iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Today's allotment project - water harvesting. Tested fine, now to see how it works next time it rains.

Industrial water container with plastic sheet on top, holding a puddle of water

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

I am unreasonably pleased by today's Lego set.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

To join in with what is apparently today's BlueSky topic of choice, something I wrote several decades ago about sides of the bed.

Mercy

I used to sleep
on one side
of the bed
and dates had meanings
for us both.
Now my bed
is mine alone
and those days
are gone.

We shared songs,
poems, books;
exchanged old friends
to mutual gain.
But now
those songs I hear:
just words
mere music.
These books are friends
of mine
not hers

I may recall
a look
a smile
a moment past
but then
is not the same as no.
And although
we still exist
there is no us
these days.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Kale is out of control at the allotment so made pesto this evening - really good. Going to roast the garlic next time though. Quality control happening here with the last of Sunday's baguettes. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/kale...

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

It eased enough to get out, and as usual I'm glad I did. Mostly easy pace, livened up with 'song sprints' - short burst each time a new track starts.

Fitness tracker screenshot, showing 12.84 km in 1 hour 26 minutes.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Ironically, this was written partially because of the bullying I received from those who's probably now be nodding along to RFK.

Unasked Questions

Were you glad
I’d ask
that you could hurt
as well as be hurt?
Were you stronger
when you made me weak
and are you bigger
by making me small?
Are you braver
because you made me afraid
and I wonder
what you gained
from my loss.
Are you better than me
because you made me feel worse
and when you see me now
are you proud
of what you did?

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

I must admit, "Jason and Argonauts return" was not on my predictions list for 2026

Picture of yellow/orange stands with headline "A legendary golden fabric lost for 2000 years has returned"

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

And I did - in the rain and twilight, deliberately slow - so thank you for the encouragement! #running

Fitness tracker screenshot, 6.5km in 43 minutes.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Happy #Pride, all. (And as a former science teacher, look at the lovely secondary spectrum!)

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

You'll be shocked to hear Lineham is siding with oppressors and claiming to be the victim. Shocked, I say.

News headline: Lineman objects to Father Ted episode on Eurovision night

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... "They just taste TOO good"

BBC screenshot: Men admit charges after cereal found in drugs raid.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Probably inspired by this which I saw recently (Source: www.twonks.co.uk )

Cartoon:
First panel: "This book club is really intense"
Second panel: shows wider scene in church.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Sometimes I forget that I follow people in the US and spend a few confused moments wondering just how bad parcel delivery is getting.

Screenshot of a BlueSky post: "I think I might be about to see DPD deploy tear gas. They're warning they will, so let's see."

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

For reference I'm hoping to complete the course in 3.5 hours and it starts at ten. #running

Weather forecast screenshot with rain predictions of 40 to 80 percent.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Feels really good that my long run is up past 20km, even though I wimped out this weekend by not doing a run on both days. And now I get to eat *all* the chocolate, right?

Fitness tracker screenshot, showing 21km in 2 hours 15 minutes

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

That was... an experience. I possibly should have gone for the two loop option (10miles) as my first event after this round of rehab.

Fitness tracker screenshot showing 24.5 km in 2 hours 49 minutes.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

So I can confirm that doing #parkrun as my speedwork in the middle of a Saturday morning 10 mile run is an excellent workout. And exhausting.

Screenshot from fitness tracker showing 16 km in 1 hour 44 minutes

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

It's true that I run for sanity, and long term health benefits (basically because my dad didn't do exercise and I got to see the results). But it is *also* true that I ran enough to use up 8.5 kitkat chunky bars and I'm seriously considering it.

Fitness tracker showing 20km in 2 hours 18 minutes, and 1706 kcal

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Five weeks after I was cleared to run (don't dislocate your clavicle, folks!) I really enjoyed ~10 miles this evening. #running

Fitness tracker screenshot, 15.7km in 1 hour 41 minutes

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Ignore the pace, but getting out for my first run in exactly 12 weeks felt *so* good.

Screenshot from fitness tracker, 5.40km in 32mins.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

So full-time teachers in England, according to the DfE's own figures, are working an average of 50 hours per week. Source: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6926d0...

Screenshot including key data: Average hours worked per week were lower for
full-time teachers in 2025 (50.1 compared with 51.2 in 2024, 52.4 in 2023 and 51.9 in
2022).

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

A thorough and interesting read, but I've no idea how @samfr.bsky.social resisted using the Sidney Harris cartoon. open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/s...

Two professors in front of a blackboard where the words "Then a miracle occurs" join two sets of equations. The caption reads "I think you should be more explicit here in step two."
Sidney Harris, 2007

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

First bake from _Baking With Granny_ smells good! bakingwithgranny.co.uk/scottish-bak...

Sliced ginger load in front of a cookbook

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

90% of situations can be summed up by one of a dozen or so cartoons and this is one of those times. xkcd.com/927/

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Maybe we should rename them Razorbills because they're the local equivalent?

Image of razorbills, birds that vaguely resemble penguins. From Cumbria Wildlife Trust https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-explorer/birds/seabirds/razorbill

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

I know it's not a surprise, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it. Now, more than ever, politicians and dictators-in-waiting are controlling the facts we see. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Screenshot: “And by ‘statistical fact’, he means ‘complete bullshit’,” Kimmel said to applause, citing a study that found far-right groups were the greatest source of domestic terrorism and extremist violence in the US. The Department of Justice has removed the study from its website.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Should have posted this yesterday; if you're having bad days - and I definitely will do - then hold on and ask for help. #wspd

The Gap

Words
I have not said
and poems
not yet written.
Jokes untold
and silence where
I might bring laughter.
There are cliffs
I’ve not climbed yet
and challenges
that are not met
by me.
Lessons
both to learn
and teach;
I’ve promises to keep
to friends who have
been there for me.
I’ll not yet go
for perhaps I’d leave
a gap
an empty space
in their worlds
and in their lives.
I would be missed
and thinking of
the gap
my absence would define
I’ll stay;
for me
as well as them.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I stand corrected. Rain eased off after 20mins or so and it was lovely and quiet by the canal. #running

Screenshot of activity tracker showing 12km run in 1h22.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Unimpressed but unsurprised that Streeting (and the Guardian) are misrepresenting Lineham's incitement to violence as 'discussion of trans issues' www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Screenshot of tweet, reading "If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls."

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Not what she said the first time. I think for an experienced politician she phrased it very clumsily. "They are not all their lives subject to racism."

In the letter, she wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice" that is "similar to racism".

She added: "It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism."

Abbott was quick to withdraw the remarks, which were heavily criticised by Jewish and Traveller groups, and apologised "for any anguish caused"

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Disappointing but unsurprising that @theguardian.com include two TERF-aligned quotes about changes to RSHE guidance but nothing from the majority.

Screenshot:

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, said: “It’s a big shame that the Department for Education has watered down sections of the draft guidance it inherited from the previous government which sought to counter the trans activist positions adopted by many schools over the past decade.”

Bayswater, a support group for “parents of trans-identified adolescents and young people”, said: “The new RSHE guidance fails to address the serious safeguarding issues around teaching gender identity to children.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

It's possible that my physio and I have very different ideas of what 'walk run rehab' involves. But pleased with 1km intervals at race pace.

Fitness tracker screenshot, 8.84km in 1h03

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Homemade bagels are a success - the plain ones at least. Poppy-seeds provided by the plants we didn't mean to grow on the allotment.

Bagels, some plain and some covered in poppy seeds. Decidedly amateurish-looking

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Not sure about all these competitors, but the correction is wonderfully British. www.theguardian.com/games/2025/a...

Screenshot: "This article was amended on 7 April 2025. Blackawton in Devon hosts the International Festival of Worm Charming, not “the World Worm-Charming Championships”. The latter event is held annually in Willaston, Cheshire."

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

More Italian flatbread than focaccia - this was the leftover dough from weekend baking - but still tasty. I think with various stress I'll be doing a lot of baking for a bit! Anyone have favorite recipes to suggest?

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

I'm telling myself that I agree with the headline, not Badenoch. I think the brave and moral thing for Starmer to do is challenge the TERFs and bring in better legislation.

BBC headline: Starmer lacks moral courage on transgender stance, says Badenoch.

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Better than expected - just under 50 minutes for a 10k, two years since my last proper event.

Screenshot from fitness tracker, showing 10km in just under 50 minutes

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Ouch. The last few uphill I'm off this was hard work, especially as there was a #parkrun in the middle of it! www.parkrun.org.uk/battlesteadc...

Fitness tracker screenshot showing 16.72 km in 1 hour 50 minutes

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Ian Horsewell @teachingofsci.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

As predicted, after Streeting gave in to the bigots and said puberty blockers would only be available to trans kids as part of a trial, they want to eliminate the trials.