Graham Jones
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oldmanrambling.bsky.social
Graham Jones
@oldmanrambling.bsky.social
2.8K followers 2.2K following 11K posts
Retired journalist from Liverpool, married for 57 years to Janet, now living in Surrey. Left-wing jazz fan and Humanist. No fascists, god botherers or anti-LGBTQ. No DMs. I won’t reply and may block. No requests for cash. Supports 🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈⚧️
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oldmanrambling.bsky.social
Graham Jones @oldmanrambling.bsky.social · Aug 10
#InsectsOfBluesky
If you build it they will come. OK, I didn’t so much build this bee hotel as buy it from John Lewis and stuck it up on a post near our Sunflowers, Cosmos and other insect-friendly flowers and waited … Today my patience was rewarded.
Reposted by Graham Jones
davemeredith.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #HeadShots. A male Common Kingfisher for @alan678.bsky.social

#EastCoastKin #PhotoHour #birds #birdphotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #photography
November 27, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Graham Jones
chrisgdwyer.bsky.social
The tragic Hong Kong fire is still burning, yet 3 construction company executives have been arrested. Here in the UK, 8 years on from Grenfell - zero arrests.
November 27, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Graham Jones
rickmartin.bsky.social
A cinnabar moth 🌱🦋

#InsectThursday #BugSky #Inverts #EastCoastKin #ThrowbackThursday
A red and black moth
November 27, 2025 at 3:17 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
#PalacesAndGardens #people
Another visit to Emmetts National Trust Garden in Kent but at the other end of the year as volunteer gardeners prepare a bed in the rose garden around the water feature on a cold but bright November day.
#EastCoastKin #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBluesky
Three gardeners work on a rosebed around a small circular pond with a pillar that bears a small cherub statue. They have just refreshed the border with mulch and are cleaning up. On the left foreground is a green wheelbarrow and another stands on the paved pathway near a white gate leading from the rose garden, which is one of the many features at Emmetts Garden National Trust in Kent near Westerham. Beyond the garden’s nearly clipped hedge there are distant views of hills with a blue slightly cloudy sky. Some trees in the garden can also be seen, including a large conifer to the left.
November 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/protectt...
New report shows convictions for wildlife crime offences are at a record low
A report by a coalition of charities reveals that only a tiny fraction of reported wildlife crimes lead to a prosecution
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:33 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
#insectThursday #photography #AlphabetChallenge #WeekVforVowels
#EastCoastKin
A Cardinal Beetle hangs from a grass seed head. I bet Sheena is doubting its credentials but it is a member of the Ambrosia beetle family - the kind that live in symbiosis with ambrosia fungus.
A bright red Cardinal beetle uses its stick-like legs to hang from the thin stalk of a grass, which carries several purple-coloured seed heads. The background is blurred green.
November 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/european...
Forest City: The Ideological Coalition That Should Never Exist
Behind the glossy green washing brochures of 'Forest Cities' lies a libertarian charter cities pattern the MSM is blindly embracing and refusing to investigate.
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:31 AM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
Here’s my daily ration for #HolidayRobin Isn’t he grand?
#Birds #EnglishGardening #photography #EastCoastKin #naturephotography
A Robin redbreast stands on newly turned over soil in the garden on the look out for grubs and worms.
November 27, 2025 at 10:41 AM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
The annual Spring pilgrimage to one of the local bluebell woods at Emmetts Gardens in Kent run by @nationaltrust.org.uk an English charity. There is also a lovely big tree for #NationalTreeWeek
#PalacesAndGardens #People #Spring #Bluebells #EnglishGardens
#PhotographersOfBluesky
#EastCoastKin
On a beautifully sunny May day, visitors walk down a dusty path next to banks of English bluebells, growing among trees yet to get their leaf cover. One tree on the left has already started to get its light green Spring foliage. Some people stop to take photographs while others chat. The large pine tree in the foreground provides dappled shade. Its long branches reach out across the paths.
November 27, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Graham Jones
lizziewallis.bsky.social
#HolidayRobin
Waiting for an otter to show, this Robin was displaying nearby.
It's one of my first "proper" images and demonstrated to my other "superb wildlife 'tographer" half, that I had finally learnt that the background is as important as the subject.🤣
#ukbirds
#birds
#EastCoastKin
A lichen covered branch runs horizontally across the lower part of the image. A small brown bird sits facing right, tail cocked in display. The bird has brown back and red breast. The background is diffused blue and beige.
November 26, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Graham Jones
shadowdogdesigns.bsky.social
Voyager 1 is almost one light-day from Earth. The intrepid #spacecraft will cross a major distance milestone in November 2026 - 16.1 billion miles. #Voyager1 #lightday

Link for more information: www.popsci.com/science/voya...
Voyager 1 is almost one light-day from Earth. The intrepid #spacecraft will cross a major distance milestone in November 2026 - 16.1 billion miles. #Voyager1 #lightday Link for more information: https://www.popsci.com/science/voyager-one-light-day-earth/
November 25, 2025 at 11:39 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/palestin...
After Israel killed her five sons in Gaza, this 60-year-old is now raising 36 grandchildren amid brutal siege
“I remember our home and all the memories I had there with my mum and dad, in their room. And now it’s gone.”
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Graham Jones
thegardenjungle.bsky.social
Finally got around to setting up my new phone yesterday evening, an iPhone16 Plus. Took this whilst out with the dog on this frosty Shropshire morning, not a bad picture for the first one on this new device #thegardenjungle #Shropshire #Landscape #Sunrise
November 26, 2025 at 8:37 AM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
It’s getting near that time of year. Plenty of Robins on my feed and now this. Holly berries. I think I’m going soft in my old age. It’ll be snow globes next.
#ColorADay #RedWed #Macro #PhotographersOfBluesky
#Photohour #EastCoastKin
A bunch of red Holly berries with a raindrop hanging beneath one, reflecting the garden hedge behind. Some green leaves are visible to the right.
November 26, 2025 at 4:27 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
It’s #NationalTreeWeek in the UK so I am posting a favourite tree each day. Today it is the tall Poplar that stands beside the town library and was partly in shade but the top was burnished copper/coloured by the sun against a blue sky. There’s a bonus tree, too.
#EastCoastKin
#PhotographersUnited
A tall Poplar stands partly in sun against a blue sky. The foreground is in dark shadow. Another tree with autumn leaves can be seen across the road in a front garden by a house, part of which can also be glimpsed.
November 26, 2025 at 3:49 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
Getting to the end of the season now and there was another hard frost last night so this might be the last #RoseWednesday without dipping into the archive.
#BloomScrolling #photography #Icy
#AlphabetChallenge #WeekVforVowels
The petals of a pink Scarborough Fair rose covered in hoar frost after overnight temperatures dipped to -3°C.
November 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
I don’t really approve of slave labour and the conditions these poor little chaps have to work in are deplorable. Every year they hammer away in the window of the town sport shop before Christmas, in full view of the public. In short - outrageous.
#WindowsOnWednesday
#WackyWednesdayArt
#EastCoastKin
A set of animated elves work on making various items of sport equipment in the window of a town centre shop. The high street buildings are reflected in the window along with parked cars and some blue sky.
November 26, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Graham Jones
zackpolanski.bsky.social
The 50 wealthiest families own more wealth than the bottom 50% of the population.

How can this Labour Government say this is a "cost of living" budget and refuse to tax the rich?

They care about protecting power and wealth. And cost of living is a buzz phrase for them. Dire.
November 26, 2025 at 12:16 PM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
The #BirdOfTheDay theme today as set by @alan678.bsky.social is #OnTheEdge, any bird at the edge of a body of water. These chaps at Titchwell RSPB a few years back were certainly on the edge of the lake. I was after the Avocet but the neighbours were a bonus.
An Avocet stands on a small rock at the edge of the water as other waders, possibly Oystercatchers, stand slightly behind by the water’s edge.
November 26, 2025 at 11:58 AM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
#AlphabetChallenge
#WeekVforVowels
Inside story. This is one of my first efforts with my new macro lens. I’ll get the hang of it eventually. Maybe. Can you see what it is yet?
*Answer in alt text.

#EastCoastKin #Macro #PhotographersOfBluesky
The centre of a tulip flower captured using a macro lens attached to my iPhone15 Pro. The surrounding pink leaves provides a kind of sheltering glow of protection for the soft centre of the bloom.
November 26, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Graham Jones
martintravis.bsky.social
Every time I spot a robin, I feel compelled, for random superstitious purposes, to say "Hello, Captain Underpants".

This is normally fine, but can prove somewhat embarrassing If I spot one out of the window, when on a busy bus! 👀🫣🤣
November 26, 2025 at 9:04 AM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
I took so many pictures of my garden assistant yesterday that I shall be sharing them for some time but for today I shall limit it to one #HolidayRobin You’re welcome.
#Birds #EnglishGardening #photography #EastCoastKin #naturephotography
A Robin perches on the edge of a garden wall next to some green moss. The background is of some grit and spent compost from a planter I had emptied on to a border. There are also ground elder leaves, which I later removed. They are a menace.
November 26, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Graham Jones
merisi-vienna.bsky.social
Good Morning from Vienna!

IM KAFFEEHAUS
Coffee House Reader
Café Museum
Operngasse corner Friedrichstrasse
Inner City, First District
Image © by Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography #Coffee
#Kaffeehaus #Cafe #ImKaffeehaus
#BlueBrew #SusanCushing @sdcushing.bsky.social
www.cafemuseum.at
A young man with a Breton cap sitting on an upholstered bench - a coffee table in front of him, with a cup of coffee, reading glasses and a small vase with flowers - and reading.
November 26, 2025 at 7:41 AM
oldmanrambling.bsky.social
#Football
#Names
Reading the running commentary on tonight’s European football matches I was stopped short by this little gem. At first I thought I’d discovered a misprint or at least an attempt to lighten the mood with a reference to a puppet double act. But, no, Poku and Doku it is.
A report of a football game includes the passage: Man City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen Michael Brown Former Man City midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at the Etihad Too comfortable. City try to put it down the right-hand side but Poku just headed it down and Doku couldn't get close. An aggressive press from Leverkusen.
November 25, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Graham Jones
bloodraynes.bsky.social
Morning #BlueSky ☕️ Taken yesterday a few minutes from where l live here in Ireland. Have a gorgeous day friends ☺️ #EastCoastKin #Ireland
#Photography #Nature #Trees #NaturePhotography #Rivers #PhotographyOfBlueSky #Autumn
#ThickTrunkTuesday #ColorADay #CyanTue #PhotographersOfBlueSky
#Clouds
Our photograph centers on a large, solitary tree standing on the far bank of a calm river near my home here in Ireland. The tree dominates the scene, tall, wide, and commanding, like an ancient sentinel rooted in place. It is completely bare of leaves, its branches spreading outward in a maze of thin, twisting lines that resemble veins against the sky. The trunk is thick and sturdy, but what makes it striking is the heavy growth of ivy or climbing vines wrapped around it. These vines spiral upward and cling to the tree’s body, giving it a textured, almost creature like form, part tree, part shadowy silhouette. The branches reach out in all directions, some drooping and some stretching toward the heavens, creating a dramatic, skeletal shape. With no foliage to soften it, the tree appears both vulnerable and powerful: a living structure carved out of winter. Behind it, the sky is filled with swirling clouds painted in shades of lavender, soft pink, muted purple, and touches of dusky blue. The clouds catch the fading light, giving the whole scene a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere, almost as if dusk is sliding into night, or a storm has just passed. Across the horizon, behind the tree, a line of low houses is visible in the distance, tiny and ordinary compared to the imposing presence of the tree. There is also a single telephone pole off to the left, but nothing draws the eye away from the tree at the center. In the foreground, the river reflects the sky’s purples and blues. The water is smooth with gentle ripples, making the surface shimmer like brushed metal. The overall mood feels quiet, slightly melancholic, and deeply atmospheric, anchored by the striking silhouette of the lone, leafless tree. Finally, our picture today is finished off with a simple white border frame.
November 25, 2025 at 9:47 AM