Yvan

https://toot.ale.gd/@yvan

Allotmenter, cooker, fermenter, tinkerer ("maker"?), hacker of things and code. Posts will ebb and flow between all these and more.

Generalist sorta Computer Scientist / "Software Engineer" to pay the rent (spanning from C/C++ systems/networking to Python/PHP web malarkey.) Linux user since ~1998. GenAI/LLM critical, yet must admit I do use it in both work and non-work contexts (esp now web search is useless) — conflicted.

Grew up in South West Australia, on Wadandi Noongar land, but currently lives in England's West Norfolk Fenlands… due to the oddness of life 🤷🏻‍♂️ … now somewhat anchored by an #allotment 🌱🍅🍆🌽🥔🥕🧄🫑

This is /var/log/yvan — I am here mainly for myself, for my own record.

CW: Yvan can be bit sweary (he speaks En.Au), he is haphazard with CWs, and does his best with ALTs as time & energy permit. He has a strong tendancy towards pessimistic nihilism.

Ally 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸🇺🇦

*For follows please have an avatar, bio text, and... y'know... maybe some actual posts.*

#noindex #nobot

Geolocation: Norfolk Fens, England — vaguely like USDA 8b
Website: https://yvan.seth.id.au
Allotment: https://www.youtube.com/@AllotmentPostcards
Pronouns: he/him they/them whatever, don't mind

Public Key

npub13t8xasqr2n9ke0py3dj6gcxxmt9gcd0p85392z38lhahgd2nh5kqw72ksn

NIP-05 Address

yvan_at_toot.ale.gd@momostr.pink

Profile Code

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Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub13t8xasqr2n9ke0py3dj6gcxxmt9gcd0p85392z38lhahgd2nh5kqw72ksn

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Published at

2026-09-10T07:45:03Z

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Event JSON

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Last Notes

2026-08-22 19:59:44 UTC

"Cheat night" dinner is a massive bowl of *fettuccine alla marinara*.
Using some of our 2025 season #allotment passata, plus our own garlic, basil, and tomatoes. This also includes our first ever "gororong" chilli from the greenhouse at home — which is a fruity and quite spicy number, I like it.
Now we are watching The Don pottering around potagers in France via utoob whilst eating.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/140/880/320/467/622/original/43b4f6f2433223fd.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/140/901/269/498/061/original/6949db4432f89f7e.jpg

2026-08-14 20:27:46 UTC

Fucksake, that "emergency" alert just went off again on the same phone.
I have now disabled emergency alerts entirely.

2026-08-08 19:57:31 UTC

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Sticking these in was worse than the soldering. But we seem to be there.
It is a pity this wasn't designed to blink a LED out of the box, some sort of heartbeat.
I have found one of my FTDI connectors even.
I turned it on.
Stuff came out.
Hurrah? I have a working @npub14su…09w8 ... maybe...
Seems to be some issues, maybe its my old FTDI, I should seek out the newer one. On reset it spits junk out, and then often this prompt, but I have no keyboard input for some reason.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/061/646/865/722/586/original/6be6b0b2d13cb748.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/061/646/888/359/737/original/1f5dd664951d6971.jpg

2026-08-08 19:05:04 UTC

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Done... (well, we will see what happens when I put the ICs in and give it the juice)
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/061/445/423/630/127/original/036b37946e1bc4c8.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/061/445/445/534/814/original/3d2a77f2a99d05ea.jpg

2026-08-08 17:10:03 UTC

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The cat was a practice run to get my hand back into the game.
Now for the real project.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/060/992/546/534/156/original/92b9250efab7a042.jpg

2026-08-08 15:49:48 UTC

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The cat's guts...
The instructions said to do 10-12 winding on the ferrite, but with the tiny ferrite and the rather chunky wire 9 was the max I could fit. The wire was clearly out of some ethernet cable, which seemed non-ideal. But it works.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/060/668/679/919/490/original/b597df3dfb739210.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/060/670/469/979/281/original/adae30eb5bbff5db.jpg

2026-08-08 15:47:02 UTC

I made a cat (for #Caturday?)
A bit of post-#EMFCamp fun. The cat uses a joule thief circuit, and is currently running on a "dead" 1.1V AA battery. It doesn't seem to run so well on a 0.6V one, just flashes.
The kit is from [Tilde.industries](https://tilde.industries/) and was purchased at the #NullSector NightMarket.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/117/060/647/759/882/763/original/b08da13947e61a7d.jpg

2026-08-02 18:20:32 UTC

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Great ideas. I struggle to deal with people in situations like this is likely an issue, not sure how I would handle a "car boot" scenario.
I am not super attached to the money value of stuff, my attachments are more psychological.
I do really need to seriously downsize and de-complicate my life. I reckon I probably want out of the UK in about 3 years. I have no idea how to go from now to achieving that though. 😂
Invest some of next year's annuals leave towards this perhaps (I have used all of this year's to go home).

2026-08-02 17:44:47 UTC

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I want a service that just takes everything away.
Sort of like a massive house fire. Just less destructive and polluting.
Where do you even start on getting rid of all the stuff? Why is there so much stuff? Why am I so attached to so much of it. A hard part is that "things" have a perceived value, this makes it hard to simply throw them in a skip. But, realistically, in a skip is where they belong, in a skip is where they will go when I die. I am really not a very good nihilist if I cannot just... let go of the stuff.
I need a blank slate.
It would be nice to reach the weekend and just not have things to worry about. Embrace hedonism, become laziness. (As opposed to doing a bunch of stuff, yet feeling like a useless lazy bastard anyway.)

2026-08-02 17:29:54 UTC

What is this crippling anxiety gnawing away at my core and making me nearly unable to function?
Why am I fighting to pedal uphill where there isn't actually a hill?
Oh, right. It is Sunday evening.
The TODO list is barely scratched. The productivity has been insufficient. The things are not done. The things are lined up in front of me, glaring, accusation in their eyes. I am crushed by the weight of it all. But this is just a regular part of the metamorphosis between dysfunctional weekend Yvan and functional human weekday Yvan. The price paid for the energy deficit.

2026-08-01 10:29:49 UTC

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Though the fact is these days I go to a cinema about once per year. So it is a bit by the by.
The slightly bigger screens at Wisbech are being used for Spiderman... I am guessing The Odyssey is a bit too highbrow for the Wisbech demographic, especially combining that with it being 15+.
Cambridge or Peterborough do have it on "IMAX" (the digital type) screens, but they're a bit of a trek. Prob like 2.25-2.5 hours total in car to do Cambridge. (Pboro is slightly closer, but fuck that.)
I have read a lot about the flaws (aka creative narrative decisions) of this Odyssey, but I am attracted mainly by what I have read about the cinematography and effects. If that is my main attraction then am I better off in a tiny cinema, or just waiting until I can play it at home on a (true) 1080p projector? (~effective 2.3m diagnonal screen size at 2.5m viewing distance, but also pretty basic stereo sound with sub, hard to beat even a basic proper cinema for that surround sound intensity).
#cinema

2026-07-26 14:05:04 UTC

It is a whole week since the last day of #EMFCamp and I finally have my #spaceagon actually talking to wifi again (since 2024 lol), updated, keyboard enabled, and otherwise #hexpansion populated. A couple of nice simple blingy new ones added this year, plus a couple of these "bender hats" from 2024 (one modified with a broken rainbow hat I found on the ground and repaired to wire in — just had to resolder this one and get it working again!)
I do wish I had had time to hunt down some more hexpansions. (I had a vague plan to actually make my own LoRa one for 2026, but that met up against reality and is still some parts sat on my desk lol.)
I wish I had sought out a few more hexpansions, especially some of the more functional ones. Maybe 2028!
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/986/642/137/779/532/original/0d3ece2c68deb178.jpg

2026-07-25 23:43:10 UTC

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(I am so out of touch with modern software lol 👴 )

2026-07-25 23:42:14 UTC

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The second turn-of is: why the ABSOLUTE *FUCK* is your fancy text editor over a fucking *GIGABYTE* download. WTF people.

2026-07-25 23:39:42 UTC

How to really turn me off your fancy text editor... *"PyCharm goes AI! Less routine, more coding joy. All refined JetBrains AI tools ‒ right in your IDE, for free."*

2026-07-25 11:01:19 UTC

I met someone at #EMFCamp who had RFID embedded in her hand, including one that lit up. Super awesome IMO. (This is not news to me, just the first time I have seen it in person per se, in-a-person?)
I kinda want this.
What's the best way to go about that in the UK?
I gather there is also some way to embed payment NFC too.

2026-07-22 08:07:40 UTC

LOL, just did my first "Wednesday morning weigh-in" after skipping a week... EMFCamp was a "week off" my very strict food/exercise schedule, I expected eating and drinking at EMF to at best plateau me, or maybe yield slight weight gain.
Well, turns out I lost 2.2kg across the 2 week timeframe.
The reality at EMF was I skipped many meals, probably barely drunk about 6 pints across the whole thing, walked a LOT, and did a lot of other activity, it was all pretty active for a lot of the time, across very long days with little sleep. So turns out it was more work-camp than hedonistic-glamping.
(So I was operating at circa 1000 kcal deficit per day... which explains some level of exhaustion/downtime... and may have also explained some level of terseness & bluntness on my part at times, apologies if you copped any of that lol... I have a lot of practice at being human, but it can disintegrate in such conditions.)
Goal for 2028: more of the hedonistic glamping, less of the work-camping. 😆

2026-07-21 15:59:16 UTC

So, as a former fairly heavy user of Google Sheets - often with multiple editors active at a time - my early impressions of the Excel "365" equivalent is that it is utter absolutely not fit for purpose garbage. It's completely fucking unstable.

2026-07-19 17:21:43 UTC

Not much of a daytime happy hardcore crowd at EMF I guess... 😅
Beanbags instead of jumping, coz the knees are gone.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/947/783/112/286/191/original/e8640517ec99aeb7.jpg

2026-07-17 21:07:22 UTC

Fire is happening next to the nullsector lake.
#EMFCamp
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/937/355/318/266/915/original/e2fa5113955d1cb3.jpg

2026-07-16 19:23:31 UTC

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> Q1 Tell us who you are and what you’ve been doing these last couple of weeks. > [> #> MakersHour](https://toot.ale.gd/tags/MakersHour )
Mainly I have been preparing for #EMFCamp. Having been here since Sunday to help with setup in the bar team, so I have been reliving my old beer dispense technician & cellarperson life. But its kinda nice to do it "just for fun".
Not so much "making" maybe, though I dod modify my #tildagon bumper design to hopefully fit this years new badge face (TBC).
That said, EMF facilitates the "making" of many people, and I get to enjoy their many fruits of their labours.
@npub1q3r…v6fy
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/931/281/347/120/765/original/b256efbad9174de5.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/931/281/409/444/674/original/57f8fff594369821.jpg

2026-07-12 12:34:15 UTC

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Very important final items time! 🐔🧂
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/907/023/256/545/352/original/3b12b9ac8ddd6c63.jpg

2026-07-12 12:30:56 UTC

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#EMFCamp car loading status: just spent 30 minutes hunting for my soldering iron.
Dear reader, said soldering iron was already in the car, in the correct toolbox. (But just not with its wallet of other bits which were not in the toolbox.)

2026-07-12 08:56:26 UTC

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Is 25kg of lumpwood charcoal enough charcoal?
Maybe I should squeeze in a bag of briquettes as well, just in case...
#EMFCamp

2026-07-12 08:10:23 UTC

Do I really need my bench top power supply?
Well, there's this space in my electrical tools box... and it fits.
Never know... 😂
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/905/939/902/184/874/original/f060f9aebc648a2b.jpg

2026-07-11 09:42:17 UTC

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60 on motorways according to this link, makes sense I think: https://towing-solutions.co.uk/news/what-are-the-rules-when-towing-a-trailer/
You can do 70 in a van on a motorway, but I always found 60 more comfortable anyway.

2026-07-11 09:40:07 UTC

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I assume think it is similar rules to driving vans, which I always stuck to anyway, and TBH are a good default for car driving anyway. Max 50 on single carriageway, 60 on dual... not sure if 70 is permitted on motorways or not? [@greg_harvey](https://tooting.ch/@greg_harvey )

2026-07-11 09:17:22 UTC

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I think you need to be well over 18 to even understand this image 😆 might flag it though

2026-07-11 09:16:17 UTC

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a local farmer friend offered me a trailer and he's already moved it to a spot near my stuff on his property (I store stuff there). But it is just a metal frame with no sides or base & rotten tyres. I'd need to weld some new sections into a couple of places in the frame. The wheels need replacing, I think the wheel mounts/suspension are suspect, and I doubt I can get the hitch working so would want to bolt/weld on a new one. So basically after all that... I think I am better off buying one that works and suggesting to the farmer that maybe this one belongs on the scrap metal pile. 😆
I looked up UK trailer regs and... they're incredibly basic/simple/lenient lol. I've never towed in the UK (my license does allow it), but I used to back home, including a 2-3 tonne "firefighter" unit ... albeit, this was a very long time ago. But I suspect it's a bit like riding a bike... lol.

2026-07-11 09:03:02 UTC

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yeah, that was the attraction of having the tow hitch... get a nice little trailer for carting the odd extra bit around, especially the free council compost! Just not got around to it yet.

2026-07-11 08:54:20 UTC

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I was browsing local listings for folks selling trailers yesterday 😅

2026-07-11 08:53:42 UTC

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for capacity & shape I'd have preferred an earlier V70, albeit maybe not the the fuel economy - which is bad enough in this as it is! They went a little bit "bubble car" aesthetic in the 2000s, too many curves.
Thankfully got it through its recent MOT, it needs some more work in places but I'm not starting that until I find the time to get the VW Fox back on the road.

2026-07-11 08:36:18 UTC

Right. The old V70 is ready for #EMFCamp loading...
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/900/423/523/839/081/original/9fd274cbed9227eb.jpg

2026-07-06 09:12:30 UTC

Right, what DECT phones should we get for #EMFCamp... the Gigaset A170H seems to be the most obvious low-hanging-fruit option. I'd kinda like something more slimline, but I am unsure of the options and don't want to spend >£100 on a pair (I mean, lower the better and and, and I was considering some 2nd hand options from eBay but I just want cheap/quick/reliable do getting a new A170 Duo set seems the obvious call.)
I am assuming getting the two handsets from a "duo" set would be able to connect to the network as independent handsets/endpoints?

2026-07-05 18:55:26 UTC

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The negative is that the three way watering timer I bought to control this whilst we are away is too restrictive to flow. Despite the IBC delivering a pretty strong flow of water out of this tap, through the timer it is but a dribble. It seems to limit pressure as well as flow as the closer soaker hose connected via this didn't bead any moisture at all.
So... not sure how to tackle this. Buy a different brand and hope it works better?
Part of me is thinking: take this one apart, and wire full bore solenoids in to replace whatever shitty tiny solenoids it has inside it. May need to go via a relay for higher voltage. This is the better solution simply becuase I plan to buy those parts to control the system via a microcontroller anyway.
But ... time? I was hoping to have this working before EMF week. This time next week we will be on-site already, so... not really sure how to tackle this.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/868/883/189/616/365/original/225e9f607c61bca2.jpg

2026-07-05 18:49:29 UTC

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On the plus side, got all the #allotment greenhouse and polytunnel beds looped with the soaker hose. And with even a thin crappy hose all the way from the IBC to the greenhouse proved this delivers plenty of pressure to work the hose.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/868/864/458/318/384/original/c3251568949b03cc.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/868/864/532/403/234/original/6106c2c477946ebf.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/868/864/595/616/343/original/1511cd89a6caaf3b.jpg

2026-07-05 18:38:38 UTC

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Allotment trip did happen and went about as well as you might expect.
Meaning I spent too long there, didn't get home until past 7pm, and am now rushing to make yesterday's delayed dinner, with probably no hope of the planned 21.30 bed time. 🙄

2026-07-05 12:51:25 UTC

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This all started with turning 4 litres of leftover milk from work into ricotta, yielding about 800g ricotta.
Oven on for this to hold it at ~80°C for ~20 mins before straining out the curds.
Since the oven was on... figured I should use up leftover gingerbread dough in the fridge that has been getting in the way for something like 2 months. Thus the dicks!
(I'll try and catch up on ALTs later, maybe, but wjat we have here is a photo of milk on a stove with a clear liquid about to be tipped into it, a photo of the milk curdled in the same pan, then the pan in the oven, then a strainer of strained curds in muslin.)
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/867/446/102/728/305/original/aae8ffff62158115.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/867/446/157/879/569/original/1a9aee2096d84d0e.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/867/446/212/586/227/original/2624b3e7f37db6f6.jpg
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2026-07-05 12:46:38 UTC

Phew! What happend to Sunday morning?
I got started on one thing (making ricotta) and... since the oven was on... have ended up with a pile of gingerbread dicks, and a cake in the oven. Now it is mearly 2pm, and somehow the kitchen is slightly tidier than it was before I started (mainly because the kitchen was fucking atrocious to start with.)
Time for a sit-down.
Might eat a dick.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/867/433/530/525/116/original/c642db8977c72521.jpg

2026-07-02 09:00:29 UTC

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"life coaching" — a totally unregulated area which is mainly a scam feeding off of vulnerably stressed out and anxious people... IDK, maybe some folks get something out of it. Mostly it's just confidence scam trickery IMO.
Stupid headline, stupid "news", generally ridiculous all round.
Paying for Tesco value meals is why other millenials don't own homes. Obviously. (And avodados, lattes, etc of course.)

2026-06-30 10:06:54 UTC

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I think the problem with the longitudinally split pole is even with gorilla tape the force to slide apart rather than bend is likely to be strong enough to cause slippage, further split propagation, and possible eventual complete failure, plus higher bend radius at the fix. In our case too much tape would also cause us a problem as the bit of pole has to fit through a sleeve of material.
However I reckon it would surely hold for a while at least. We've used this split one at least a couple of times without any mending, it just kinda changes the shape of the tent a bit. (And gradually gets worse.)
Also going to depend on the pole thickness and the radius it needs to bend through, what amount of force is involved. For our poles on a fairly big tent the force is relatively high.

2026-06-29 19:10:03 UTC

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I am considering this at the moment: https://www.tentspares.co.uk/products/universal-11mm-tough-durable-fiberglass-pole-section-with-ferrule
I measure this pole at 10.7-10.8mm outer dia, which is maybe "close enough"... actually just measured and there is more variance than that inc >11mm so worth a try I think.

2026-06-29 18:36:25 UTC

A bit last minute ahead of #EMFCamp — any thoughts on how best to repair a tent pole split like this? Will a glue hold? What glue?
This is for our Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 XL... it kinda sorta works with the split pole in a very misshapen way, as the pole bends more severely at the split section.
#repair #tent maybe adjacent to #makershour types!
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/834/836/699/496/847/original/d25ef303fcfc1a36.jpg

2026-06-28 21:08:10 UTC

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we couldn't water peas fast enough to keep them alive. The earlier heatwave & dry followed by some big rains knocked a lot of garlic out, but it was still havestable, it kinda destroyed our shallot crop.
We seem to have some tomato issues we haven't had before, a little concerned by that but hopefully most plants pull through.
But we soldier on! With what time & resources we can muster.

2026-06-28 20:33:25 UTC

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Remembered to stop and look at the flowers.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/829/633/198/321/230/original/0a769dc1b89e5861.jpg

2026-06-28 20:31:20 UTC

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Harvested some raspberries.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/829/629/843/122/905/original/f08bbddb197a521a.jpg

2026-06-28 20:19:07 UTC

Phew... well, today didn't go as planned so much 😅
Got down the allotment before 1pm, ostensibly to drop Kat off so she can just do some plant feeding/watering. But I didn't want to leave. So didn't leave until 6pm. Oops.
But Stuff Got Done™️
In the polytunnel replaced two dead tomatoes with fresh(ish) seedlings, also finally planted out long overdue melons and watermelons... maybe they'll do something, maybe they won't.
(Sorry, not got any decent alt text in me right now.)
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/829/537/828/054/111/original/ffe84d595b0c2143.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/829/537/899/125/910/original/58ebcd6930a9b281.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/829/537/952/135/354/original/81b4ab29781ff285.jpg

2026-06-28 09:54:18 UTC

To think... 🤔 ...back in the days of Captain Planet we knew things were fucked up already, I mean, that's kinda the whole vibe of that cartoon. And not just Captain Planet, but I recall a 90s redolent with environmental messaging... back growing up in Western Australia at any rate, I cannot speak for the rest of the world. Songs like Rip Rip Woodchip are burnt into my subconscious.
Yet... my generation grew up and... just continued to fuck things up. 🤷🏻‍♂️
The harvest we reap from sowing the planet with poison is not going to be a pretty one.
@npub16mu…nkly https://mastodon.world/@ombialik/116826202120969246

2026-06-27 17:42:00 UTC

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The Elegoo default sample print seems to be this little Buddha, a bit odd, but then again so is a weird little boat I guess.
The bench this printer is on wobbles alarmingly whilst it prints. I may need to build something more stable. The prints seem to be OK regardless, though there is a little interlayer glitchiness that could be caused by the wobble perhaps.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/823/299/242/690/554/original/d7ad7e80b5a2e794.jpg

2026-06-27 16:34:13 UTC

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And lo!
The space it is fillled.
What I didn't realise is I'd have to pull the whole table out from the wall about 250mm as it "slings" the bed right back! Obvious in retrospect. I may need to adjust my desk setup a bit though to compensate (I sit right next to this bench, my desktop is to the right of the photo.)
Elegoo's default example print seems to be a tiny Buddha, so that is what it is printing out now with the tiny bundle of sample filament.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/823/034/070/271/577/original/ea4b70e774a0e610.jpg

2026-06-27 13:52:35 UTC

The anticipation of a freshly cleared bit of horizontal space.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/822/367/737/567/390/original/613fc45bc861cb4f.jpg

2026-06-24 09:44:18 UTC

#Yodel (/"InPost"?) living up to their usual standards I see.
Despite being given the instruction to deliver to a "porch" the fuckknuckles delivered it to "a bin" in full view of the street (not in the bin at least, wouldn't fit lol.)
"Safe place" my arse.
I only knew about it as the property manager was about and came to tell me. It could have sat there for hours, or been nicked.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/804/433/727/470/958/original/e91357179c0b678b.jpg

2026-06-18 19:12:07 UTC

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the EcoFlow sorta kit is generally only useful for small-scale tinkering IMO... which suits my home-office-solar sort of setup. If I was in a place to be more serious about it I'd probably buy a bunch of Victron kit or similar.

2026-06-18 19:07:56 UTC

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> Q1: Introduce yourself tell us what you have made this week, and if you haven’t made anything what have you been thinking about making? > [> #> MakersHour](https://toot.ale.gd/tags/MakersHour )>
I've "made" the beginnings of a solar setup at home, so I guess that counts for something. Even it all it was was a bit of wiring to connect some 20 year old ex-rooftop solar panels to a EcoFlow box. This is hand-in-hand with my more "IT" makerish pasttimes, as it is peripheral to reconfiguring the home network. All the computers and some other kit like the 3D printer will be on the EcoFlow system - which is basically a UPS on steroids with added solar. This means the small APC UPS has been moved to support the Virgin router and the front WiFI. And things are in place for setting up my new FreeBSD gateway once the box arrives from China and I've paid an arm and a leg for an 8GB SODIMM.
I am thinking about making: 3d printed pattress box extenders, still hoping to do that welded bean frame, and... the list goes on.
@npub1q3r…v6fy

2026-06-14 14:01:07 UTC

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that about sums up how I feel ever weekday 5AM when the alarm goes off. "Oh no, not again."

2026-06-14 10:59:44 UTC

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it is not fantastic!
I'm not great at the old sleep, so getting even less right now. There is little traffic between about 1AM and 5AM at least (and my weekday alarm is 5AM anyway so maybe it won't be so bad, but there may be more earlier traffic on weekdays I guess.)
It'll still be louder for a while after they sweep it, but I am hoping not so loud ... or might have to start closing the window (there is also a window on the other side, but we tend not to open that one as the AirBnB out that side often has smokers in it.)

2026-06-14 10:37:05 UTC

They've "resurfaced" the road outside our place. So it is covered in loose bluemetal. Now the traffic noise is about an order of magnitude louder. 😑
It has been a couple of nights like this, hopefully they'll be sending a sweeper in tomorrow.
(Our bedroom window faces the road, road noise is normally no issue here though.)

2026-06-13 12:42:49 UTC

Cannot see anything on this as to whether or not it is "peat free"
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/742/852/002/280/950/original/19bcbd22609d95fd.jpg

2026-06-12 09:04:41 UTC

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*exterminate! exteerrrrrmiiiinnnnate!!*
The white (bindweed) sends a shiver down the spine of manyh a UK gardener. 😱 The horror.
Interestingly enough it's actually a UK native, people assume it is some sort of exotic, but it belongs here.

2026-06-10 18:14:07 UTC

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had to web search "West Coast Pils" ... sounds a bit like what I'd have called an "India Pale Lager", Siren here in the UK seem to basically say it's a less bitter lower ABV IPL: https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/blogs/news/lets-talk-about-west-coast-pilsner
Anyway - what I love is a Motueka lager/IPL/whatever, so Motueka would be my vote if you can get the stuff.

2026-06-05 18:31:05 UTC

Ah... a weekend? Even after some time I'm still not really used to them, and it is weird being at a beer event and not working. (Only my third beer fest visit in two years.)
I have a Kernel "London Porter". It is in fine condition. Hitchin beer festival has a legacy of great cellaring, and I like to think I played a role in that evolution.
I don't actually drink beer all that much any more, but I still enjoy the stuff. (I don't drink much in general any more, seems sensible after 10 years in the industry, despite my supposed tip top "liver function" 😅)
Also amused to stand here and watch people form a queue at the bar. Why do people do this? 🤔 The smart ones walk straight to the bar and get served quicker.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/698/889/288/558/292/original/c3c22c9a0153fa8d.jpg

2026-06-04 13:16:36 UTC

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AFAIK the bus isn't considered super-reliable and it's a ~20 min walk from a stop in Comberton to the office.
We do have three folks who cycle in from town (2 of them on e-bikes), I think bike ride to the station is under 40 mins.
I am not too familliar with the Cambridge<>Office commute as I, unfortunately, drive down from near Wisbech as a commute. :( [But also don't particularly want to move for the timebeing, so that's on me.]

2026-06-03 13:26:56 UTC

A rare #work post from me, in the theme of #GetFediHired — with the caveat it is #Cambridge (UK) based, just outta town, in a beautiful spot in Comberton (4 days in office, Wednesday WfH and an annual allocation of ad-hoc WfH days.)
Our core work is #Python (#django) with #Typescript (#solidjs) at the front end, there's some #Rust floating about too (but it's not a big part of things).
#Job roles in software, physiotherapy, regulator, and more : [Flok Health Jobs](https://www.flok.health/careers#open-positions )
News: [$12.5m Series A funding round](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/finn-stevenson_startup-ai-healthcare-share-7467893200339288064-zw9V/ )
And for the Fedi audience: It says *AI* a lot, which has its uses... our core tech is not *GenAI* and isn't burning the planet down any more than tech in general. Our stuff just runs on a normal server, no GPUs!
As devs here we are under no pressure to use GenAI tools... though the option is there, with very careful safeguarding. (At core we have a regulated medical device, we do not play dumb "vibe coding" games with this stuff.)
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/686/363/392/275/021/original/1a1c24f8f88a370d.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/686/363/541/976/412/original/c08903e5156351d5.jpg

2026-06-01 08:16:20 UTC

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I like my electrons! With any luck I can have a 12V power supply on the allotment at a cost of very little... (the panel effectively cost me under a fiver, the batteries are from my cars, and the little battery charger/manager is something I had lying around for some years anyway). Next step: automated polytunnel watering (with the soaker hose kit I ordered from First Tunnels last week, plus I'll need to buy some sort of controller, or solenoids... I'm away for a week mid-July so that's my deadline lol.)

2026-06-01 07:36:27 UTC

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2.4 litre petrol, 234 g/km...

2026-06-01 06:38:55 UTC

£445 to tax the old V70 for a year!! FFS... I could buy one for that. 😅
Fix a fucking pothole maybe! (I inow that isnt how it works!)
(Annual pointless rant.)

2026-05-31 11:03:10 UTC

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what glow filament are you using, you'd recommend it? I've not got a glow filament in my collection... yet, but your cheese is inspiring me... 😅

2026-05-30 21:06:58 UTC

Well, looks like I have not one but TWO long-planned #solar projects progressed today.
As well as fiddling with panels for the home-office solar & ordering an EcoFlow unit to connect them so, I've also deployed a solar panel inside the #allotment polytunnel to connect to a couple of car batteries. The cheap solar charger unit I had lying around for this might be a bit knackered though, it was behaving a bit weirdly, but maybe that's because I didn't have a battery connected. (I have ordered battery clamps to get those connected too.)
This panel is kinda facing mostly the wrong way at the moment, and is inside the polytunnel... I'll probably prop it up to face a better angle, but it only has to maintain the batteries which are only going to have some basic microcontroller electronics on them, a few solenoids, and maybe a 12V pump (though I only intend to run the pump daytime when there is sufficient solar supply.)
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/665/544/845/665/386/original/3cab62f2f2d4addb.jpg

2026-05-30 16:19:09 UTC

UK #gardening #allotment #gyo folks - I am looking for a decent sized waterbutt with a wide and easy to remove lid, good for dipping watering cans into.
Where should I buy this from?
I want one a bit like the one shown here (which is so badly cracked I am just not going to bother trying to repair it). The brand on this is "Blackwall", which I haven't been able to find online so far.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/664/428/821/522/024/original/c08eb46484d3beac.jpg

2026-05-30 13:26:58 UTC

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the angle of the sun at this time of year means that the small shrub doesn't actually cast much shadow on the panel. (And the thyme in the pot can of course be moved.)
But hell, if this lot delivers 400W total in good conditions I'll be happy enough, and I expect it'll do better than that... and I have more panels I could lean up elsewhere if I need more.

2026-05-30 12:52:37 UTC

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I present: The Bogalow Solar Array ... made up of 4x ~210W rated Sanyo panels manufactured in 2008.
Managed to find a way to make 4 panels fit.
Finger hovering over buying an EcoFlow Delta 3 Max Plus right now. (Mainly because it has the option to add more battery, the non-Plus doesn't... though also the Max Plus can take up to 1000W panels and there is scope in this space for me to add a few more which might be a good thing in winter.)
Anyone about to buy anything from EcoFlow, have a referral ink with 10% off lol... I want a referral link for 10% off though! Referral link: https://www.ecoflow.com/uk/referral-rewards?inviteCode=ASRTIUPI35
#solar #ecoflow
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2026-05-30 12:37:09 UTC

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OK!
A small Saturday side-quest occurred! https://toot.ale.gd/@yvan/116663396033830183
Then I got to cosplay as a Space Marine for a short moment.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/663/548/918/934/464/original/0a2713929708e20f.jpg

2026-05-27 19:01:04 UTC

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Filth...
It may look like it is just a big tray if brown, but I guarantee it is absolute filth.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/648/080/902/956/241/original/233bdfb306203abe.jpg

2026-05-27 17:14:42 UTC

I have BBQ beef ribs in the oven* and the smell is driving me insane.
All I've eaten today is 4 boiled eggs and a couple of slices of toast. 😂
* Because I haven't had time to do the low-n-slow beef rib smoke I was intending to do. Basically just grabbed this quick and easy recipe from a trusted source: https://www.recipetineats.com/bbq-beef-ribs-slow-cooked/

2026-05-26 09:27:20 UTC

Darling, I don't forget to pick up the fresh Lamb's Fry the market for lunch today! Is there enough cold mutton and cheese in the larder for dinner? That Calf's Head for breakfast was spot-on by the way!
Your menu for May 26th, late 1800s styple:<li>Breakfast:<ul><li>Calf's Hea Mould.</li><li>Ham Toast.</li><li>Dry Toast.</li><li>Brown and White Bread and Butter.</li><li>Mustard and Cress.</li><li>Bread and Milk.</li></ul></li><li>Luncheon:<ul><li>Lamb's Fry.</li><li>Tapioca and Apples</li></ul></li><li>Dinner:<ul><li>Lentil Soup</li><li>Curried Mutton (made of cold Boiled Mutton)</li><li>Boiled Rice.</li><li>Treacle Pudding.</li><li>Cheese.</li></ul></li>
FROM "A Year's Cookery" by Phillis Browne: https://archive.org/details/b21533349/page/198/mode/2up
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/640/160/217/878/640/original/da6c1985936e6dfb.png

2026-05-24 15:28:56 UTC

My "shortlist" of the 32 tomato plants I want to grow in polytunnel space where I grow 22 tomatoes normally 🤪
Tempted to squeeze them in a little closer. Then I reckon I can maybe do 26.
My stamdard is that I grow two of each plant, plus extra for the "core sauce" toms. I can slim things down somewhat I reckon. Just one for a couple of more experiential/new varieties. It's a slight pity as I like to give new varieties the better chance of judging them i
on two plants.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/630/247/622/845/363/original/c738698aa430518f.jpg

2026-05-24 11:20:20 UTC

Kat just mentioned the humble chocolate eclair, a bog-standard bakery item back in Australia.
Are they a thing in the UK?
I refer to them as: a long skinny poof pumped full of custard. Back home profiteroles were always "poofs", I don't *think* this was in any sort of gay reference... but 80s/90s and all, it may well have been and just went over my head. It definitely isn't terminology I'd use directly in public these days, far too iffy.
We often had profiteroles on the menu and my mum is famous, locally back home, for her quokenbouch, must made made many many thousands of profiteroles... I used to enjoy eating the gooey bit sometimes gutted out of them... that is the sort of reason I am more profiterole shaped than an eclaire. 😂

2026-05-23 16:32:56 UTC

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I'll also add that whenever I can be bothered to mulch around strawberry plants, which isn't often, I tend to prefer bark, failing that: woodchip. I know the straw is traditional, but I always found it to be a bit of a faff.

2026-05-23 16:29:23 UTC

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I don't know the terminology/etc in your neck of the woods but there are typically two types of "hay" bales, the "hay" which can basically just be field grass with seeds and all in it - probably least pesticide/etc, but also the most weed seeds... the other is "straw" which is the stems from harvested wheat/barley/etc which is best for mulch/etc as it contains few seeds, but OTOH is more likely to contain "chemicals" per se.
What you *really* want to try and find is "straw" from "organic" growing... at least here in the UK "organic" is effectively a protected category under which the producers need to meet certain standards, not using tonnes of nasty -icides... but again, not sure how much that is also the case in the US.

2026-05-23 12:59:07 UTC

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Met Office app has bumped today's max to 26C and Monday's to 32C. I am not convinced by that 26 right now lol.
I might dig the portable air-con out of the summer-house (current storage location)... I may still be relatively robust to the heat, but I have always preferred a cool bedroom. (I grew up without air-con, virtually nobody had air-con back home when I was a kid, I think it's a bit different now days though...)

2026-05-23 12:55:15 UTC

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Anyway... it's time to do the mowing regardless. And I shall enjoy it. There's even a light breeze.
It's fine today really.
Going to be interesting to see how Monday feels given it has a max forecast 6C higher than today's! (Last I looked, Monday 31C and today 25C.)

2026-05-23 12:48:29 UTC

RE: https://vis.social/@infobeautiful/116623756727676190
It's amusing how "The Fens" - where live - is basically the lowest rainfall area in the UK.
#note18ql…gzdp

2026-05-19 13:49:52 UTC

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imagined implies imagination, made up kinda implies the same sort of agency as "lied". And neither is sufficiently scathing.
I pondered "bullshitted", but that just has the same problem as "lied" and "made up".
What really happend here is: the software is flawed, it generates garbage sometimes (and you can never really be sure when it'll generate garbage). It didn't have some cutesey little "hallucination" because it cannot "hallucinate".
Maybe: garbaged?
Claude garbaged, again... damn garbage generator.

2026-05-19 13:22:30 UTC

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I don't like the word "hallucinated" for this really, it feels too lighhearted... but "lied" might be worse as it kinda implies more agency... IDK.

2026-05-19 13:08:21 UTC

Yeah, thanks for that claude...
> You're right to flag that — I was hallucinating a specific URL there. Sorry about that.
Kinda like Google Search was in the 2000s, except it simply lies sometimes.

2026-05-17 15:30:33 UTC

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Next up was the usual security checks, except they are super picky here and our three bags ended up being about 8 trays. They even put my drone in a separate tray to my laptop 🤷🏻‍♂️ it left us in a bit of a state of chaos (but that wasn't certainly not just us!)
Then there is outgoing French/EU border control. Which also seemed to cause some confusion and the calling over of a supervisor. I didn't really follow the French but they seemed to be surprised about something to do with *Ostraliens*, IDK, I got waved through without having to do fingerprints for some reason, they made Kat do fingerprints but that seemed to fail three times and we got waved through. (I mean, what were they gonna do... not let us *out* of the country?)
I am sad there is no longer stamps in passports. 😢

2026-05-17 15:23:58 UTC

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Well that was an amusing faff!
At the desk the folks were very confused that we didn't have an ETA (we are residents, not visitors), but someone recognised the share code thing... so then they got a tablet to check the share codes manually against the Home Office website. Except the first tablet was giving them an error. They got a second tablet and this kinda worked, though it took several goes because the Home Office site itself kept giving a "Service Unavailable" error mid workflow (its like a 4 step workflow). They asked me to verify it was for residency, just verbally like.
They then updated something on their system which clearly included a manual description in French of the process and the resuult... and said the app would refresh and give us a boarding pass... except that also took a few minutes.
This all took about 15 minutes I reckon. Which is not terrible as an individual, but is terrible as a process.

2026-05-17 14:04:50 UTC

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Of course the plane is delayed... by a good half hour, (it hasn't even landed at Stansted from its previous route yet), and we are at the airport safely early for the correct time... so probably an hour or more before the RyanAir desk opens.

2026-05-17 11:22:06 UTC

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(That's from the RyanAir boarding pass app.)

2026-05-17 11:13:37 UTC

Well... that's not at all anxiety inducing 😬
(Have checked with Home Office website and both our visa statuses there are "settled" with all the rights, so hell knows what this is all about... 🤞🏻)
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/589/619/778/916/246/original/304e578cc6e6a1e4.jpg

2026-05-17 06:58:13 UTC

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Walking back to the chateaux
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/588/615/350/004/839/original/6cfd2158bd24025d.jpg

2026-05-17 06:09:06 UTC

Rosemary just growing all over a hillside here...
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/588/421/126/676/788/original/8ff8c370f95e1669.jpg

2026-05-16 10:00:37 UTC

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The Saturday market here is amazeballs. Good everything at generally good prices. I'd be doing my weekly shop here if I lived here.
Property prices are also a bit mad compared to the UK. You can get a pretty good "doer upper" for under 100k.
I think I could pick up enough French to get by pretty quickly.
'tis a pity about Brexit and all really.
They have excellent herbs and plants at stalls here too. Vietnamese Mint/Coriander! (One of my favourites.) Some fantastic looking tomato plants here, huge eggplants too... I'm not sure I'd bother starting my own with this available. Though these are a bit pricey, my friends bought some smaller but also very healthy ones at another stall for 1€ each, including some Green Zebra on my recommendation.
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/583/596/830/248/051/original/6c66a61fad5ed74d.jpg
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/583/604/019/184/952/original/24cb96d14c2f26e1.jpg

2026-05-16 09:29:57 UTC

Shutters in Lodève
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/583/544/176/276/895/original/efd4fdbab80a4995.jpg

2026-05-14 06:03:43 UTC

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To be more fair... it's a case of swings and roundabouts... the South East Asian range in this place was pretty poor compared to a bog standard Tesco.

2026-05-13 21:02:46 UTC

Enough to make a resident of England weep. Well, this resident in particular, who likes his seafood.
This is the fish range in the everyday bog standard shop in a small town in inland southern France. It makes Cambridge, a much bigger town, look so sad, so garbage.
If the UK hasn't have left the EU I could have got UK citizenship amd just moved here. Admittedly that is probably not what the point of UK citizenship is supposed to be 😂 but all the same, it was once a very powerful citizenship... worthy of having... now... pfft... dirt, dust, dried dog poop.
Yes, these are exactly the thoughts that go through my head when I look at this fish range. (And this is not the whole of it. Not the fish, nor the thoughts.)
I don't hate the UK, nor England specifically. I live there, have done for 20 years now... it has is upsides. But it sure does like to punch itself in the face. The seafood is an analogy for a range of things really...
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/569/269/739/599/969/original/9e4bff9ae4984d8c.jpg

2026-05-12 14:55:16 UTC

Staircase or moss garden?
#mosstodon
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/562/173/870/398/850/original/ff08171ad38cfa52.jpg

2026-05-12 13:07:47 UTC

Labour, Tories, it's all very "same dog, different leg action" innit...
Right. That's enough looking at the news for one day. (I opened it up on someone telling me the not hugely surprising news that Jess Phillips has resigned. There's isn't really a whole lot more I needed to know TBH.)
I shudder to think what could come next.

2026-05-10 13:14:02 UTC

Kat has discovered that it's totally OK to take a couple of takeaway containers of home made salad through Stanstead security. It was a risk, but was well worth taking. 😅
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/550/369/714/656/239/original/1ed6d4a34d229c16.jpg

2026-05-09 10:00:07 UTC

My old "1. Drink Coffee, 2. Make Stuff" t-shirt from "Gosforth Handyman" Andy Mac is full of holes (some idiot wore it whilst angle grinding)... so I ordered a new one.
I noticed he had a revised design for his all-metric double-sided tape measures, so I got them too. Can never have too many tape measures? (I have both lengths in the former design, and all up must be well into the double digits on the things. Yet can still never find one when I want it. 🤪)
AND he's doing a deep-hole marker pencil too. I have wanted one for years, never needed to get one back in the day as I worked with a guy who had several. Never got around to get my own (but I kept my guy stocked with pencil leads of course!) Serendipitous.
I don't watch his content so much any more, but I watched a load of it when doing old British building renovations a few years ago and it was really super helpful content for that. I learnt a lot, maybe it'll even be of use some future day.*
https://gosforthhandyman.com/about-me/
https://toot.ale.gd/system/media_attachments/files/116/544/012/233/136/826/original/5f0fcca93ee63f67.jpg