Author | Lightnews

Natalie Downe

@natbat.bsky.social

2K followers 950 following 650 posts

Enthusiastic adventurer, artist, potter, conservation technologist, tidepool guide, California naturalist, community organizer & frontend web developer. WU3M 🦇🦭🦀(🐺🐓🐇) #scicomm Mastodon @[email protected] Twitter @natbat Instagram @natbat & @natbat.art

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · Aug 2

Hello followers! My name is Natalie, I'm a naturalist, ceramicist, community organizer and occasional technologist. A Brit living in coastal Northern California with my husband @simonwillison.net

- My art instagram.com/natbat.art
- Photography instagram.com/natbat
- Mastodon @[email protected]

A photo do me holding a Palid bat at a workshop in the Mohave desert. My name tag says Natalie Downe and @natbat which was/is my handle on Twitter before I left and is also my handle on most other platforms too

I love tidepooling! A photo of me waist deep in a tidepool in California

Cleo won first prize at dog fest in San Francisco, this is a photo of her wearing the costume I made of the Golden Gate Bridge

Simon Willison and I at our wedding posing on the floor with a baby Eurasian eagle owl, we had a falconer at our wedding and he used our deposit to get this amazing creature

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 1d

Anyone else think that in the most recent episode of Watson, they exhibited extremely poor biosecurity protocols throughout the whole episode?!

Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 2d

Oh shit, I’m so sorry! I’ve been there too, that’s the worst!

Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 2d

Your work is beautiful, please don’t give up. I know it can be a rough ride sometimes, especially lugging the same pieces to and from markets, I’ve been there. Good luck with your online shops!

Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 2d

I translated the booklet to Spanish but it’s Canva’s auto translation as I don’t speak Spanish … corrections welcome! www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o3qu8...

www.dropbox.com

Reposted by Natalie Downe

Simon Willison @simonwillison.net · 3d

Another banger from Singer Sound System, this time a cover of Bowie's The Man Who Sold The World on sewing machine powered hurdy-gurdy with attached theremin www.tiktok.com/@singersound...

The Man Who Sold The World // @David Bowie I've had this melody stuck in my head for a while! Do you remember which video game used it 😜? #hurdygurdy #sewinggurdy #cover #nirvana #metalgearsolid...

TikTok video by SingerSoundSystem

www.tiktok.com

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks for this, I just canceled my subscription

Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 3d

No worries! Let me know if you need any help. I’m guessing you know how to fold & cut it?

Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks! Of course you can get a copy, if you have the Canva app installed you should be able too open this and then create a copy that you can edit yourself.

You’ll need to unlock the panels before you make changes. I lock them after I’m done so I don’t mess them up

www.canva.com/design/DAG2N...

Reposted by Natalie Downe

Indivisible ❌👑 @handle.invalid · 4d

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 4d

I made and folded a little booklet that I attached mini bags of haribo to and handed them out at the #nokings rally in Half Moon Bay today.

Printable: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kd92p...

The phone numbers are specific to the CA Bay Area, let me know if you want the Canva template I made.

For alt text of this foldable booklet, see the link attached here which should be a pdf you can get the text from

A foldable booklet that says “why are we protesting” “and how you can help”, I’m sat on a sofa in the garden with my dog and my chickens and a glass of wine

Haribo gold bears attached to the booklets

A large orange sign in the shape of a pumpkin that says “free candy”

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Reposted by Natalie Downe

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 4d

Head to a protest today. I can almost promise you will feel less hopeless. That's exactly what they don't want. There are more of us than there are of them.

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 5d

I think I’ve solved two of life’s hard problems! In order to get to sleep and distract your brain, plan what to have for lunch tomorrow!

I’m going to be dreaming of my baked potato with sour cream, butter, cheese and Korean impossible beef!

Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 6d

Today’s episode of “what is that chicken doing?”: Olive has a dust bath…

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 8d

I loved that expression! I think he was pained the pumpkin didn’t weigh as much as he wanted it to

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 8d

I always love the entertainment too, we get free donuts and coffee from Safeway and Jim Stevens is the best pumpkin bard!

The local brass band plays and local celeb Cameron from Cameron’s Inn and local radio personality Marcus from Star 101.3 MC the event and tell very bad pumpkin jokes 🎃

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 8d

Congrats to Brandon Dawson who won the Half Moon Bay Giant pumpkin weighoff yesterday with a 2346lb (1064.128kg) pumpkin!

It’s always such a fun day, the weather held out (before the epic rain last night!) and all the pumpkins were fabulous!

Brandon wins with a giant pumpkin weighing 2346lb

A man looks pained that his giant pumpkin weighs 1805lb

3 of the biggest on fork lift trucks raised and ready to weigh

Pumpkin judges inspect the bottom of a pumpkin

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Reposted by Natalie Downe

Exeter Marine @exetermarine.bsky.social · 8d

POSITIVE NEWS 🗣️

Green turtles move from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Least concern’ on the IUCN Red List, thanks to decades of hard work by conservationists globally.

Read the full assessment - iucnredlist.org/fr/species/4615/285108125

Footage from Open Planet / @brendangodley.bsky.social

🦑🌍🌐🌊🐟🐢

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Reposted by Natalie Downe

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 9d

Everyone I know is sick right now with “a bad bug”

Many are lamenting the fact that they were sick not long ago as well

Then they turn around and ask me when I’m going to stop masking

My N95 means I avoid not only covid, but all the other viruses floating around

Masks rock!

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 9d

Where are you getting your pretty radar maps?

I’m supposed to be in the calm between the blobs but it’s still hectic rain right now!

Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 10d

Wow, that is incredibly exciting. Do you have any videos of you vaulting?

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 10d

The after party had tasty food and some horsey demonstrations, including: a polo match, dressage and “vaulting” which is basically gymnastics ON A MOVING HORSE!!!

whoa94062.org/trail-ride/

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 10d

It turns out I don’t own anything beige at all because I spend a lot of time scrubbing around in the dirt. (Making ceramics, as a naturalist & we have a mini farm)

Instead I wore a sparkly leopard print jacket that I got from a drag queen royalty sale from a queen that was retiring in San Francisco

Me in a leopard print sparkly jacket ans a shark tshirt

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 10d

Such an enjoyable day hanging out with old and new friends. My friend Judy invited me and her housemate Michael and her friend Catherine joined us on our booth.

The four of us dressed in safari clothes and I’m in a sparkly leopard print jacket

Horses come to our booth which is a tent and a table that has a leopard print tablecloth

Judy and Catherine talk to two sherif horses

Judy pets a horse and it’s human is a giraffe

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 10d

The costumes were great, naturally there were a fair amount of zebras and giraffes!

A zebra horse and a giraffe horse face each other

A white speckled horse is dressed as a bird watcher with a hat binoculars and jacket and a green bush as a tail. The human is a zebra with hot air balloons

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Natalie Downe @natbat.bsky.social · 10d

I learnt a lot about horses! My favourite species were the Clydesdale and the Gypsy banner which had furry feet and the Icelandic ones which were so fluffy!

A white gypsy banner horse with fluffy feet has a fake white ruff as a costume

Two brownIcelandic horses are ridden toward the camera with humans dressed as lions

Massive Clydesdale horse, the human and the horse are dressed as a lion

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