounds
Séamas O'Reilly unravels the mystery of his father's unusual film archive.
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