iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 04/10/2026

@everyheron.bsky.social Heron near Greifensee, Switzerland, hunting frogs. Lots of Stork nests too, but the storks have gone now

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 25/09/2026

Cosmos didn't quite make it to #caturday. Goodbye, lovely cat

Photograph of a tortie-point Siamese Cat sitting on stairs sitting on one step with her front feet on the next step up with a wicker basket in the background

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 11/09/2026

@susiedentwords.bsky.social Janet enjoying her signed copy of Death Writ Large, which she confirms was very good for reading on the train. Thanks to @biggreenbooks.bsky.social for organising.

Women sitting on a yellow sofa with a hardback copy of the book Death Writ Large by Suzie Dent open on her knee with a cup of tea in her other hand

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 11/08/2026

One of the justifications at the time was that the number of fires had fallen over the previous years and that firefighter numbers had not reduced. This does seem to be borne out by the data, but the number of incidents does seem to be increasing again without a corresponding increase in staff.

Chart showing a decrease in the number of incidents of fire per 1 million people in England 1999 to 2025 showing a fall in the number of incidents to 2011/12 then a levelling off. Data from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 11/07/2026

Here on Manchester's first swift street, we seem to be having a bumper year and I counted 50 overhead the other morning.

Photograph of a swift with wings outstretched catching the sun in a blue sky

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 09/07/2026

My garden office in Manchester

Screenshot of a temperature line graph showing current temperature in a garden office of 38.2°C

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 07/07/2026

Manchester is not quite as picturesque but we do have lots of swifts. I counted 45 circling this morning.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 26/06/2026

Ours has discovered the pleasures of a fan, after she had spent an hour sleeping in the greenhouse

Photograph of a hot cat laying on a paving slab being blown on by a small handheld fan.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 30/05/2026

Cosmos, a tortoiseshell Siamese, would like to show you how it's done!

A tortoiseshell Siamese cat laying on a grey fluffy cat cushion stripped from shadows from a blind

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 08/04/2026

Both our cats loved getting in behind the books on the shelves

Photo of a cat visible in the gap between two books on a bookshelf.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 05/04/2026

Also after the storm (Manchester)

Image of a grassed area in the foreground with a horse chestnut tree in the middle of the images with several large branches lying in the ground having fallen from the tree. There are more trees in the background with pink bits of sky visible from the impending sunrise

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 21/02/2026

In ours, we have the following. There was also a Song Thrush at 6am, but too far away to be detected. The Moorhen was misidentified, probably. Recorded with BirdNetPi

Screenshot from BirdNetPi showing a list of birds it has heard in or around the garden this morning, including wren, Dunnock, Robin, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Parakeet and Coal Tit. It thinks it heard a Moorhen, but unlikely.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 06/02/2026

@levparikian.bsky.social Herons and crows really don't get on, do they? 2 were swooping at this one, and there were 2 seagulls having a go at another who was perched on a chimney. The herons usually just fly past checking out gardens and I haven't seen them stopping there before.

2 crows, with wings outstretched, swooping at a heron perched at the top of a fit tree

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 22/12/2025

One of our gutters retains water so I kept it topped up in the summer for the birds and enjoyed watching them queuing for a bath. Even the wood pigeons manage to squeeze into it, and the magpies always look particularly bedraggled afterwards

Photograph of a very wet magpie standing on the edge of a gutter following a bath.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 21/12/2025

Meanwhile, in Penzance, Cornwall, Montol was being celebrated, with the night ending with a hilarious Brussel Sprout fight.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 15/11/2025

A few weeks ago someone posted a short video of a cat's plaintive mewing for food. Cosmos, a Siamese cat, wants to tell you about the correct way to get attention from your humans - she's just come in and wants a stroke. #caturday #proofofcat

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 01/11/2025

Happy #caturday from Cosmos, the yowling tyrant who seems to spend much of her day noisily demanding to be stroked, as only Siamese cats do.

Photo of the head of a tortie-point Siamese cat lying on a settee in the sun

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 02/10/2025

I hope they are still standing on Saturday because it looks like the wind is going to be pretty wild on Friday evening. Keep safe!

Screenshot from Windy weather app showing very strong winds on the west of Scotland on Friday evening

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 28/09/2025

I went for the last of the summer swims in our local swimming lake in Manchester (Sale Water Park) on Thursday morning and was greeted with this view

View across a very still lake with mist rising from it and a sky tinted orange by sunrise. The water reflects trees and electricity lines in the distance.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 02/09/2025

On cars, there is a good integration for Skoda vehicles called MySkoda which exposes lots of sensors. I have attached a screenshot sample of some of the 51 entities. Very regularly updated too.

Screenshot showing a partial list of entities exposed by the MySkoda integration in Home Assistant including door status, fuel and battery level, maintenance data, climate.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 08/07/2025

I remember where I read about this. "The Empire of Normality" by Robert Chapman

Cover image of the book Empire of Normality by Robert Chapman

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 24/06/2025

Final #ProofOfCat for Aura, was has kidney failure and is making her final trip to the vet tomorrow. We are all very sad.

Photograph of Aura, a Siamese cat, sitting on a cushion in a greenhouse

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 25/05/2025

Too late for #caturday Cosmos has been brushing up on her skateboarding, with some practice on the stairs

Siamese cat sitting on the end of a black skateboard in the sun

Siamese cat lying on the stairs with top half lying down the one leg on the step below, is if she is pushing a skateboard with her paw

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 24/05/2025

#HADay2025 We had a great meetup in Manchester UK with lots of interesting discussions about Home Assistant and home automations with experience of Home Assistant going back to the earliest versions (PIP installs) to 6 months. Looking forward to doing it again next year, if not before.

Group photo of the Manchester, UK, Home Assistant Community Day 2025 meetup.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 20/05/2025

A Swift catching the evening light

A Common Swift in flight, wings outstretched and tail spread. One wing is catching the evening sunlight

A Common Swift in flight, wings outstretched and one wing highlighted in the evening sun

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 08/03/2025

Someone called me about this poor #fox they had spotted. I called www.thefoxrescuers.org.uk and 30 minutes later a volunteer had driven out, captured the fox and taken it to the vet. Sadly it had to be put to sleep, but thanks to the volunteers who give up their time to rescue suffering animals.

Very bedraggled looking fox lying next to the entrance to a freshly-dug burrow with matted hair from mange on it's face and back.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 21/02/2025

You can have two - does that give you double the time?

Two Siamese cats curled up on a yellow chair. One is a Seal Point Siamese with dark brown points and the other is a Tortie Point with tortoise shell points

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 13/02/2025

Cosmos is engrossed with Conclave. Nothing she likes more than a good drama, apart from wildlife programmes with birds. #proofofcat

Photograph of the back of a Siamese cat's head with a television with a scene from the film Conclave in the background. The cat is watching the film intently.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 05/02/2025

I've just been doing a map highlighting the mess that the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Local Authority boundaries are in that area. I wonder whether Greater Essex will be co-terminus with NHS Mid and South Essex?

Map showing the overlapping local authority and Integrated Care Boards in the South of England, highlighting the mess of Essex, which is split between 3 ICBs, which also split other local authorities.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 04/01/2025

Snowy run in Prague on a beautiful morning

View of Prague castle with the river in the foreground, the distant bank dusted in show and the castle silhouettes against a clear blue sky

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 01/01/2025

Yes, the gates were open too. The Chorlton Brook was also flooding over the banks

Water flowing over the banks of Chorlton Brook in Chorlton Ees, with the bridge across the brook visible on the right

Water flowing through the flood gates at Jackson's Boat on the River Mersey

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 01/01/2025

The River #Mersey is the highest I have seen it, overtopping the banks at Jackson's Boat in #Manchester

View of the river Mersey at Jackson's Boat in Manchester with the river flowing over the top of the bank

View down the river Mersey at Jackson's Boat with the river just below the bank and footpath on the right. The lights on the floor relief gates building are visible further down the river.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 27/12/2024

That's nice. I got this in Penzance on Christmas Eve morning, just as the mist and murk was moving in - it was misty and foggy all the way back to Manchester.

View of misty sunrise over the sea, with Penlee Point, Mousehole visible to the right, with the small moon above.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 18/12/2024

Rudolf the woke-nosed reindeer wants a word

Raffeta reindeer Christmas decoration with a rainbow coloured nose and blue LED eyes

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 12/12/2024

@quietriotpod.bsky.social I've been listening to the most recent Wokey Dokey and thought I should introduce you to Rudolph the Woke Nosed Reindeer, who has taken up position on the house. Rudolf does also have periods of red -nosedness!

A rattan reindeer decoration with an animated multi-coloured nose on the flat roof of a house which is decorated with multi-coloured LED lights.

A rattan reindeer decoration with an animated multi-coloured LED nose and blue LED eyes

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 01/12/2024

She's looking a bit more orange than usual because she pulled out the fur on her back and it has grown back red.

Photograph of the head of a tortie point Siamese cat sleeping on a radiator.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 23/11/2024

Cosmos has got this down to a fine art. She lies on top of the radiator under the coats hanging above, making a cat oven. #Caturday #ProofOfCat

Cat on top of a radiator, peeking out from behind a coat hanging from a hook above

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 18/11/2024

Here is our other cat, Cosmos, "helping" with the ironing. She requires several minutes of stroking for each item of clothing. #proofOfCat #siamese

Cat lying on top of an ironing board, waiting to be stroked.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 15/11/2024

On a related topic, some years ago I found a book on Corporate Identify in a second hand bookshop / cafe in St Just, Cornwall, which was a great bit of nostalga. It included the ICI logo and others. I gave it to a designer who was very keen on it.

Image of a book cover with famous UK corporate logos from the 1970s and 1980s, including Unigate, ICI and Smiths with the title "A Management Guide to Corporate Identity"

image from the book "A Management Guide to Corporate Identity" featuring products from the Smiths Food Group range, including crisps and peanuts

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 19/09/2024

It's almost the end of the summer swimming season and the last few early morning swims catch sunrise, if the weather is ok. Weekend swims only from October to April.

Dawn over Sale Water Park, with pink sky reflected in the smooth water.

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Julian Beach @trink-uk.eurosky.social · 15/09/2024

Not quite so perfect place for an afternoon swim (better once in the water, but the rain dampens enthusiasm!)

View across lake at Sale Water Park in the rain with jetties in the foreground electricity pylon in the background

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