Charlotte Walker

Hi, I’m Charlotte, early 50s and I relocated from London to #Pembrokeshire in west #Wales 8 years ago. Interests include #QualitativeResearch, #books, #cats and capybaras. Bisexual, cis (pronouns: she/her). General CW: I post a lot about living with bipolar disorder, I try to CW individual toots about it but some sneak through, sorry.

Currently reading: The Dragon Republic by RF Kuang
Looking forward to: Monday choir rehearsals
Cat: Miss Cinnamon, age 7
Currently watching: The Pitt with husband, Detectorists alone

Public Key

npub1vjwdpx6j4uscm937zg08h4tsulkzcfydhscsm3dff63tp5u4yzcsv27s9n

NIP-05 Address

purplepadma_at_beige.party@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsxf8xsndf27gvdjclpy8nm64cw0mpvyjxmcvgdck55ag4s6w2jpvgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsjt3qtx

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Last Notes

2026-07-11 07:16:10 UTC

RE: https://flipboard.social/@newsguyusa/116898329613173808
Annnnd the backlash has been so huge they’ve had to pull it already. Good.
#note1wur…rtqk

2026-04-02 08:00:30 UTC

I applaud the sentiment in terms of pushing back, but I do not approve of equating it to disability. Disability is not a choice, and a matter of conscience is. Disabled people cannot simply choose to change the impact disability has on them, these people might not like it, but they could get another job if it really bothers them that much.
From: @npub12pw…zvxn
https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/116333458728387244

2026-03-01 08:33:18 UTC

I’m a Green Party member but I’m urging anyone who doesn’t want to vote Green to vote Plaid. Labour are so unpopular that they haven’t a hope of forming a government, and we absolutely cannot afford to allow Reform in.
From: @npub1zhz…9xyw
https://toot.wales/@NationCymru/116152964073145714

2026-02-25 21:10:52 UTC

Mental health services are already obsessed with getting people back into work, and once someone does return to work they are deemed “recovered” and not deserving of further support. The whole “recovery model” assumes that the measure of successful treatment is whether a mental ill person can be restored to economic productivity
From: @npub12pw…zvxn
https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/116129856577895245

2026-02-14 12:45:27 UTC

Exactly what the UK needs, another tiny right wing populist political party. Maybe eventually all former Reform politicians will each have their own mini-party
From: [@bbcnewsfeed](https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed )
https://mastodonapp.uk/@bbcnewsfeed/116068752254138876

2025-12-16 11:59:39 UTC

I did not, of course, go to the social. Instead I stayed in bed until I had missed my train then cried about what a useless twat I am. Other thoughts: IDK why Tom bothers with me; I just want to get smaller and smaller until I disappear; I would like to chop both my legs off. Even I can see that my brain is absolutely infested with weasels but I lack the strength to see them off

2025-12-13 11:59:12 UTC

Good morning (just). I’m off to the dentist to get my teeth bonded after a long and expensive period of straightening. My teeth will never not be a bit wonky but as long I don’t mix with judgemental American people I guess it’s fine. Not looking forward to an hour in the chair. In fact I feel a bit gloomy this morning. Ah well.
Any Saturday shenanigans your end?

2025-12-12 18:28:41 UTC

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“unaudited” certainly doing a lot of heavy lifting but I thought it worth sharing at very least to compare Tory and Green membership. What mechanism is there for verifying claims?

2025-12-01 11:58:21 UTC

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Excellent band name

2025-11-30 18:47:37 UTC

I feel very mentally unwell indeed. Some friends just asked what they can do to help, if jokes and memes would help, or if I wanted to chat. Any sort of interaction would help. I’m crying in the bath because my head’s so messed up and it feels like familiar bad territory. So anything to keep me feeling connected would be wonderful

2025-11-27 19:21:11 UTC

*cat flap noise*
Tom: Is it raining? Yes, you’re all wet. Come on, let me rub you down. Don’t run… don’t run away from… come here!
Cat: *indignant squawk*
Tom: I know, but you’ve got to be dried, haven’t you?
Cat: *squawk!*
Tom: All right, there we go, good girl. That wasn’t so bad, was it?
This exact same piece of dialogue plays out every time it rains
#cats #MastoCats #CatsOfMastodon

2025-11-27 13:58:05 UTC

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OMG you are so lucky you don’t know The Wiggles. They started off in Australia in the late 90s and my kids (born 97 and 99) were OBSESSED with them. They were referred to in the press as “the Fab Four for the under fives”. Over the years they have, like so many great bands, undergone many personnel changes. I could still sing you some of their original classic material. No?

2025-11-26 13:53:28 UTC

Unbelievably, pecan won the nut poll. I am shook, I tell you. Thought almond was going to take the crown for sure.
In other news I walked into town in the rain and I’m now going to join an online coworking session and see if I can concentrate on work for a couple of hours. What I really want to do is sleep more…

2025-11-25 23:56:34 UTC

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I don’t even know what it means, I just know The Kids are all saying it and I wanted to sound down with them

2025-11-25 23:45:21 UTC

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Six seven just sounds like a London bus number

2025-11-25 16:44:13 UTC

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Beautiful!

2025-11-25 13:48:38 UTC

Best nut

2025-11-24 11:34:31 UTC

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Men call for a national screening program for prostate cancer quite often. Unfortunately this misses the memo that testing is just not specific enough as yet to avoid creating lots of false positives which could lead to unnecessary invasive treatment. Those treatments can lead to erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, diminishing quality of life perhaps needlessly.
I have had men tell me that the only reason such a programme doesn’t exist is that women’s health needs are prioritised in health screening. That is simply not the case

2025-11-24 05:13:37 UTC

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Oof that sounds tough. Sending you cooling thoughts and anti-migraine juju

2025-11-24 00:58:49 UTC

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A lovely boy, I’m so sorry to hear he’s been so poorly. Best wishes for the new treatment

2025-11-23 16:51:31 UTC

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I’m more of a horror fan and thought #ScreamingSocks

2025-11-23 16:43:39 UTC

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The existence of #SilentSocks implies some of your other socks are noisy

2025-11-20 17:29:28 UTC

I am loving The Witching by Silvia Morena-Garcia. Set between Mexico in 1908 and a New England college campus in 1934 and 1998, it’s weaving motifs of witchcraft, mysterious disappearances and malevolent spirits as a lonely Mexican PhD student follows the literary trail of an obscure female horror writer. I don’t want to do anything but read it #AmReading #Bookstodon #horror

2025-11-18 21:28:14 UTC

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A scorpion was IN THE BED??

2025-11-18 09:31:47 UTC

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That’s an amazing follower count for Mastodon! I always enjoy your posts

2025-11-18 03:16:54 UTC

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Is Donk short for Donkey? Or is it onomatopoeic? *donkkkk!*

2025-11-17 20:45:54 UTC

My washing machine displays the word Wilkommen when you turn it on. I always sing, “bienvenue, welcome!” at it

2025-11-17 04:30:54 UTC

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I try not to worry about by DNF rate because life is just too short to persevere with a boring or depressing book 💜

2025-11-16 21:02:31 UTC

All news these days
Labour: *something something fascist policy*
Tories: this just doesn’t go far enough

2025-11-12 09:25:43 UTC

Your annual reminder this charity week in the UK that children in poverty getting a hot meal should not be dependent on the public sponsoring non-sporting celebrities to run ultra marathons. That is supposed to be the government’s job #ChildrenInNeed

2025-11-10 20:43:34 UTC

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How do you feel about the return to work?

2025-11-09 12:51:25 UTC

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Yes, in a perverse way I enjoyed lockdown because my local community really came together. There was a secret window painter who went round painting rainbows and messages on ship and house windows. People shopped for each other. We had socially distanced drinks with the neighbours with our chairs about 5m apart.

2025-11-09 10:38:25 UTC

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Except I think spaces like Mastodon allow us to build connections and networks even if we’re too sick or disabled to get outdoors. It’s a window onto the world for those who cannot access common spaces

2025-11-04 15:59:33 UTC

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Why shouldn’t you, indeed. It’s easy enough to change your mind. My son has an excellent handlebar moustache because that is his Look.

2025-11-04 14:47:59 UTC

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Are you growing it for Movember, or are you dressing your face for the job you want, not the job you have?

2025-11-03 12:41:39 UTC

My daughter shared this pumpkin design from her manager’s kid. One to embarrass her with in later life
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/485/811/466/900/751/original/55ec4bb7b10bb8c6.jpeg

2025-11-03 10:16:56 UTC

I did meditate but in a quite half-hearted way, bamboozled by poor sleep. I now need to pop into town in the rain once the cat has finished with me (she’s currently using me as a pedestal for an enthusiastic wash). Then I suppose I should get started on some work. There’s nothing pressing today. Maybe I deserve a second breakfast first?

2025-10-31 18:43:59 UTC

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Oh I’m sorry to hear this. Why does this sort of stuff seem to occur in clusters? I really hope you can get someone reliable and affordable to fix the plumbing

2025-10-31 15:14:39 UTC

When my stepdaughters (35 and 33) were here last week they asked us the dates of the first and second world wars. That’s something I can’t imagine not knowing, but is that tied to me being Gen X growing up around grandparents who had lived through WWII and parents who were born in the 1946 baby boom?
My hairdresser who is 32 went to Poland earlier this year but when I told her I visited in 1990 just after the fall of communism, she said, “What’s that?”
Are millennials just divorced from major events and ideologies of the 20th century because it’s such ancient history for them? Am I expecting too much of people born in the 90s to know this stuff?

2025-10-28 07:03:29 UTC

Good morning. I did not sleep well knowing that I had to be up to catch my train, which is allegedly running on time. I’ve got more postgraduate researcher training in writing skills this morning and then I want to go to the library to return my interlibrary loan (probably setting off the alarm on my way in).
Hopefully I’ll be home by 4pm, trains permitting!
What are you up to today?

2025-10-26 21:22:23 UTC

Rest assured I will never create a free account just to keep reading

2025-10-26 12:09:35 UTC

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on Twitter I had 22.5k followers. I once did an unscientific audit of how many of those accounts actually interacted with me and it was fewer than 100. I think I get a lot more human engagement from my Masto followers

2025-10-24 20:31:19 UTC

My stepdaughters have decided to go home tomorrow instead of Sunday. They’re missing their partners and feeling like lone parents with all the nappy changes and night waking. I quite understand but I will be sorry to see them all go. Sometimes I wish we could establish a huge compound so that all of our kids and grandkids could live in close proximity yet autonomously

2025-10-17 16:42:19 UTC

I wanted to read a relevant looking 2025 book on research paradigms. I thought of buying it but it was like £140. My uni library didn’t have it, so I put in an interlibrary loan request. The document supply librarian came back to say that they couldn’t find a copy, but if I thought it would be a valuable addition to the library, I could ask for it to be purchased, so I did. I just got an email to say it’s been purchased, and it’s been reserved for me, and I’ll be notified when I can pick it up.
Stunningly good service in an era of crappiness. Genuinely excited to be the first person to check this book out!

2025-10-16 12:21:25 UTC

In the break in my deep work session I went out into the garden to capture the very last flowers from the summer. We haven’t had much of a cold snap yet so they’ve lasted well #bloomscrolling
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/383/790/275/296/509/original/5ab535d796e89e8e.jpg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/383/790/489/772/181/original/ff18655a9690cb8a.jpg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/383/790/697/128/496/original/b97aeabee2c6acfd.jpg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/383/790/966/993/504/original/29d1db9b9d72868f.jpg

2025-10-16 08:49:15 UTC

Good morning. I never want to see the word “dishwasher” again. This is worse than Brexit

2025-10-14 10:22:44 UTC

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it’s not worth me even trying to touch the dishwasher, Tom is absolutely anal about it and has rules about the angle of forks and the gap between plates. Just one of the reasons I sometimes wonder if he is on the spectrum

2025-10-14 10:19:39 UTC

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Is this part of your project to be OK with arachnids?

2025-10-13 02:46:05 UTC

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oh I adore artichokes!

2025-10-12 08:51:06 UTC

Good morning. I have a mainly lazy morning, apart from stripping and making up the bed, but I have to cook an early lunch to fortify Tom before he sets of for England to start his new job tomorrow.
This afternoon I’m booked into a 3-6pm pomodoro online co-working session to try to put this review paper to bed. It may however spill over into tomorrow. Really not enjoying it.
This evening will be a quiet one home alone, I may watch some TV but for some reason I struggle to do that when I’m by myself.
Tell me what your Sunday holds.

2025-10-11 16:53:44 UTC

I asked why I am so tired. A locked friend posited that it’s maybe the change of season - or the ongoing fascism. Sure to be one of those

2025-10-10 20:24:33 UTC

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😭

2025-10-10 17:22:10 UTC

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I see you are still going

2025-10-07 19:41:23 UTC

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Jumping in on this thread to ask if you have any ideas for houseplants that can cope with lower light levels? I really want one for my desk but my office is kind of gloomy

2025-10-06 18:59:40 UTC

French politics as illustrated by Matt
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/328/748/805/284/641/original/557f31d05844e9c8.jpeg

2025-10-05 16:30:49 UTC

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This troubled my cat

2025-10-03 11:33:44 UTC

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What a national treasure

2025-10-03 11:09:01 UTC

last boost: fucking YES! Working at close quarters with “prolific offenders” committing crime to finance their class A addictions only strengthened my belief that it’s prohibition that drives a lot of drug-related crime. Next up talk about abolishing the prison estate, Zack

2025-10-01 09:51:00 UTC

OK so I fucked something up at work yesterday and I’ve been a wreck ever since. If not for yoga class I think I would’ve really fallen apart. I was so upset and ashamed that I couldn’t even talk to anyone about it and I was awake in the night worrying. I was thinking I might even get a formal warning, and then my PhD supervisor would find out…
I emailed my manager early this morning with a formal apology, and guess what she came back and said?
“Please don’t worry about it!”
Not saying I know how to catastrophise or anything, but FFS Charlotte

2025-09-30 12:55:34 UTC

Tom is doing battle with the Disclosure and Barring Service and by extension, the police. He has a new job but he can’t start because they’ve been waiting FOUR WEEKS to someone to press a button to run a search show that he hasn’t got any criminal convictions. He’s in danger of losing the contract. He’s tried to make contact with the DBS via phone (which gives useless information then says “goodbye!”) and web chat (which simply doesn’t open) #and there seems to be no way of speaking to a person. His next step it to ring our local police force, they complain to the Police and Crime Commissioner.
WHY ARE ALL GOVERNMENT THINGS SO SHIT???

2025-09-23 12:34:34 UTC

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I would question whether things were ever better than this. My experience as a schoolgirl in the 80s and 90s was exactly the same. I don’t recognise these great strides in progress that are supposed to have happened in the past

2025-09-20 05:26:01 UTC

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I struggle a lot with staying in the happy now without projecting fearfully into the future when my husband (who is 18 years older than me) is gone. I will try to take your advice

2025-09-19 11:26:36 UTC

I have had a lunch composed of salt, fat, sugar and caffeine and I feel much restored

2025-09-19 09:30:22 UTC

Oh dear. Despite travel sickness medication Alice and I were both horribly sick on the boat and have had to be deposited at a beach along the coast. The tour company is sending someone in a car to pick us up and take us back to the hotel. I haven’t been sick like that in absolutely years.
Quiet afternoon by the pool beckons

2025-09-17 06:10:47 UTC

Can’t… wake… up… I was supposed to be at breakfast 25 minutes ago. I had a very intense dream that I was in a particularly dramatic episode of Coronation Street which included car crashes and a grisly murder. Maybe that’s why I’m so tired, emotional exhaustion 😂
Today is a spa day, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and treatments, with time in the pool at some point. A very relaxing day.
What’s your Wednesday agenda?

2025-09-13 04:23:52 UTC

5am is really too early for anything

2025-09-09 18:24:26 UTC

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ooh season 3 is coming this autumn, is it?

2025-09-09 17:04:22 UTC

I stood up for ONE SECOND #mastocats #CatsOfMastodon
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/175/413/213/307/750/original/f1e4ebd72343cfdb.jpg

2025-09-07 12:47:01 UTC

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Ooh that sounds so simple!

2025-09-07 10:40:47 UTC

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Hi Caity! Cake sounds amazing

2025-09-04 20:13:46 UTC

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Is life expectancy in the USA really only 77 years? That’s surprisingly poor

2025-09-04 09:59:32 UTC

My baby, she kneads me #mastocats #CatsOfMastodon
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/145/431/035/706/462/original/4d3421669088de00.jpg

2025-09-03 09:36:37 UTC

Miss Cinnamon is not a fan of rainy weather. Disconsolate, she has retired to her boudoir #CatsOfMastodon #Mastocats
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/139/674/584/418/708/original/e67d9a99346b2dfe.jpg

2025-08-30 17:33:57 UTC

Meanwhile, over in England the flag shagging business is getting to the point where people are risking life and limb to prove how Not Foreign they are https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq58nl2846jo

2025-08-25 13:46:57 UTC

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Have you spent most of the day saying, “Come on” to amphibians as you try to move them somewhere safer?

2025-08-19 10:39:28 UTC

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I also loved Marjory Sharpe’s Miss Bianca books (Disnified as The Rescuers) and Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. And of course Charlotte’s Web!

2025-08-18 18:32:56 UTC

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I eat it whenever I can get it. I might grow my own next year

2025-08-18 17:44:50 UTC

Stewed rhubarb for dessert. Variety: GOLIATH

2025-08-18 14:34:57 UTC

I got an email saying I’ve been accepted as the PhD student rep on the psychology department equity, diversity and inclusion working group! This is exciting and a great way to meet people in the wider department. First meeting some time before the end of October.

2025-08-16 11:43:18 UTC

I’ve just had a very lovely trip into town:
- the sun is shining but there’s a nice cool breeze
- I met my neighbour going up the hill and we had a good natter
- I bought some gourmet chocolate, some fresh bread, some vine tomatoes and some Spanish cheese
- my favourite server was on at the cheese shop, so I had a chat with her
- there were many cute dogs in the high street
- I bought some mint and dark chocolate drop gelato from another very friendly shop and sat on a bench and ate it
- on the way home I found a lot of ripe blackberries in the hedgerow, so I ate those too. In related news, there is a purple spot on my white top
I do like where I live!

2025-08-15 22:05:11 UTC

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My husband calls his pants knickers, which I find very weird

2025-08-15 22:02:40 UTC

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No, fancy pants is designer underwear 😂😂😂

2025-08-10 19:38:16 UTC

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But there will be no choice if magistrates decline to take the cases on grounds of the seriousness of the offending…

2025-08-10 17:14:38 UTC

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With a possible sentence like that, I presume these cases deemed too serious for magistrates’ courts? Because there is already a huge backlog of cases awaiting Crown Court trial…

2025-08-10 13:28:23 UTC

Obviously the police force attracts people who enjoy exercising brutal power over others, but seriously, who follows orders to bodily arrest frail octogenarian women for holding pieces of cardboard and doesn’t think, “OK, this is just stupid now, and I want no part of it”?

2025-08-09 15:44:53 UTC

I’ve been asleep most of the day 😳

2025-08-08 08:29:30 UTC

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Australia has mad wildlife!

2025-08-06 06:05:13 UTC

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Amazing!

2025-08-05 13:22:08 UTC

Outraged that I just discovered two long dark hairs sprouting from my chin. How have they just… appeared there? Is this the future going into menopause? Because I’m going to need a more precise pair of tweezers

2025-08-05 08:50:56 UTC

For all the workers
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/114/975/289/082/441/283/original/b3f7bcbd837bd638.jpeg

2025-08-03 21:31:30 UTC

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Oh Caity, I’m truly sorry to hear this. What a horrendous shock for you. Poor Wonderdog, poor you. Sending love from Wales 💜

2025-07-29 15:55:39 UTC

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I have tried to get my cat to leave my laptop alone by bringing out an old, defunct laptop for her to sit on, but she’s just not interested - maybe because it’s not warm?

2025-07-29 07:25:52 UTC

Morning, I had my worst night’s sleep in months, not sure why. I was a bit jittery before bed despite some lovely slow yoga, but usually that vanished after I’ve been asleep for a while, so I don’t think it was anxiety but I woke so many times and was then awake 2-4am.
This morning I have a meeting at 10 but before that I have to do some serious life admin which includes making three phone calls, something I absolutely hate but can’t put off any longer. Ugh!
This morning sucks but I live in hope that the day will get better

2025-07-27 08:46:46 UTC

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The other truth is that higher numbers of safe, legal abortions probably reflect the fact that backstreet abortions are thankfully becoming a thing of the past

2025-07-25 18:00:43 UTC

I’m a bit nervous about my plan, but tomorrow intend to take the bus to the far side of the woods and jog slowly back. It’s hard to tell exactly but I think it’s about 6k, so I may end up run/walking. Hopefully I won’t get too lost, it’s not exactly a deep, dark, expansive forest. I hope I can manage it. I just thought it would make a nice change from my usual routes. I *think* I’m brave enough…?

2025-07-16 18:35:40 UTC

Reading an article in Women’s Running magazine about safety and how many female runners feel vulnerable in the day even though you might think it feels safer than running in the dark.
I have experienced a fair bit of unwanted attention from male strangers while running or walking alone, from cat calling to being asked to be a drunk man’s girlfriend in an otherwise empty park (bit scary), to a teenager slapping my arse and trying to pull me into the bushes. Only the other day a man in group of other white men in their 20s mimicked my running in a sarcastic way as I ran past them in the street.
A friend of mine I met of Twitter actually experienced a man sticking his foot out to deliberately trip her while she was running. She sustained cuts to her face and her confidence in her main psychological wellbeing technique was serious dented.
Why can’t men just let women walk, hike or run in peace??

2025-07-16 09:49:59 UTC

Good morning. I slept terribly because I let Tom persuade me to allow the cat into the bedroom with us. She was very disruptive so even when she went off somewhere and presumably went to sleep I was on edge and kept jerking awake. Then at 5am she decided it was time for us to wake up, at which point I took her downstairs and shut the hall door. Tom thought that was harsh.
I’m so glad I don’t have much work to do as I’m dazed and confused.
Is it Wednesday?

2025-07-10 20:20:48 UTC

So Bluesky is about to require people to verify their age, which means sharing their real identity. I’ve no problem with people knowing my identity but then I’m not trying to hide from abusers. Or explore my gender. Or be a whistleblower. Or protest without getting arrested. Or or or… there are so many reasons people need anonymity.
Despite being myself online I am not keen to show Bluesky my scanned face or my bank card. So I guess I won’t be sticking around there.
I gave my advice before I left, which was “Switch to Mastodon, nobody there cares who you are, as long as you’re funny.”

2025-07-09 09:59:38 UTC

Morning. Having a lot of trouble getting going, mentally and physically, ugh. Trying to throw myself into some work but it’s tricky. Send energy halp

2025-07-08 19:14:50 UTC

So I’ve been trying to lose weight because I was very much in the “obese” weight range and it was starting to impact on my joints. Also I found walking and running very effortful due to carrying the extra weight. Anyway, so far I have lost almost 2st (28lb/12.5kg) and ideally to get into the “healthy” zone I need to lose the same again. But I notice I’m getting a bit obsessive about it, keen to eat as little as possible, and if I eat “too much” I start to feel guilty and panicky. Which is clearly not good and edging towards eating disorder territory.
Not looking for advice, I know I need to keep an eye on this. Just thinking out loud