Kizzia Mildmay
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kizzia.bsky.social
Kizzia Mildmay
@kizzia.bsky.social
1.2K followers 870 following 8.5K posts
Word Herder ✍️ Yarn Wrangler 🧶 HoH 🦻 Queer 🏳️‍🌈 Witch 🧙 Arthurian 🗡️ Sherlockian 🔎 Pratchettian 🐢 Tolkienite 🧝‍♀️ Myth 🐉 Folklore 🍀 Fantasy 🧌 History 👑 Walker 🏞️ Absolutely no AI 📷 She/her

www.kizziamildmay.com
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kizzia.bsky.social
Advent doesn’t start until tomorrow but Wren's adventures have already begun! #WildwoodAdvent #TalesFromTheWildwood
wherekizzialives.com/2024/11/30/t...
‘Twas the Night Before Advent
’Twas the night before advent and, deep in the Wood, Wren’s anxiety was stirring.  Well it was late afternoon, if we’re being accurate, but it was dark and as far as Wren was concerned if it f…
wherekizzialives.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:55 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
Monthly Musings: November 2025

In which I explain why news of my return may have been somewhat exaggerated By me, obviously. I was the one who used the gif of Aragorn's epic entrance to Helm's Deep on my return post back in September and included in that post a lovely list of things I was going…
Monthly Musings: November 2025
In which I explain why news of my return may have been somewhat exaggerated By me, obviously. I was the one who used the gif of Aragorn's epic entrance to Helm's Deep on my return post back in September and included in that post a lovely list of things I was going share in the next three months. Months which, you'll all be very aware, have now passed and ....
wherekizzialives.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
crobertcargill.bsky.social
“Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see.”

-Tom Stoppard
November 29, 2025 at 7:39 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
I’m so sad he’s gone!
catacalypto.bsky.social Cat Manning @catacalypto.bsky.social · 1d
A story Stoppard told several times, in several places:
"Years and years ago, there was a production of The Tempest, out of doors, at an Oxford college on a lawn, which was the stage, and the lawn went back towards the lake in the grounds of the college, and the play began in natural light. But as it developed, and as it became time for Ariel to say his farewell to the world of The Tempest, the evening had started to close in and there was some artificial lighting coming on. And as Ariel uttered his last speech, he turned and he ran across the grass, and he got to the edge of the lake and he just kept running across the top of the water — the producer having thoughtfully provided a kind of walkway an inch beneath the water. And you could see and you could hear the plish, plash as he ran away from you across the top of the lake, until the gloom enveloped him and he disappeared from your view. And as he did so, from the further shore, a firework rocket was ignited, and it went whoosh into the air, and high up there it burst into lots of sparks, and all the sparks went out, and he had gone. "When you look up the stage directions, it says, 'Exit Ariel.”
November 29, 2025 at 7:15 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
Okay this is hysterical because xxx is not a swear, it's me adding kisses in replies to mutuals, and all uses of tits and tit are in reference to birds, not boobs. So I actually don't has swears!
profanity.accountant profanity.accountant @profanity.accountant · 1d
@kizzia.bsky.social has swears! They've used 32 profanities in their last 1,058 posts.

🥇 "xxx" (17 times)
🥈 "tits" (3 times)
🥉 "tit" (2 times)
November 29, 2025 at 4:40 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
@profanity.accountant oh go on then, tell me how sweary I am.
November 29, 2025 at 4:29 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
I've just finished listening to the audiobook of Peter Ross's latest book, Upon a White Horse, excellently narrated by Peter himself. It is fascinating, both from the places included, the depth of perspectives they're looked at from, and the people Peter discusses them with. Really recommend it!
peteralanross.bsky.social Peter Ross @peteralanross.bsky.social · Sep 12
Thank you to everyone for their good wishes on the publication of Upon A White Horse. It was heartening to hear from so many of you. I hope that you will enjoy the book.
November 29, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
nicwilson.bsky.social
Black Friday all a bit much yesterday? Try my @theguardian.com country diary antidote, for something a little different...

#countrydiary #naturewriting #BlackFriday
Country diary: My Black Friday? A night-time skulk in the woods | Nic Wilson
Purwell Ninesprings, Hertfordshire: A chilly evening spent interpreting rustles and admiring the silhouetted trees – now that’s what I call a bargain
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
greenparty.org.uk
Hope is here.

Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
November 28, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
judepickledplum.bsky.social
If you can get there, I thoroughly recommend this secret maps exhibition. Different ways of thinking about maps, why things are hidden, how they are hidden, the impact mapping can have. Utterly fascinating - and surprisingly moving in parts events.bl.uk/exhibitions/...
Secret Maps | British Library
Step into the shadows at Secret Maps, a major new exhibition revealing the stories hidden in some of history’s most mysterious maps.
events.bl.uk
November 28, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
finnlongman.com
Did you know... you can get my brand-new book, out today, in hardback, for £12 from the Gollancz Emporium using the code BF40? (You'll get 40% off your entire order, so a great time to stock up on hardbacks...)

store.gollancz.co.uk/products/the...
The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman, a hardback book with a brightly coloured cover featuring a wolf and crown against a background of a forest, standing on a gold background.
November 27, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
atarbuck.bsky.social
Time ONCE MORE for the best advent calendar of them all! Donate! Get a poem every day throughout this miserable month!
annierutherford.bsky.social Annie Rutherford @annierutherford.bsky.social · 4d
It's a tad down to the wire, I know, but I'm thrilled to say that I'm running the Poetry Advent Calendar again this year -- sign up by donating to @msf.ca and receive a poem every day from 1 to 24 December: book.benefacthq.com?id=poetry-ad...
Image of an advent calendar, with the words "Poetry Advent Calendar"
November 26, 2025 at 4:15 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
UK peeps, I’ve just emailed my MP, maybe you could email yours?
November 25, 2025 at 7:17 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
I got up before dawn on Friday to take myself out into the magic of my local wood in the frost. I took a lot of photos and thus they become #TheSmallThings #SpreadingJoy this week, all shared in the order I took them on my walk.
1/3
The pond in a clearing in the woods, completely frozen over, the ice choppy in a way that shows it had frozen the day before and started to thaw before it froze again overnight. The grass surrounding is also rimed with frost, the trees edging the clearing look ragged with leaf loss and the sky is pale frost blue, streaked with white cloud and plane trails. An oak gall on a branch surrounded by oak leaves, gall and leaves dusted in spiky frost crystals. The sky behind the tree is a cold pale blue. What might possibly be a young hawthorn, lobed leaves completely rimed with frost crystals. There is a stand of silver birch, out of focus, in the background. An oak leaf, still attached to the tree, mostly turned to brown but with one singular patch of yellow on the top right of the leaf as you look at the picture. It is completely covered in frost crystals.
November 24, 2025 at 2:15 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
This year has been an incredibly intense one for me and I haven’t managed to write any new Wildwood tales. So, instead, I’ll do some “recycling” and share last year’s advent stories again, starting today with the first of Wren’s adventures on Stir Up Sunday:
wherekizzialives.com/2024/11/24/w...
Wildwood Advent
The Wildwood was rimed with frost, layer upon layer of it from the cold snap that had arrived three days previously, heralding the proper beginning of winter. Twigs gleamed, grass glittered, and th…
wherekizzialives.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:21 PM
kizzia.bsky.social
So this is the first year in what feels like forever* that I am not dashing up and down to Kent. Which means I can do Christmas and Yule with a capital C and Y respectively. I’m not finished but I think I’ve made a good start. #Christmas #Yule #XmasDecorations

*it’s 7 yrs but let’s not split hairs
A slim artificial Christmas tree, covered in lights, golden beading and MANY baubles stands in the left hand side of a bay window, of which the middle section has been strung with fairy lights. An oak coffee table and a brown chair fill the rest of the bay. An unlit fireplace is surrounded by fairy lights and decorations. To the left and right are fairy light covered twigs, the left hand side ones having baubles on, the right just lights. The mantlepiece has tinsel and fairy lights, fake foliage and other all decorations. The mirror above the mantle piece has fairy lights and tinsel strung around it and a variety of baubles hung from it, The end of the dining table has a circular wooden stand in the centre, with two pillar candles in candle plates flanking it. In the table surface, in front of the wooden stand is a garland made of fircones and covered in glitter, arranged in a set of curves around the stand and candles. On the stand is a willow wreath completely covered in fake berries in various shades of red and many fairy lights. Inside the wreath is a tall cream vase holding a bare branch fairy light tree. In the wall behind the display is a painting of a cafe with tinsel draped over the frame.
November 22, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
oldenoughtosay.com
I’m gonna come right out on here on main and say that my father-in-law, who most of these people hero worship, fully believed in the role of medical intervention where necessary, and in the importance of birth attendants who can recognise that ‘when necessary’ part
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · 8d
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room. Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
cameowood.com
I had to find out how cute this was. Turns out: incredibly cute and I needed to know this. I put some time into these alt-tags
Beautiful eye brown cows are walking toward the camera and are the deck with evergreens and beautiful summer flowers. The cow in front has the most beautiful nose you’ve ever seen and has her face pointed shyly down. Behind her is a long row of similarly beautifully dressed cows. Two young adults, a girl and a boy made a parade of decorated cows through a traditional street with old-fashioned Swiss buildings. Everyone is smiling and delighted, except for the boy. The cows are lovely and their noses need to be petted. A white valley with a country road with a parade of cows walking toward the camera. The cows have Tal or Nate towers of flowers and evergreens on their heads and they’re walking in a row. They are brown with white faces. On the left walking near them is a man with a black blazer and pants and a white shirt and a hat. He has a pink flower in his lapel. These cows are walking down a country street with a Swiss chalet style cabin on the left. The cows have truly ridiculous Christmas tree. Tal flower arrangements on their heads that are laughably huge. They also seem to have massive bells underneath them almost the size of their heads. These cows also have noses that need to be booped.
November 21, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
bookishnea.bsky.social
Y’all, “full” price is only $50 & now there’s a discount? With Scrivener there’s
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scrivenerapp.bsky.social ScrivenerApp @scrivenerapp.bsky.social · 9d
Shopping for a writer (or yourself) this Black Friday? Good news, Scrivener is 25% OFF!

🎁 Plan, draft, organize and revise - all in one place
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Use code BLACKFRIDAY2025 at checkout between Nov 28th and Dec 1st!
November 21, 2025 at 11:46 AM
kizzia.bsky.social
If you see this, post your getaway vehicle:
November 21, 2025 at 11:59 AM
kizzia.bsky.social
This week (very belatedly) #TheSmallThings #SpreadingJoy are many, so come in two posts. Firstly, some flowers in the wrong season and the after effects of Storm Claudia on the local woods 1/2
A cherry plum, covered in pink frilly blossom, with what leaves it has left turning yellow because it’s November! Shining large dark green holly leaves surround their tiny white-with-pink-centres flowers A fallen mature tree with many branches laying directly across the leaf strewn path in the woods, completely blocking the way as the path edges are bracketed with dense shrubs and other, still standing, trees. A completely uprooted mature tree, fallen across, and then parallel to, the curved path. The still standing trees around it are in a circle, almost like mourners at a grave site. The sky above is a cloudy grey-blue.
November 20, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
hookland.bsky.social
There are lonely churches to be found where old saints live in strange stone boxes. When we say saints, that word has to encompass those spirits of place which were there long before the cross came along. Relics of both Christian and folk faith may be the same bone. – Dr. M. Benn
November 20, 2025 at 9:57 AM
kizzia.bsky.social
Goodness knows I don’t usually post food on social media but I’ve just had a transcendent experience thanks to this home made lamb hotpot. Which I can never recreate because I used the end of the roast and threw in what I had to hand and was not paying attention. So you get to see the one off glory!
A white bowl filled with lamb hotpot: the lamb, carrot and swede filling to the right, the golden crispy potato topping to the bottom left and steamed brussel sprouts top left. The hotpot filling looks luscious.
November 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
jayhulmepoet.bsky.social
I am often to be found caring for the unknown dead, who emerge, shattered, from their ancient and forgotten graves. Collecting them, burying them, praying them back to their rest. It makes me think, sometimes, of the transphobic refrain that in a thousand years our bones will somehow betray us.
Bonefields By Jay Hulme When you die, they say, we'll know who you truly were; vultures of morality, picking us out of ourselves. Perverse sky burial, bodies stretched out on sky towers of hatred. No ritual in this but the pain. This will not be how it ends. I refuse my uncreation. These wings become me; this splintering holds me. My marrow returns to the sky, the earth, the creation from whence I came. They say once, my atoms were birds; they become so again. They say stars. I say vultures. When we lay down together in the bone fields of despair you must tell me: how can you fear an ending that's the same as where you began?
November 18, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Kizzia Mildmay
hookland.bsky.social
The stones are not only in constant conversation with each other, but with the land itself. We approach and catch them in the act of chatting. Just for a moment we feel we are intruding, feel we have broken an intimate spell. – Dr. K. Brophy #StandingStoneSunday
November 16, 2025 at 10:53 AM