Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
@claramay.bsky.social
books, pond plants and wildflowers; Backlisted Podcast and WildflowerHour
(and more books)
Pinned
Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
@claramay.bsky.social
· Aug 16
What Wood Pigeons are saying:
“No, YOU make the tea”
“No, YOU make the tea”
Engaging conversation on food policy and farming with @herdyshepherd.bsky.social. Full of interest, clarity, lack of jargon; down to earth, articulate and a fascinating listen. Recommended: www.bbc.com/audio/play/m...
BBC Audio | The Today Podcast | Beyond Ultra-Processed Foods: Can Farmers Fix Our Health and the Planet? (James Rebanks)
James Rebanks on how to build a secure, sustainable and healthy food system.
www.bbc.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Engaging conversation on food policy and farming with @herdyshepherd.bsky.social. Full of interest, clarity, lack of jargon; down to earth, articulate and a fascinating listen. Recommended: www.bbc.com/audio/play/m...
Sent this article to my friend who teaches forest school –
So interesting –
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
So interesting –
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How a radical experiment to bring a forest into a preschool transformed children’s health
In Finland, kindergartens are exposing children to more mud, wild plants and moss - and finding changes to their health that show how crucial biodiversity is to wellbeing
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Sent this article to my friend who teaches forest school –
So interesting –
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
So interesting –
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Waiting in stationary traffic and noticed something I'd never seen before:
November 24, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Waiting in stationary traffic and noticed something I'd never seen before:
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Has anyone got time to listen to this James Rebanks interview about farming? Because it's really very, very good: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Radical with Amol Rajan - Beyond Ultra-Processed Foods: Can Farmers Fix Our Health and the Planet? (James Rebanks) - BBC Sounds
James Rebanks on how to build a secure, sustainable and healthy food system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Has anyone got time to listen to this James Rebanks interview about farming? Because it's really very, very good: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Has anyone got time to listen to this James Rebanks interview about farming? Because it's really very, very good: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Radical with Amol Rajan - Beyond Ultra-Processed Foods: Can Farmers Fix Our Health and the Planet? (James Rebanks) - BBC Sounds
James Rebanks on how to build a secure, sustainable and healthy food system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Has anyone got time to listen to this James Rebanks interview about farming? Because it's really very, very good: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
A brilliant article about a community working together to learn about the planning system and regulatory frameworks:
"the local environment is not a blank slate on which industrial development can be superimposed without consequence."
"the local environment is not a blank slate on which industrial development can be superimposed without consequence."
✍️ Foxholes’ ‘line in the chalk’: locals come together to resist gas drilling proposal
What happens when a village community stands its ground against the potential environmental threat from a powerful developer
By David Eddy
What happens when a village community stands its ground against the potential environmental threat from a powerful developer
By David Eddy
Foxholes’ ‘line in the chalk’: locals come together to resist gas drilling proposal
What happens when a village community stands its ground against the potential environmental threat from a powerful developer
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 AM
A brilliant article about a community working together to learn about the planning system and regulatory frameworks:
"the local environment is not a blank slate on which industrial development can be superimposed without consequence."
"the local environment is not a blank slate on which industrial development can be superimposed without consequence."
Stewart Lee on top form here, as are the rest of the team: great work all round at @thenerve.news
NEW: Former Reform MEP Nathan Gill is sentenced to 10.5 years at the Old Bailey on 8 counts of bribery by a Russian agent.
The "ultimate source" of the funds came from "a close friend of Vladimir Putin," said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb. Here is the evidence…
The "ultimate source" of the funds came from "a close friend of Vladimir Putin," said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb. Here is the evidence…
November 22, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Stewart Lee on top form here, as are the rest of the team: great work all round at @thenerve.news
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Holy shit, this film is incredible! It's just trains in the snow, and yet there is such a wonderfully propulsive soundtrack and such dynamic, even experimental editing that I'm actually in awe. Never even heard of Geoffrey Jones, but this is virtuoso stuff. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4p...
Snow (1963) - Geoffrey Jones | BFI National Archive
YouTube video by BFI
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Holy shit, this film is incredible! It's just trains in the snow, and yet there is such a wonderfully propulsive soundtrack and such dynamic, even experimental editing that I'm actually in awe. Never even heard of Geoffrey Jones, but this is virtuoso stuff. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4p...
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Written by a diverse group of farmers, foresters, smallholders, campaigners, academics, consultants and writers, ‘Common Treasures’ Vols. 1 & 2 offer an alternative perspective on the future of the countryside, writes @jenniferedgecombe.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/11/comm...
November 20, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Written by a diverse group of farmers, foresters, smallholders, campaigners, academics, consultants and writers, ‘Common Treasures’ Vols. 1 & 2 offer an alternative perspective on the future of the countryside, writes @jenniferedgecombe.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/11/comm...
Looking forward to reading these:
Pleased to have had the opportunity to review Common Treasures - essays on land use and the future of our countryside for @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social @littletollerbooks.bsky.social 🌱
www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/11/comm...
www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/11/comm...
Written by a diverse group of farmers, foresters, smallholders, campaigners, academics, consultants and writers, ‘Common Treasures’ Vols. 1 & 2 offer an alternative perspective on the future of the countryside, writes @jenniferedgecombe.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/11/comm...
November 21, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Looking forward to reading these:
Discovered, rediscovered and enjoyed by many @backlisted.bsky.social listeners, The Lowlife is a tremendous read:
My new blog post on Alexander Baron's brilliant, entertaining boarding-house novel, THE LOWLIFE.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/16/t...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/16/t...
The Lowlife – Alexander Baron
I have read some wonderful books published by Faber Editions in the past – The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford, Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks, and The Glass Pearls by Emeric Pressburger, to name a…
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Discovered, rediscovered and enjoyed by many @backlisted.bsky.social listeners, The Lowlife is a tremendous read:
deeply engrossed in They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy, which I would never have discovered without enthusiastic recommendations here - thank you - from @jacquiwine.bsky.social @nancykay-alt-acct.bsky.social and @neglectedbooks.com
They were right, it’s very readable and wide ranging
They were right, it’s very readable and wide ranging
November 16, 2025 at 11:06 PM
deeply engrossed in They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy, which I would never have discovered without enthusiastic recommendations here - thank you - from @jacquiwine.bsky.social @nancykay-alt-acct.bsky.social and @neglectedbooks.com
They were right, it’s very readable and wide ranging
They were right, it’s very readable and wide ranging
all in yellow for this evening's #WildflowerHour: Dandelion, Sows Thistle, and a very short Mullein:
November 16, 2025 at 8:09 PM
all in yellow for this evening's #WildflowerHour: Dandelion, Sows Thistle, and a very short Mullein:
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised blooms you’ve spotted from across Britain & Ireland in the last week and did you manage to spot #thewinter10, our challenge for the coldest months! ☺️
#WildflowerHour #TheWinter10 from #Preston this week; a shy common daisy, ragwort, fox & cubs, hogweed, pineapple weed, angelica looking like snowflakes! Hedge mustard, white dead nettle, red campion, hazel catkins, buttercup, honeysuckle, spindle @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised blooms you’ve spotted from across Britain & Ireland in the last week and did you manage to spot #thewinter10, our challenge for the coldest months! ☺️
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
At some point, for the love of God, will someone ANYONE at long last take the council funding crisis seriously?!?
Because THIS is what will break down a society, not some poor soul escaping incredible dangers, arriving on our shores.
Because THIS is what will break down a society, not some poor soul escaping incredible dangers, arriving on our shores.
English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books
English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books
Survey finds 60% of key cities councils are planning to sell assets to meet costs of adult and children’s social care
English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books, according to a survey of local authorities.
The key cities group of councils, which represents second-tier cities in England, said 60% of councils were planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:03 PM
At some point, for the love of God, will someone ANYONE at long last take the council funding crisis seriously?!?
Because THIS is what will break down a society, not some poor soul escaping incredible dangers, arriving on our shores.
Because THIS is what will break down a society, not some poor soul escaping incredible dangers, arriving on our shores.
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
If you’re anything like us and Radio 4 is the background soundtrack to your existence, listen in at 3.45 today. I wrote a short story for Short Works about a wild boar release, rural ideologies and searching for balance in an environment that is intrinsically off-kilter
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Short Works, The Sounder by Jade Angeles Fitton
An original short work for Radio 4 by Jade Angeles Fitton
www.bbc.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:03 AM
If you’re anything like us and Radio 4 is the background soundtrack to your existence, listen in at 3.45 today. I wrote a short story for Short Works about a wild boar release, rural ideologies and searching for balance in an environment that is intrinsically off-kilter
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
The ridiculously satisfying task of covering the dust jackets of old books in a protective cover:
November 12, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The ridiculously satisfying task of covering the dust jackets of old books in a protective cover:
Rereading Nancy Mitford's The Blessing, and re-listening to the excellent vintage Backlisted podcast edition with Mitford biographer Laura Thompson, which discusses the book:
Fond of this episode as it's the first one I ever heard, back in the day 😊
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/4-n...
Fond of this episode as it's the first one I ever heard, back in the day 😊
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/4-n...
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Rereading Nancy Mitford's The Blessing, and re-listening to the excellent vintage Backlisted podcast edition with Mitford biographer Laura Thompson, which discusses the book:
Fond of this episode as it's the first one I ever heard, back in the day 😊
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/4-n...
Fond of this episode as it's the first one I ever heard, back in the day 😊
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/4-n...
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Well done Zohran! And of course the real victor of the day - typography.
November 5, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Well done Zohran! And of course the real victor of the day - typography.
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Major revision of #GBRedList of plants published today shows 25% of our native & archaeophyte flora threatened with extinction. Many iconic widespread species classified as threatened for first time including Betony, Marsh Marigold, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Harebell. Another wake-up call for action!
November 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Major revision of #GBRedList of plants published today shows 25% of our native & archaeophyte flora threatened with extinction. Many iconic widespread species classified as threatened for first time including Betony, Marsh Marigold, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Harebell. Another wake-up call for action!
A lesson in compassion and innovation from 1973
Treating prisoners with human dignity - insights from the Barlinnie Special Unit and reducing the need to have prisons. My Thought for the Day today on BBC Radio Scotland. Can also be heard about 1:24 in (0723) at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
November 6, 2025 at 8:09 AM
A lesson in compassion and innovation from 1973
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Well done all involved in years of data gathering, analysis, coordination & funding for this new GB red list. Dedicated work by top botanists. And thanks to the brilliant conservation orgs & land managers stemming the haemorrhaging of biodiversity too. Many declines but also some glimmers of hope
New #GBRedList for vascular plants is published today by a team led by @bsbibotany.bsky.social with partners @naturalengland.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social @natreswales.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social @plantlifeintl.bsky.social @rbgkew.bsky.social @thebotanics.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Well done all involved in years of data gathering, analysis, coordination & funding for this new GB red list. Dedicated work by top botanists. And thanks to the brilliant conservation orgs & land managers stemming the haemorrhaging of biodiversity too. Many declines but also some glimmers of hope
Reposted by Claraisreading 🌿💙📚📚
Mamdani's speech is SO GOOD: respectful, generous, sparkling.
November 5, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Mamdani's speech is SO GOOD: respectful, generous, sparkling.
Starting the day with a little dance of joy: this is great, and the bit about hands at the beginning is pure poetry:
❤️❤️
Read Mamdani’s victory speech here:
November 5, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Starting the day with a little dance of joy: this is great, and the bit about hands at the beginning is pure poetry: