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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

I've cut, carried and stacked a lot of firewood this afternoon.

My firewood shed stacked with logs. Still need more.

Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

Progress on the new cabin build is going well, but we didn't manage to get the frame up yesterday. It's pretty much ready to raise, but we have several days of rain forecast and we will probably leave it down under tarpaulins until that is through.

Assembling the roof structure to the last of the pillars. The picture shows lots of rather messy carpentry, as all three trusses are stacked one on top of another. My mallet lies on the rafter of the uppermost truss,

I broke my old comedy hammer, so I made a new, even bigger and heavier one. The 'comedy hammer' is a section of tree trunk on a handle about 90cm long; I use it to persuade pieces of wood to fit into holes that they think are uncomfortably tight.

Drone shot looking directly down on the new cabin site from treetop level. The relatively low growth around it is part of the section of the wood that blew down in Storm Arwen in 2021.

Drone shot looking down on the north end of my wood from just above the treetops. The new cabin is lower left of the picture. My house is in the upper right corner, with my new (and still unfinished) workshop behind it.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 17/10/2026

Of course, I'm going to need a crane to raise the frame of this new cabin. So, of course, I made one.

In the foreground, the trusses of the new cabin, lying on the framework of its floor. Behind it, the crane: a pole hung from a tree, supported by and supporting tackles to allow heavy weights to be lifted and moved.

In the background, my own house.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

More and more and more half lap joints. Not very creative, but the joints have to be made.

90° half lap joint for the apex of the roof, although it's currently sitting on the top of a pillar as that was the convenient place to do it. The joint is complete and assembled but not drilled or bolted. The chisel with which it was mostly cut lies across it.

The two halves of a 45° half lap joint where a ceiling joist joins a rafter, mostly cut but not yet tidied up. It too lies on a pillar head. The tools with which I've been working lie around.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

Fairly characteristic picture of me: I do fall over a lot, especially when trying to wrestle an awkward carpentry trestle through a bramble patch.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

An excellent day. Good company, hard work, real achievements, a delicious meal, a hot bath; and so to bed.

A joint between a pillar, a ceiling joist, and a rafter: beyond question the most complex half-lap joint I've ever made.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

We have the first truss of the new cabin done. Feels good.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

A few weeks a friend who is a good photographer asked me to model for her. A huge number of really interesting photographs came out of that shoot, but I particularly liked this demented-looking photograph.

A portrait photograph of me taken under strong lighting against a dark background. My eyebrows are in full cartoon-villain mode, and I'm grinning evilly.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

I've now extended my #Gaza donations investigation to look at the pattern of giving. 17,113 people have donated and given a name. Most of them haven't given very much. Anonymous donations have amounted to almost a million dollars, but obviously we don't know who from. @gazaverified @fabio

Chart of the total amount given by individual donors (excluding anonymous donors) . The largest single named donor gave a total of $38,964.44, but only 81 donors each gave more than a thousand dollars in total.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

Friends in #Gaza, I've now completed the work I've been doing in trying to understand the patterns of giving to people verified by the @gazaverified volunteers. The good news: donations are gradually rising, the number of people receiving donations is rising […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Average value of donations received per active account, against the number of active accounts, between January 2025 and now. At the beginning of the period the number of accounts was very small, and the average donations were quite large. Now, although the total amount of donations is larger, the average per account is modest because the number of accounts has risen substantially.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

@aral @fabio @gazaverified I'm now able to chart donations per account by date range. I'm identifying accounts only by rank order, but the distribution is worrying. #Gaza #GazaVerified

Distribution of donations to accounts of people in Gaza verified by the Gaza Verified project, in the period 2026-09-01 - 2026-09-27.

About half of all accounts received no donations at all. A very small number received quite large sums of money.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

@aral @fabio @gazaverified The number of donations made each week is also rising:

Graph of the total number of donations made each week to people in Gaza whose accounts are monitored by the Gaza Verified platform. This data is noisy, but overall there's a general upward trend.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

I've been doing very preliminary explorations of the data from gaza.onl, and it appears that, despite some spikes, the trend on the total amount being given is upwards. Of course, the number of verified accounts is also rising, so I don't yet know […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

A graph showing the total donations received by campaigns of people verified by the Gaza Verified volunteers since April 2024. The overall trend is upwards, but there are a few large spikes, and there was a long decline over the autumn and winter of 2025/26.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

Did I use a Spanish windlass? You know my methods, Watson. Did I use a comedy hammer? Why yes, that too. Are there absurdly over-complex squint dovetails? I do confess it.

Setting joists into the bearers, with the aid of a Spanish windlass and a comedy hammer. The site crosses the course of a presently-dry drainage ditch. Tools lie around on the wood floor.

An absurdly over complex squint dovetail. There are only four of these, one at each corner, because they're much too time-consuming to do on each joist; and each one will be under the foot of a pillar, so they'll never be seen.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

The new build project is a hermit's cell for my friend Leigh. So far this week we've framed the floor.

Cutting into an old tree stump in my wood to form the foundation for one of the pillars. Leigh wields the chainsaw.

A loose rectangle of beams outlines the floor area of the cell we will build. Behind, the wood is green and dense.

Joists, not yet cut to length, lie loosely across the bearers. My own house is visible in the background, to the right.

Joists are now cut to length and notched to receive the bearers, but the bearers are not yet notched to receive the joists.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

Anyone recognise this caterpillar? Definitely a caterpillar, six legs at the head end, four at the rear. Looks spookily like a spruce twig. About 60mm long by 3mm diameter. Seen in a spruce wood in Scotland near 55°N 4°W.

A thin caterpillar with an almost perfectly cylindrical body, coloured in disruptive pattern camouflage the British army would be proud of.

The same caterpillar in a different pose.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

This afternoon I have been mainly riding the big bike into town for shopping and medicine. #BikeTooter

The big bike by Potterland lane. A road leads up between old, tumbled stone walls through misty mixed woodland.

The big cargo bike at Taliesin, looking into the old Douglas Fir plantation on Potterland Hill.

The big bike on the Roman road by Kirkland of Gelston, at the top of a long climb; the road stretches away between thorn hedges straight down the green glen behind.

The big bike parked in the bike rack outside the medical centre in Castle Douglas.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

That's enough inch boards for about half the floor of the new workshop. They're not yet fastened. I could just nail them in as they are, but they don't have perfectly straight edges, so I would have little gaps through which screws and small tools might fall […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

That's the sawn timber stack sorted and restacked. It's been a hard job; and it's still taking up more than half the floor space of the new workshop. But it's nothing like as bad as I thought it would be, and progress is still being made. Before picture from just one week ago.

Frame of the new workshop up, but the timber stack is still a tumbled wreck. This was a week ago.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

Well, I didn't get help, because I'm thrawn. But I did get two hours sleep; and that's all eight panels on the roof before the sun set.

Side view of the new workshop, with the roof cladding almost completed (still needs ridge flashing, but I have not bought that yet)

End view of the workshop, with all panels on the roof.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

I fell off the ladder trying to get another sheet on, and the sheet fell on top of me; and it's now started to rain. So I'm stopping until I can get help. I'm not really hurt, but doing this by myself isn't very safe.

Picture taken while lying on my back among the weeds under a roofing sheet.

Selfie taken of me still lying on my back among the weeds after kicking the sheet off me. Yes, I am wearing a Palestine Action hoodie.

The workshop, now with three quarters of a roof.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

I'm feeling like death warmed up this morning, but that's the east shed of the new workshop roof clad before the sun is even off it.

The workshop, seen from the ground, with the nearer shed of the roof clad with new green steel sheets.

The new workshop roof, seen from the south gable. The right hand side of the roof is clad. All around, the new growth in the wood is verdant.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

OK, my #MentalHealth is pretty bad, and I'm still hurting from a bad fall on Saturday, but that is the first sheet of steel on the new workshop roof so it has not been a bad day. Very tired now. #TheJoyOfCrofting

View from the roof — made of fairly rough timbers — with four purlins on it. The floor of the wood looks very green from up here. In this view I'm looking south.

View from the roof — made of fairly rough timbers — with all six purlins on it. In this view I'm looking north.

View of the completed roof frame from the ground.

View of the roof with one sheet of steel cladding on it.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

I've spent this afternoon at the village dog show, supervising people (mainly children) trying the cargo bikes. #BikeTooter

Three girls on the Reise und Müller Load

A remarkably small girl riding the Tern.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026

Well, I'm going to say that this has been quite a good day's work on the new workshop. Two more roof trusses made and assembled; all three trusses lifted onto the roof and erected; two purlins fitted. I need four more purlins, but I haven't yet cut them, and I […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Three triangular roof trusses on trestles on the lawn.

Two trusses and one purlin erected on the workshop roof, in the middle of the wood.

All three trusses, and two purlins, erected.

View of the workshop frame from my bedroom window, with the trusses and purlins erected.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

Malta has 68 local government regions; Luxembourg has 102; Iceland has 61; Scotland has 32 (and the #SNP wants even fewer). What the hell *is* wrong with us? #ScotPol #LocalDemocracy #ScottishIndependence […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Table from report on local government in the EU, showing number of local government regions by country.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

I've been working on the sawmill this morning, cutting 100x50mm timbers for framing the roof of the new workshop.

A squared baulk on the bed of the sawmill, being cut into planks. The carriage of the sawmill — which carries the actual saw along the length of the baulk — is being rolled back along its rails to make the next cut. Freshly sawn timber can be seen in the background.

The finished product. Eight freshly cut four metre timbers lie on the sawmill bed.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

Folk who've been following me for a long time will remember that last autumn I was posting pictures of doing the joinery for a new workshop. And then I went mad, and got ill, and for most of this year there's been no progress. But my friend Lucy has been here […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Lucy standing in front of the north end truss, which has just been erected and its tenons forced into their mortices with a Spanish windlass. The truss is held upright by temporary diagonal braces. Between the pillars, various carpentry tools lie on a very chaotic timber stack.

The footing of one pillar of the south end truss on an old tree stump. The reason the building is so crooked is because it's foundations are the stumps of four trees that were blown down in Storm Arwen.

General view of the newly erected frame from its north east corner. The chaotic pile of sawn timber runs through it from north to south. Beyond, the trees on the edges of the wood are still standing, but most of the centre was blown flat in the storm, and new young trees are only slowly beginning to grow through the remaining wreckage.

Looking down on the new frame from my bedroom window. One of the new top rails still needs to be cut to length, and there's at least one brace still missing (I'll add more if I think they're needed.

This is enormous progress, and a weatherproof workshop will be a great improvement to my quality of life.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

I've been dusting off my #ScottishIndependence canvassing app, to see how hard it would be to get it working if a new #IndyRef did actually happen. It's suffered much less bit rot than I thought. It's mostly ready to go, there are still some issues to fix.

The login screen. A blue screen with 'Please log in' at the top, and buttons for oauth providers at the right.

Below is a login form with conventional username and password boxes, but that's intended to be temporary. The idea is not to store people's passwords for security reasons, but to use well known oauth verification services; but for testing there is a login system.

The map screen. A blue screen showing a map with flags where the homes of electors we want to canvas are.

The database entity relationship diagram

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

#ScribesAndMakers 8/22: "Fantasy stories are frequently inspired by medieval societies. Why do you think people are fascinated by that time period?" Elite propaganda. Medieval knights were a bloodthirsty elite. Armour allowed them to cut down commoners with […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Two books from my research shelf: 'The History of the English Longbow' by Donald Featherstone, and 'The Use of Medieval Weaponry' by Eric Lowe. Both of these I'd recommend.

My own home-made longbow, with its quiver and arrows, and my practice longsword.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026

Snow Yellow and the five dwarves. I got this picture from @BellaCaledonia 's story on the #ScottishLabour leadership shenanigans, but I've slightly altered it to make the data less ambiguous. I think it really illustrates the problem in #Scottish Politics […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Bar graph showing the number of seats won by each party in Scotland this year. There is a yellow bar, representing the SNP, which, with 58 seats, towers over the others, none of which have more than 17.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 15/08/2026

Today, The Little Tractor That Can and I have been mostly topping thistles. Yes, I'm late in the year for it, and it has set seed; but I also got most of the ragwort, which hadn't, so it was worth doing. #TheJoyOfCrofting

The Little Tractor That Can in commons meadow, with tall thistles to the right of it and none to the left.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

I used to post a lot about things I cook. Now I have so many friends in Gaza who are hungry, I mostly don't. But I'm quite pleased with the meal I cooked tonight. Steak, onion, garlic, cashews, bell pepper, peaches, mushrooms, ginger, orange, salt, rice.

A shallow circular cast iron dish, filled with a mix of rice and other ingredients, and topped with slices of orange.

Some of the dish on a plate. It is colourful and chaotic and very delicious.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

Release 0.2.0 of my #Clojure humidity library is now producing apparently reliable results, and capable of validating data. I think it is now substantially ready for other people to use. It is released in the hope that it may be useful, but I am not an expert […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Test coverage report, showing that 98.55% of all forms are tested.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

It's really nice when you get a test coverage report like this. #Clojure

A test coverage report generated by Cloverage, a Clojure test coverage utility, showing 93% of forms and 95% of lines covered.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

#Clojure friends, I'm trying to transcribe an equation from a #meteorology paper, and I've got something wrong: I'm coming out low. Can you spot my error? I can post a gist of my source if that would help. The paper is here […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

A complex polynomial expression from an academic paper, described as 'an empirical inverse solution found
by a function fit to ... data' for deriving relative humidity of air.

An attempted Clojure transcription of this expression, which is close to being right, but does not return the expected results.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

My wee grey cat Horrible has been missing for a week now. He may just have gone on an adventure, but that isn't like him. I'm worried, and sad. #Caturday

Horrible, sitting in my laundry basket, where he often used to sleep. Behind him, the house is rather cluttered and untidy, as it often is.

Horrible, inside my front window, watches a squirrel on the squirrel feeding box outside.

Horrible walking along the top of the march dyke, with a green field behind him.

Horrible cleaning out my porridge bowl after breakfast, as he did most days.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 03/08/2026

You'll all know I'm a fan of #Binface4Clacton, the space alien on a mission to teach humans how to do #democracy before it's too late. Here he attempts to school Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell — but I'm afraid it's all Greek to them. The Rest Is Politics […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Binface electoral poster: 'You voted for Boaty McBoatface, now vote for Binny McBinface'

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

Too much of Edinburgh, the city of my youth, now looks straight out of #Cyberpunk2077

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

Just on the bus from Kirkcudbright to Dumfries — about 25 miles — and it's a new, Chinese made, electric bus, about 25 seats, with a good rack inside for three upright bicycles. Obviously it's sad that it isn't made in Scotland — this is something we certainly […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

The interior of the bus. The seats have high backs. The bicycle rack is visible centre left.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026

From a friend, a young woman, in #Gaza, just now: "The bullets are reaching me. I can't move freely. I'm trying to protect myself and my children."

Private reply
@simon brooke
I can't move freely. I'm trying to protect
myself and my children.

Private reply
@simon brooke
The bullets are now reaching me.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

This is the tree that fell off the roof last night. I've cut enough of it to have a clear path to my cludgie (lavatory), but that's as much as I plan to do until my rib is better healed. I'm glad it's down. There's still a tree that is leaning at a dangerous […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

The wreckage of the fallen tree lying beside my house. It is wedged between other, still standing, trees. All around are vivid green rose bay willow herb and nettles, which have sprung up where sunlight now reaches the forest floor after so many trees have gone.

Another view of the tree lying beside the house. The dangerously leaning tree is also visible in this picture. The blue tarpaulin hanging from the eaves was there to protect a timber drying rack.

The newly cleared path to my cludgie, with a big bucket of firewood into which it has been cleared. The cludgie is a very small wooden shed. Trees grow all around it.

The roof of the house looks entirely undamaged, although there are still some broken branches and other litter lying on it. My hen house is visible below it.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2026

To the people predicting that #Binface4Clacton cannot win: consider that those who, in the past, have been voting for #Farage, or @ReformUkLtd, were actually voting to stick it to The Man. Who looks more like The Man to you: Nigel #Frogface or Count #Binface ? […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

A posterised portrait of a space alien, with the text 'You voted for Boaty McBoatface, now vote for Binny McBinface!'

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

Let the campaign begin! #Binface #Binface4Clacton #PutFarageInTheBin #UKPol (These graphics are all mine, I did this, feel free to use anywhere)

An adaptation of the Obama 'HOPE' poster, featuring Count Binface

An adaptation of the Obama 'HOPE' poster, featuring Count Binface; with 'Keep Britain Tidy' instead of 'Hope'

An adaptation of the Obama 'HOPE' poster, featuring Count Binface; with 'VOTE' instead of 'HOPE'

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 07/07/2026

For the last couple of days, I haven't felt well enough to walk over the hill. Which, as no one else lives this side of the hill and there is no road here, means I haven't been able to get supplies. And I haven't cut firewood, so I can't use my oven. But hey! […] [Original post on mastodon.scot]

Homemade flatbread. It isn't thin enough or flexible enough to use as a wrap, but it seems to be adequately cooked and tastes all right.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

However, the way one learns to cook interesting new meals is by not having the ingredients one depends on, so perhaps something positive will come out of this. I have a lot of kidney beans!

A lot of kidney beans, draining in a collander after being soaked for 24 hours.

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Simon Brooke @simon-brooke.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

@yogthos And while we're on this, I'm going to say: the Jolt language `glimmer` demo is exceedingly impressive! Very fast, very clean, looks native at least on Gnome (which I suppose is reasonable because of course it is).

A screenshot of a simple 'todo list' application, in which the last, and as yet uncompleted, task is 'Congratulate Dmitri!''.

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