Ellie Ashman
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ellayanor.bsky.social
Ellie Ashman
@ellayanor.bsky.social
530 followers 690 following 430 posts
Exeter | Director - Public Sector Practice @ Torchbox

Often to be found looking for a snack and/or saying pspsps to the nearest available cat. Always have too many tabs open.
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ellayanor.bsky.social
Someone is very not sure about Boards of Canada 😅
A tabby cat sits upright on an orange velvet sofa - his green eyes are staring at the middle distance, his tabby ears half pinned back. A print on the wall in the background shows 'chaos' in wobbly letters, matching the vibe.
July 18, 2025 at 12:58 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Day off today, going to feed my imagination (whilst I have a fancy brunch). Definite South West theme is a bonus
The southwestern newspaper 'for the imagination, full of stories, wisdom and creativity from those who call the south west home' sits underneath Rob Hopkins' new book, How to Fall in Love with the Future
July 18, 2025 at 10:18 AM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Absolutely loved Claire Dellar's call to collective systemic action and universal design. #CampDigital
A woman in a bright green dress with bright pink hair sits in a wheelchair on a stage. Behind her a slide reads "universal design is a political and ethical commitment to collective access, not just an individual accommodation". Live caption screens are visible to the side of the stage, under a projected Camp Digital logo of a campfire.
July 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Reader, I felt this in my chest. @blangry.bsky.social called it, in a great talk with the also-excellent Katherine Wastell at #CampDigital
"it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it" Upton Sinclair
July 3, 2025 at 12:50 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Such a treat to hear @jukes.ie talk about working in the open. I laughed a lot and remembered that feeling of finding the tribe he made & that ultimately brought me here. Time to dust off the blog, perhaps! #CampDigital
A man stands on a lit stage in front of a big screen that reads "think out loud, show your working, be authentic, share your successes, be honest about your failures, it is all for an audience of one" "a blog post is a very long and complex search query to find fascinating people" Henrik Karlsson
July 3, 2025 at 12:48 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Excellent post day 😍
Black backgrounds show beautifully illustrated cards of different garden processes, for Tending to Endings in any setting. On top, a card for the harvest talks about extraction and gratitude, next to a card for deadheading that focuses on rejuvenating and sustaining through shedding. The set of cards is spread haphazardly on a wooden desk.
June 25, 2025 at 8:57 AM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Coffee with the birds. Happy solstice 🌞
A white hand holds a mug of coffee in front of the layers of a green garden bursting with life, under a blue sky with delicate white clouds.
June 21, 2025 at 6:10 AM
ellayanor.bsky.social
They seem to be pretty unfussy so I reckon yes? main challenge would probably be them bullying everything else (exhibit a: this big green beaut)
A large blue-green kale plant with purple edges and sprays of tiny white flowers towers over a clutch of knee-high baby Jerusalem artichoke plants and a drift of white and yellow poached egg flowers at ground level
May 20, 2025 at 4:18 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Rewarded for my early start with an absolutely beaut sunrise from the train 😍
Orange, peach and pink clouds emerging over rolling green hills, with silhouetted trees. There is some light fog resting on the grass, and the reflection of train lighting can be seen on the glass window.
April 25, 2025 at 5:35 AM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Catticus currently enforcing. He knows.
A tabby cat sits resolutely on a pyjama-clad lap.
January 21, 2025 at 7:56 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
think you've got one too, Simon
a screenshot of a bluesky account designed to look like another
January 20, 2025 at 2:37 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Lunchtime walk round the Quay. On Tuesday this was all under water, keeping my neighbourhood safe from flooding. Today it's back to dog walkers, runners, and a pair of herons swooping about. I really love living here, that big Devon sky
A grassy plain stretches out towards the horizon under a grey, cloudy sky. Streams cross the grass and meet, with yellowing tall grass at their edges.
January 10, 2025 at 1:50 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Experimented with beans up anything vertical in the garden this year - not a huge yield of borlotti beans but SO PRETTY and a successful experiment climbing the sunflowers and the rambling rose. They'll make a tasty lunchy thing on a hungry gap day.
A handful of dried borlotti beans sit in a green bowl, their speckled peach and burgundy skins shining in the light. A pile of golden and spotty, crispy, empty pods lays next to the bowl.
December 18, 2024 at 6:06 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Post a PERFECT album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana or Pearl Jam
The Cranberries - no need to argue 4 band members dressed in black clothes and Dr marten boots sit on or around an iconic brown sofa. The surrounding room is white.
December 14, 2024 at 9:04 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Spent several of my formative years working a Saturday job in a fruit and veg shop. The owners were very lovely to me, and I miss them. Today I became the proud owner of these bad boys - the exact replica of the scissors that lived by the grapes. Happy Xmas, Wendy
Mini scissors with green handles made to look a bit like leaves, inside a sheath made to look like a carrot. The set is magnetic, and stuck to the side of a silver fridge.
December 13, 2024 at 11:57 AM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Product for the People was a joy - energising, provoking, and just the right amount of silly. Plus I got to catch up with 2 of the excellent Product people I started my gov journey with, back at the GDS academy ❤️ @debblanch44.bsky.social
3 white women (me, Debbie Blanchard and Jess Brown) standing together, smiling widely The words 'welcome to product for the people!' on a bright pink slide shown on a big TV on a wheely stand.
November 28, 2024 at 5:46 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
#ProofOfCat the wide eyes indicating how he feels about being photographed during his first snooze of the day (but at least it's stopped the snoring)
A tabby cat with wide green eyes stretches out two front paws from the little nest he has made amongst pink bedsheets. His fluffy belly is just visible.
November 7, 2024 at 7:41 AM
ellayanor.bsky.social
...does this mean I'm in The Good Place?
A plain white presentation slide reads "it'll be ok!"
September 18, 2024 at 3:11 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
@ames.world and @priyanca.bsky.social challenging us to expand our definition of discovery - always happening, and building just enough to learn can be a thing. Love the call to break out of the gates a little #SDinGov
A slide shows a bright orange card which reads 'starting to build things surfaces assumptions and misalignment. It helps communicate and build momentum. It can feel wrong to start building early, but it's a very effective way to learn' credit: Alistair Ruff
September 18, 2024 at 3:04 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
Quite tough to pick my reading material for the 8hr train journey from Exeter to Edinburgh for #SDinGov (I went Platformland because the FOMO won, it's got me to Sheffield in the blink of an eye!)
4 books laid cover up on a wooden table - Platformland by Richard Pope, The Language of Trees by Katie Holten, News from Nowhere by William Morris and The Service Organization by Kate Tarling
September 17, 2024 at 12:21 PM
ellayanor.bsky.social
this little friend wants you to know you can do this
a tiny fluffy orange cow stands in a grassy field. His pink nose is angled upwards, so that he looks determined. His beady black eyes look directly at the camera.
September 2, 2024 at 1:36 PM