Mary Oz

Ambleside and Grasmere Big Switch Off 2026 - 19/03/2026 19:00:00 Join residents and businesses switching off lights for the evening to save energy and see more stars in Ambleside and Grasmere on 19th March from 7pm. Guided walk around Ambleside from 7.30pm.

www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/event/ambles...

This is always fun! Lots of accessible local talks about all sorts of science and innovation. Several talks per session. All over the country. And the world too. With fun quizzes. I won a Pint of Science glass! (Through luck rather than skill, I admit!)

Crude oil prices, showing a very sharp increase in the last day, from around 65 to 101 dollars per barrel..

Oil prices wouldn't be all over the news today if more of our economy was powered by local, secure renewable energy.

This isn't an "energy crisis". It's a fossil fuel crisis.

44% of UK electricity came from renewables in 2025. More of that plus an electrified economy => no more oil shocks.

A host of yellow daffodils, cream coloured daffodils and purple crocuses.

An array of yellow daffodils outside Lancaster Castle (which is off to the left of the view).

Side view of Lancaster Castle with loads of yellow daffodils outside it.

Front view of Lancaster Castle with loads of yellow daffodils outside it. This is the main John O'Gaunt entrance gate.

#MondayMotivation from #Lancaster Castle. The castle is well worth a visit. So much history!

Paving stone with a map on it showing various streets including Cornhill, Birchin Lane, Lombard Street and Change Alley.

A pavement map from the City of London for #MapMonday.

A gentle country road is flanked by blooming yellow daffodils and hedges on a cloudy day.

A wooden gate stands in a forest clearing surrounded by bare trees and dense foliage.

A tree has grown around a rusted metal fence, partially engulfing it within its trunk.

A tree has grown around and partially engulfed a metal fence.

A bit dank this morning in #Royden but the forecast drizzle failed to show. Fascinated by the intersection of tree and fence.

A parent walking to school with children.

Parents and carers – we need your voice! 📋

We’re gathering the views of families across the UK to understand the barriers faced when walking and wheeling to school.

Take our short survey to be entered into a £200 gift card draw.

Have your say 👉 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/parentWOW

I love the blackbird in the middle of the pie to let the steam out! My Mum had one of those. I didn't know they still existed. ♥️

And to you too, Rike.

An indigo blue sign with white writing which says Site of King William Street Underground Station First City Terminus 1890-1900. It's surrounded by a metal frame which says Corporation of London.

#SignsOnSunday #SundaySigns

Close-up of some bright yellow daffodils flowers in the sunshine.

#SundayYellow

Yes it is! Wigan in north west England between Liverpool and Manchester. And it has a pier although there's not much left of it, it just went onto the canal not the sea. It was used for loading coal onto canal boats in the years around 1800. I haven't read that book of Orwell's though.

A ladder stile for leaving a footpath level crossing, with ivy growing up it.

A Northern train just passing a broken old metal sign which says Eware of the Ains.

Two bare crop fields side by side with no boundary other than a green path. A tree in the distance marks where the next, invisible path branches off. Blue sky fills the top half of the photo.

An old mill converted into apartments, with a tall chimney up the middle of the photo. In the foreground is a bare silver birch tree. Everything is beautifully lit by the sun, and the sky is deep blue.

Some more pictures from @slowwaysuk.bsky.social route Southport to Burscough. It was a glorious day, full of big open blue skies, in the flatlands of west #Lancashire.

Former railway building at a level crossing on the way out of Southport. Red brick and red paintwork.

A wooden footbridge over a small river in an urban park. The shadows of the wooden fence make a nice pattern on the path.

Two wooden posts, maybe weatherworn telegraph poles cut shorter) with cheery faces painted on them and stick sticking out for noses.

A thatched cottage with sunlight highlighting the thatch.

Some pictures from @slowwaysuk.bsky.social route Southport to Burscough #Lancashire. It was such a glorious day that I didn't get grumpy about the long main road section!

Electricy North West van parked fully in a dedicated cycle lane. With a raised kerb between the cycle lane and the main carriageway of the road. Next to a speed camera.

Of course it's okay for utility vehicles to park badly. NOT!
#BadlyParked #BadParking #CrapParking Everyone else was at further up too 🤨

View from the bridge end of the platform looking along the railway line through the tunnel under the main road. The sun is shining into the far end, lighting up the curved bridge supports.

The sunlit view from #Wigan Wallgate Station. On my way to walk @hikinghistorian.bsky.social 's @slowwaysuk.bsky.social route from Southport to Burscough the other day.

Henry Gibson regular featured on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, a US comedy show from 1968-73. Although I don't think the trailer meant him.

About a hundred little, fairly pointed shaped mushrooms, packed closely together on a fallen log, which is also covered with moss. Perhaps 2cm high.

A lovely little collection for #FungiFriday. I didn't realise they could still be pristine in March. Please don't ask me what they are, though, I'm not very knowledgeable about #Fungi or #Mushrooms.

Thanks!

Scary stuff!
"We therefore stand firmly against both projects, as they not only threaten our profession as astronomers, but also pose a grave and irreversible risk to dark skies, biodiversity, and human health."
Worth a read, not too long.

A sign for Weavers Fields, a small park. The support for the sign is three vertical posts an three horizontal bars, woven together in a pleasing sculpture.

Not exactly a #FingerpostFriday, but close. From Spitalfields #London, the area where weavers lived.

In the middle of a bright and busy shopping arcade, with pastel bunting hanging from the ceiling, is a slim black and white post saying Cardinal Place, in vertical lettering. The black fingers point to Westminster Cathedral, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Victoria Station.

#FingerpostFriday from the Westminster area of #London.

Image showing 5 iPhones each with a screen from Star Hordes on it. On the 1st screen it shows the logo and three buttons to start a new game, high scores and instructions. The 2nd shows a number of small starships flying towards the players green ship in the centre. The 3rd screen is similar but with a reddish purple galactic background and more asteroids. The 4th screen has a green planet and lots of ships against a hazy nebulous background and the final screen shows the weapon upgrade screen with a number of weapons in glorious retro green screen.

Just a quick note to say Star Hordes is free at the moment. Galactic carnage has never been so cheap 👾

apps.apple.com/gb/app/star-...

#indiegame #gamedev #retrogaming

A sizeable, but dead tree stump with quite a substantial vertical split down it. Maybe a victim of a lightning strike. Surrounded by a wooden fence, green grass, blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

#ThickTrunkThursday from Richmond Park, #London, from a new version of @slowwaysuk.bsky.social route Richmond to Putney which uses more parkland.

A grey door with a grey painted stone surround.

Another grey door with a larger grey painted stone surround and porch. Five sash windows surround it, the ground floor ones having shutters.

The side by side doors of two terraced houses, number 11 and number eleven and a half!

A grand black panelled door with a Liverpool Street sign on the wall. There's a round window above it. There's a sign on the wall beside it saying Site of the first Bethlehem Hospital 1247-1676.

#ADoorableThursday from Brick Lane, Spitalfields, Liverpool Street, #London @slowwaysuk.bsky.social route Bethnal Green to Liverpool Street Station.

A pattern of black and white tiles on the pavement, mostly like a chess board, but some of the tiles have been laid out wrong so that the pattern is broken.

Another pattern of black and white tiles on the pavement around the corner, mostly like a chess board, but some of the tiles have been laid out wrong so that the pattern is broken.

Ugh, this is horrible!
How can people do this?
#TilesOnTuesday

Excellent photos. Interestingly the moon is also green-rimmed. Do you think it could be chromatic aberration?

I have just sent the following email to my Labour MP, Jeff Smith. Text is in Alt - feel free to use/adapt it. But whatever the case, write to your MP!

The rhododendrons have taken over. As they tend to do.
@philsturgeon.com

Ground floor is red painted Bar and Restaurant on Crispin Street. At the top of the second floor on the brick wall are the remains of a painted sign saying Nut Importers & Roasters.

An old green painted shop front saying Verde & Company Ltd, fruit importers.

A couple of old shop fronts in the Brick Lane Spitalfields area of #London from @slowwaysuk.bsky.social route Bethnal Green to Liverpool Street Station.
@kathrynmorrison.bsky.social
#GhostSigns @royreed.bsky.social