Gillian Bailey
@gdbailey.bsky.social
Nature Geek • Hiker • Backpacker • Amateur Photographer • Map Nerd • Book Nerd • MA Student in the Univ. of Cumbria’s Literature, Romanticism & the English Lake District Programme • Dysgwr Cymraeg 🏴 • Awenydd yn yr Urdd Derwyddon Môn /|\
“On the wind in February
Snowflakes float still,
Half inclined to turn to rain,
Nipping, dripping, chill.
Then the thaws swell the streams,
And swollen rivers swell the sea:—
If the winter ever ends
How pleasant it will be!”
— From 'A Year's Windfalls' by Christina Rossetti.
Snowflakes float still,
Half inclined to turn to rain,
Nipping, dripping, chill.
Then the thaws swell the streams,
And swollen rivers swell the sea:—
If the winter ever ends
How pleasant it will be!”
— From 'A Year's Windfalls' by Christina Rossetti.
February 2, 2026 at 12:40 PM
“On the wind in February
Snowflakes float still,
Half inclined to turn to rain,
Nipping, dripping, chill.
Then the thaws swell the streams,
And swollen rivers swell the sea:—
If the winter ever ends
How pleasant it will be!”
— From 'A Year's Windfalls' by Christina Rossetti.
Snowflakes float still,
Half inclined to turn to rain,
Nipping, dripping, chill.
Then the thaws swell the streams,
And swollen rivers swell the sea:—
If the winter ever ends
How pleasant it will be!”
— From 'A Year's Windfalls' by Christina Rossetti.
"The snowdrop, Winter's timid child,
Awakes to life, bedew'd with tears;
And flings around its fragrance mild,
And where no rival flow'rets bloom,
Amid the bare and chilling gloom,
A beauteous gem appears!"
— 'The Snowdrop' by Mary Darby Robinson
Awakes to life, bedew'd with tears;
And flings around its fragrance mild,
And where no rival flow'rets bloom,
Amid the bare and chilling gloom,
A beauteous gem appears!"
— 'The Snowdrop' by Mary Darby Robinson
January 28, 2026 at 1:51 PM
"The snowdrop, Winter's timid child,
Awakes to life, bedew'd with tears;
And flings around its fragrance mild,
And where no rival flow'rets bloom,
Amid the bare and chilling gloom,
A beauteous gem appears!"
— 'The Snowdrop' by Mary Darby Robinson
Awakes to life, bedew'd with tears;
And flings around its fragrance mild,
And where no rival flow'rets bloom,
Amid the bare and chilling gloom,
A beauteous gem appears!"
— 'The Snowdrop' by Mary Darby Robinson
“The rayless sun,
Day’s journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.
Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon."
—From ‘Winter’ by Walter de la Mare
Day’s journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.
Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon."
—From ‘Winter’ by Walter de la Mare
January 28, 2026 at 1:48 PM
“The rayless sun,
Day’s journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.
Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon."
—From ‘Winter’ by Walter de la Mare
Day’s journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.
Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon."
—From ‘Winter’ by Walter de la Mare
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang ‘s my arm…
— ‘Address to a Haggis’ by Robert Burns.
Happy Burns Night!
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang ‘s my arm…
— ‘Address to a Haggis’ by Robert Burns.
Happy Burns Night!
January 25, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang ‘s my arm…
— ‘Address to a Haggis’ by Robert Burns.
Happy Burns Night!
Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang ‘s my arm…
— ‘Address to a Haggis’ by Robert Burns.
Happy Burns Night!
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
— 'The Darkling Thrush' by Thomas Hardy.
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
— 'The Darkling Thrush' by Thomas Hardy.
January 12, 2026 at 3:56 PM
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
— 'The Darkling Thrush' by Thomas Hardy.
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
— 'The Darkling Thrush' by Thomas Hardy.
Reposted by Gillian Bailey
Episode #157 our Christmas Cracker night recording went live today... enjoy.
December 19, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Episode #157 our Christmas Cracker night recording went live today... enjoy.
Enjoying a hot chocolate while waiting for the bus in Grasmere today, and this little lad just stood posing for his closeup!
December 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Enjoying a hot chocolate while waiting for the bus in Grasmere today, and this little lad just stood posing for his closeup!
…When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.”
—T.S. Eliot
2/2
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.”
—T.S. Eliot
2/2
November 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
…When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.”
—T.S. Eliot
2/2
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.”
—T.S. Eliot
2/2
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate…
1/2
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate…
1/2
November 20, 2025 at 7:20 PM
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate…
1/2
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate…
1/2
“Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o'clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without.”
— Thomas de Quincey
— Thomas de Quincey
October 30, 2025 at 9:28 AM
“Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o'clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without.”
— Thomas de Quincey
— Thomas de Quincey
Saturday wanderings in Rydal.
October 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Saturday wanderings in Rydal.
“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day!
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree…”
— Emily Brontë
Lengthen night and shorten day!
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree…”
— Emily Brontë
October 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day!
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree…”
— Emily Brontë
Lengthen night and shorten day!
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree…”
— Emily Brontë
Mood:
“Then summer fades and passes, and October comes. Will smell smoke then, and feel an unsuspected sharpness, a thrill of nervous, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure.”
— Thomas Wolfe
“Then summer fades and passes, and October comes. Will smell smoke then, and feel an unsuspected sharpness, a thrill of nervous, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure.”
— Thomas Wolfe
October 16, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Mood:
“Then summer fades and passes, and October comes. Will smell smoke then, and feel an unsuspected sharpness, a thrill of nervous, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure.”
— Thomas Wolfe
“Then summer fades and passes, and October comes. Will smell smoke then, and feel an unsuspected sharpness, a thrill of nervous, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure.”
— Thomas Wolfe
Reposted by Gillian Bailey
A library heals with stories, soothing restless thought.
Its shelves prescribe wisdom that can’t be bought.
Each book a remedy, gentle or bold,
A hospital for the mind, where spirits unfold.
Its shelves prescribe wisdom that can’t be bought.
Each book a remedy, gentle or bold,
A hospital for the mind, where spirits unfold.
September 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
A library heals with stories, soothing restless thought.
Its shelves prescribe wisdom that can’t be bought.
Each book a remedy, gentle or bold,
A hospital for the mind, where spirits unfold.
Its shelves prescribe wisdom that can’t be bought.
Each book a remedy, gentle or bold,
A hospital for the mind, where spirits unfold.
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.”
— George Gordon Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
#forreadingaddicts
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.”
— George Gordon Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
#forreadingaddicts
May 8, 2025 at 7:43 PM
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.”
— George Gordon Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
#forreadingaddicts
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.”
— George Gordon Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
#forreadingaddicts
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
April 20, 2025 at 6:53 AM
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Reposted by Gillian Bailey
I'm thinking about how tonight was probably the first time Kilmar Abrego Garcia learned that millions of people care about him - the first time he learned that the United States Supreme Court ruled 9-0 to bring him home. I'm thinking what it must mean for him to know, right now, that he isn't alone.
April 18, 2025 at 4:34 AM
I'm thinking about how tonight was probably the first time Kilmar Abrego Garcia learned that millions of people care about him - the first time he learned that the United States Supreme Court ruled 9-0 to bring him home. I'm thinking what it must mean for him to know, right now, that he isn't alone.
The video I didn’t know I needed today. ❤️ Frogzwilliam Darcy! 🐸
51K views · 4K reactions | Get ready with Frog - Pride & Prejudice edition! 🐸❤️ I'm pleased to introduce you to Frogzwilliam Darcy ✨ I'm giddily delighted with how this outfit turned out, there's just...
Get ready with Frog - Pride & Prejudice edition! 🐸❤️ I'm pleased to introduce you to Frogzwilliam Darcy ✨ I'm giddily delighted with how this outfit turned out, there's just something about Frog's...
www.facebook.com
April 12, 2025 at 10:26 PM
The video I didn’t know I needed today. ❤️ Frogzwilliam Darcy! 🐸
Even Doctor Who wants to go to the Lake District! “We can eat scones”. 😋
April 8, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Even Doctor Who wants to go to the Lake District! “We can eat scones”. 😋
Brilliant!
University of Cumbria hosts Wordsworth Way walking trail launch | University of Cumbria News
In time for the Easter weekend, the new Wordsworth Way walking trail launch took place on the University of Cumbria Ambleside campus on Monday 7 April 2025.
news.cumbria.ac.uk
April 8, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Brilliant!
…”The rest of us must make it clear — to our fellow Americans, as to the remainder of the free world — that we believe in democracy, that we appreciate Zelensky’s courage and tenacity, and that Trump and Vance do not speak for us”
Today's disgusting scene
Friends,
open.substack.com
March 1, 2025 at 12:30 AM
…”The rest of us must make it clear — to our fellow Americans, as to the remainder of the free world — that we believe in democracy, that we appreciate Zelensky’s courage and tenacity, and that Trump and Vance do not speak for us”