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Shaun

@sconner.net
2.9K followers 225 following 1.4K posts
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Shaun @sconner.net · 25/09/2026
Super stressful week, so I did what was necessary and ordered myself 3kg of sweets.
A close-up shot of three large resealable pouches filled with assorted gummy and marshmallow sweets. On the left, a blue 'SoSweet' bag filled with dark blue and white fizzy sweets; in the middle, a pink and yellow pick and mix bag; and on the right, a clear bag with colorful patterns containing fizzy bubble gum sweets
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Shaun @sconner.net · 04/09/2026
Real life has been unbelievably heavy lately, and I haven’t been doing so well. Getting older sucks. The people around you become unwell and you just need to…deal with it. I’ve been trying keeping myself busy by learning some magic tricks. Pretty happy with this one. It’s a great hobby.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 11/08/2026
Just got back from visiting my best friend in Spain. He told me to bring my camera for the night sky. The stars aligned over the mountain outside his house, and I captured the galactic core of the Milky Way. Absolutely wild! It was my very first time trying astrophotography, and I'm super happy!
a vertical, full-bleed astrophotography shot of the Milky Way core stretching diagonally across a deep blue night sky. A dense band of stars and dark dust lanes cuts from the upper left toward the lower right corner. The bottom of the frame features a dark silhouette of a rolling mountain ridge in Ibi, Spain, against a faint, low-horizon light pollution glow. In the bottom-left corner, clean white text reads the date "09.08.2026".
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Shaun @sconner.net · 01/08/2026
I'm babysitting my brother's dog, Rupert. He might be the most photogenic animal ever. Couldn't resist taking my camera out on our walk today, and he was more than happy to pose for me.
A tan cockapoo with big brown eyes and ears on the grass, walking towards the camera with its mouth open and tongue out.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 22/07/2026
I’m babysitting this big lovable space invader this week. He’s the biggest, cuddliest spaniel I’ve ever seen. He nearly falls over when he wags his tail, such a happy boy. Meet Barney!
Shaun smiling for a selfie, cuddling a very large black spaniel with big beautiful brown eyes on the sofa.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 16/07/2026
Three whole years! There was a time I couldn’t go a few days without drinking. It was just too hard. I never thought I’d get this far. It’s the hardest most rewarding thing I ever did, and worth every second of suffering in the early days. I’m unbelievably proud of myself. What an achievement!
A 3 years blue sobriety badge from the I am sober app.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 24/06/2026
The images didn't load in an email I opened. They all had similarly useless alt text. Yay for AI...
A failed to load image with the caption: A colourful background with text AI-generated content may be incorrect
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Shaun @sconner.net · 11/06/2026
The Dutch are living in the future. Double decker trains! How cool?!
A yellow and blue double decker train at Amsterdam schiphol airport.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 08/06/2026
Are you even in Amsterdam if you don’t eat an apple pie the size of your head?
A huge slice of applie pie with whipped cream, a coffee and coke on a table.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 30/04/2026
My Rosemary has got no chill this year. For years it hasn’t flowered at all, and this year they are covered. Apparently, it’s still edible.
Rosemary with lots of white flowers in a wooden planter
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Shaun @sconner.net · 13/04/2026
1000 days alcohol free. I’m so unbelievably proud of myself. Today, I won’t drink. Powerful!
A blue celebratory 1000 days sober badge from the I Am Sober app.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 04/03/2026
Don’t worry folks, AI can’t take this job.
A large advertising billboard showing the blue screen of death with an error message reading “Automatic repair. Your PC did not start correctly. Press "Restart" to restart your PC, which can sometimes ix the problem.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 06/02/2026
I have some nice led strips on the back on my desk and monitor. They create a lovely ambiance for me. You can set your colours with a remote or app. Super cheap on Amazon.
A computer setup with a white desk and large ultra wide monitor which is backlit with blue and purple LED lights.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 28/01/2026
My local council let the residents name the bin lorries. The people South Tyneside did not disappoint! 😂
And now, the moment you've been waiting for...
Here are the 16 winning names chosen by our residents:
-Obi One Binobi
-Donald Dump
-Binny McBin Face
-Trash Gordon
-Bin Diesel
-The Bin Reaper
-Wor Hinny Binnies
-Rubbisharus Rex
-Waste Howay
-Bindiana Jones
-Binjamin
-Batteries Not Included
-Bin There Done That
-The Flying Dustman
-Dustbin Hoffman
-Thomas the Trash Wagon
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Shaun @sconner.net · 23/01/2026
It came with a separate tub of summer fruits jam. So good!
A piece of cheesecake with summer fruits on it in a black and white patterned bowl.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 17/12/2025
I've been learning Lightroom this year. Ended up going through old photos and found one of my mams dog. It's her birthday tomorrow, so I'm going to get this printed for her. For a weird-looking dog, she has the most photogenic eyes. Really happy with how this cleaned up!
A tan and white headshot of a chuhaha Yorkshire terrier mix wearing a red vest. Her ears are up, and she looks mischievous.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 09/12/2025
As soon as we got off our bus, we could hear the huskies barking and howling in the forest. They live in the forest and never come indoors. They prefer to sleep outside together. The strongest dogs are at the back for their power, and the smarter dogs are at the front for their decision-making.
A black-and-white husky with piercing blue eyes and its ears perked up sits in the snow, with snowy trees in the background.A black, tan and white husky with its tongue out looks over its shoulder to the other huskies in the snow. One of its eyes is covered by another dog's tail, but the eye that isn't covered is almost white in colour.A headshot of a tan and white husky with its tongue out in a snowy backdrop. Its eyes are a very piercing pale blue colour.A headshot of a black and white husky with its ears up, with a snowy backdrop. The husky has one piercing blue eye and one brown eye.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 09/12/2025
I learned a lot about reindeer this week. Contrary to belief, they do not eat candy canes and toffee apples. They eat almost all vegetation, and can smell food a meter under the snow! Their antlers also grow by 2cm a day. I got this really beautiful shot of one resting in the snow.
A reindeer with huge antlers and a red harness on lies down in the snow under a lamp. Snow is falling, and its antlers are covered in a light dusting of snow.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 07/12/2025
Lapland is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty everywhere you go. It’s by far the best place I’ve ever been.
Two children in red and black snow suits stand with their backs to the camera, looking out across a frozen lake towards a beautiful snowy landscape with trees in the background.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 06/12/2025
Got this awesome shot of a husky today in Lapland. They are such stunning animals!
A head shot of a white and tan husky with piercing pale blue eyes with a snowy background. He looks ahead with his tongue out, panting after running.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 04/12/2025
Lapland is everything I wanted it to be and more. Our hotel is phenomenal. This is right outside of our window. Stunning!
A moody snowy landscape with lots of deep snow and pine trees in the background. It’s dark and misty. It’s eerily beautiful.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 19/11/2025
If these weren’t bad enough, I found this one. This is real, by the way.
APOLOGY STATEMENT
We would like to address some matters brought to our attention.
It appears that our efforts to give every child the best start in life have had some unexpected consequences.
Our Best Start Free Breakfast Clubs have served over 2.6 million meals, creating unforeseen levels of concentration in our classrooms and have left parents facing alarming amounts of unexpected free time at the start of the day.
30 hours of government-funded childcare have saved parents £7500 per child per year, triggering an outrageous increase in household savings and putting a shocking new focus on the importance of school readiness.
With our drive to tackle school absence getting 140,000 children back in class and thousands more teachers recruited into our schools, our classrooms have become bustling hubs of learning, teeming with ambitious young people set to achieve and thrive with the help of this government.
We put this down to our Plan for Change, which it seems has raised the bar alarmingly high.
It turns out that when you have a mission to break down the barriers to opportunity, you end up making working people's lives better.
We completely understand the urge to find out more - go to the Education Hub or beststartinlife.gov.uk.
Department for Education Social Media Team
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Shaun @sconner.net · 08/11/2025
Every year I do Movember. I’m continuing my to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK. I’ve also set a goal to run 100 miles for the month. I just hit 25 miles this morning, and I’m already regretting my decision 😆 I’d really appreciate anyone who can support my fundraiser: movember.com/m/Conner?mc=60
Me standing in my hallway smiling for a selfie. I have a clean shaven face and head, but have left a moustache for Movember.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 07/11/2025
Tree one is up! One more to go!
A large, beautifully decorated, twelve foot Christmas tree in a bay window of my living room.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 07/10/2025
I've just sat for ages in the garden, camera on its tripod, patiently waiting for a break in the clouds to catch the first supermoon of the year. It didn't disappoint!
A crystal clear picture of a full supermoon.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 16/07/2025
Today I am 2 years sober! When I first stopped drinking, I thought it was going to be an impossible task. I couldn’t imagine my life without drink. 2 years later, I’m happier and healthier. Everything is just “better”. I’m so proud of myself.
A two years sober badge from the I am sober app.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 11/07/2025
Celebrating my new title of “late thirties” with a nice brunch. For 15 quid, you absolutely can’t go wrong!
Steak and two eggs with a pesto and tomato sauce dressing with a side of hash browns and sourdough toast.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 21/06/2025
The stair stepper reminds me of when I was running ten milers multiple times a week. Hate every second, but trust me when I say, all your problems are solved by the time it’s done. Anxiety? Gone. Smashed a personal best this morning. Once you’re past 30 mins it’s mind over matter.
A screenshot from Apple fitness showing a one hour fifteen stair stepper workout. Active calories 1057. Total calories 1230. Average cadence 57RPM. Average heart rate 171 BPM. Effort all out.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 03/06/2025
Does anyone happen to know what either of these two plants are that have suddenly showed up in my garden this year? The pink flower is so beautiful and bright. I thought the second one was chives until they grew massive and flowered what looks like grass out of their tops.
Two bright pink rose looking flowers with a leafy bush in my garden. A plant that looks like massive chives but it has flowered what looks like bushy bits of grass.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 02/06/2025
It’ll be a year this Sunday since I suddenly lost my dad. I can’t wrap my head around the fact it’s been a year already. Grief has returned with a vengeance over weekend, it’s all so raw again. This is the last picture ever taken of him and it’s also my favourite picture of him.
My dad, a mid fifties bald man with a Tshirt on and with his glasses resting on his forehead sitting at a restaurant table with his hand on his chin, looking deep in thought.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 25/05/2025
We got to see these two tigers, who are now sixteen years old. That's really old for a tiger, apparently. It was lunchtime, so they were both looking for their food. #animalphotography #photography
A tiger stood over a piece of meat, looking into the distance through some dense green trees.A male tiger looks menacing as it walks into the sunlight with its mouth slightly open
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Shaun @sconner.net · 25/05/2025
We took the kids to Flamingo Land on Friday. I shot this beautiful photo of one of the Flamingos. They are such stunning birds. #photography #birdphotography
A Flamingo is standing on one leg, grooming itself. The photo has been edited to darken the background so the flamingo stands out more.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 23/05/2025
Mistakes have been made. Nice day, no sun cream and a backwards cap. When will I learn? Never. Never is when I’ll learn. 😂🤷‍♂️
A selfie of Shaun looking troubled with a sunburned face and a clear line where his cap has been and a D shape on his forehead because the cap was worn backwards.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 16/05/2025
Ended up sitting near the sticker box while I was in the office yesterday, so took loads to decorate my new laptop. The question is, do I sticker over the Apple logo? Doesn’t feel right, but it’s going to mess up the hive structure. Someone help me solve this first-world problem.
A navy blue MacBook on a blue desk with a keyboard in the background. The MacBook has nine bee and hive-themed stickers celebrating various milestones on the govuk One login programme.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 15/05/2025
Had a great time at the Google Accessibility Discovery Centre in London. A super informative and inspiring learning experience. Totally recommend it if you’re ever in London!
Shaun and eight of his colleagues smiling for a photo in front of an accessible ADC art piece at the Google accessibility discovery centre in London.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 19/04/2025
I’ve burned through two decks of cards learning to thumb fan the deck. Pretty happy with how much I’ve improved. Initially it was clumps of cards. I’ve also been learning various one handed cuts and flourishes. It’s really hard, but the dexterity in my hands is improving quick.
A deck of cards fanned out in my hand with a small amount of the pip of most cards showing.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 04/03/2025
How is anyone meant to use this website? Imagine being a journalist and being proud of an article, only for it to be completely inaccessible to anyone. Throw it all in the bin and start again. Garbage.
A screenshot of The Mirror website. Almost all of the screen is covered by adverts and popups. There is an auto playing video on top of a notifications popup on top of a sticky header. It's completely inaccessible .
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Shaun @sconner.net · 18/01/2025
My kids always ask for Kinder eggs, but the toys end up in the bin almost immediately because the quality is shite. My inlaws just dug these out, which have survived thirty years and have been passed on to the next generation. Bring back the old Kinder surprise!
Three Kinder surprise "Crazy Crocs" from the 90s on a table. The first one poses as if it is shy in a purple dress. The second has a pink neck scarf holding a guitar, and the third has trainers and a t-shirt, posing with a medal.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 16/01/2025
Eighteen months sober. I am immensely proud of myself for getting this far. A whole year and a half. It felt impossible at the start. Tried and failed many times. Best thing I ever did. Everything in my life is just “better”. One day at a time!
A screenshot from the I am sober app showing an 18 months sober badge.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 11/01/2025
I recently learned that a local park has loads of these Parakeets. Apparently, they're all over the UK now. You can hear them before you see them. They are very cool-looking birds. Almost don't look like they belong in a freezing cold country! #photography #BirdPhotography
A closeup of a green parakeet sitting on a branch looking sideways. It has a red beak, a red ring of fur around its neck, and a red ring around its eyes.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 11/01/2025
Since getting my camera, I've struggled to take pictures of small birds. They are just too quick for me. I went out this morning, determined to get one. This plump Robin perched up quite close to me, and I finally got my pic. #photography #BirdPhotography
A plump Robin sitting on a branch in a tree.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 06/01/2025
It's cold and rainy in Newcastle, so I couldn't take the camera out for my lunch walk today. I decided to take one of my eye instead. It was hard to get one in focus, but I am more than happy with the result after a lot of messing about. #photography
A very detailed close-up of a dark and pale blue iris. The image was edited to remove the white of the eye so only the iris and pupil can be seen.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 29/12/2024
While I was snapping away taking sunrise pics, my wife shouted over to look behind me. This old girl had been sat the whole time, waiting for me to throw her ball. Not before I took this cool picture, though. #Photography #GoldenHour #Sunrise
During sunrise, a black, white, and tan border collie lies on all fours, waiting patiently for the ball a few yards ahead to be thrown at South Shields Sandhaven beach. The sea is calm, and the dog's ball is in a small puddle.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 29/12/2024
Back down to the beach this morning for another sunrise. This time, I took the good camera. #Photography #Sunrise #GoldenHour
A vibrant but warm sunrise with pink, purple and yellow clouds and a calm sea at Sandhaven Beach in South Shields. The silhouettes of a person walking their dog and the cliff tops are visible.Someone is riding a black and white horse during sunrise at Sandhaven Beach in South Shields. The sky is orange and yellow, and the sea is calm.A vibrant but warm sunrise with blue, purple and orange clouds. The camera is level with the sand, and small wooden sand dune stumps are in focus.The sun rises through the canon on top of South Shields Sandhaven beach cliffs, creating a silhouette of the canon. The sky is a deep orang,e and the cliffs are black shadows.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 24/12/2024
Couldn't snap pictures of my mams dog without getting some of my old girl, Daisy. She's 10 and still behaves like a puppy herself. #photography #AnimalPhotography
A border terrier Shih Tzu cross, which looks more like a border terrier, is running in the grass. She has a big 'smile' on her face. A young girl is in the background, walking behind the dog.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 24/12/2024
Snapped this cool action shot of my Mams puppy, Dottie. I'm really enjoying learning how to use my camera and hone my editing skills. #photography #AnimalPhotography
A white and tan Yorkshire terrier chihuahua cross puppy wearing a red body harness and black collar running in the grass and leaves. All four legs are off the floor, and her tongue is out as she runs.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 23/12/2024
Up and out early for the Christmas food shop. Stopped by the beach on the way home for the sunrise. It didn’t disappoint! So fortunate to have this on my doorstep.
A warm orange sunrise at an empty South Shields beach.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 21/12/2024
Really love this pic I got of the alleyway of the Tyneside cinema. Ever since I got my camera, I've wanted to shoot this alleyway. Love the lights and the vibe. #photography #newcastle
A nicely lit alleyway in Newcastle city centre. Christmas lights are draped between two buildings like waves. A cinema sign is on one of the walls, and an old-style street lamp is lit on the other. There's a neon light for a pub called Castros, and shadows of people are in the background.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 21/12/2024
Spent many a night in here during my student days! We went ice skating today, which was just opposite the pub and I thought the sign looked cool, so got the camera out for a pic. #photography #newcastle
"The Dog and Parrot" pub in Newcastle city centre. The pub has John lenon and Prince grafitti on it and the pub sign is neon red. A car is driving by and is out of focus, and a man is standing in the doorway on his phone.
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Shaun @sconner.net · 20/12/2024
Snapped this male diving duck earlier today. Love the eyes on them! #photography
A close-up of a black and white male diving duck swimming in a lake. It has piercing orange eyes.
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