Duncan Jones (aka Merrion) (he/him)

Clayton Blizzard: Just Being Born YouTube video by Clayton Blizzard

Planning my Hay-on-Wye festival and How The Light Gets In visit. Can't see Clayton Blizzard listed yet - hope he will be there as he was a highlight of the last 2 visits.

youtu.be/NeO2Q3z4mKU

"They are black and white, and they don't fight
(Except for mating rights and territory)"

(c) Bill Bailey

Wildlife to feature on next series of Bank of England banknotes Images of the UK’s wildlife are to feature on the next series of banknotes following a public consultation run by the Bank of England.

There was a public consultation and the wildlife option won.

www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2026/ma...

Unsustainable.
Literally unsustainable.

Here's the thing about this - its going to be bad either way but if you are still heating your house with oil and driving a petrol or diesel car by late autumn and this is not resolved...?

This might be significant:-

"In Ireland we use kerosene for home-heating oil, whereas other EU countries use a less-expensive diesel-like product, and according to Mr McPartland the increase in kerosone prices has been "far higher than in petrol and diesel markets" in recent weeks."

This was an astonishingly stupid war....and, as many have said, saying "its over" doesn't make it over.

I hadn't noticed that it actually has "Legal Tender" written on it... 😆

Regarding the Geneva convention (current topic on @mrjamesob.bsky.social ) it is worth remembering that the laws which constrain you also protect you.

Douglas Adams explains the mating ritual of the Kakapo YouTube video by Buoy2

Also this absolutely straight talk about the mating habits of the Kakapo is always a joy.

youtu.be/sCsHuoVABgI

..and then in 4 years we will be fining countries for not decarbonising quickly enough.

Hannah Daly: Irish people are again paying a high price for our reliance on fossil fuels But renewable energy relies on resources that will never run out and cannot be cut off as act of aggression

In my @irishtimes.com op-ed today I argue that our climate law is the best framework we have for making energy secure and affordable, because it tackles the root cause of our vulnerability to energy shocks - our dependence on fossil fuels.

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

Also from the same page "The plan rather depended on being on the other side of this locked airlock"

A: You know, it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.

FORD: Why, what did she tell you?

A: I don’t know, I didn’t listen.

I want to share with you the single funniest thing I have ever read in my life. I first read this around 1993 in a copy of the Oxford Book of Humorous Prose that I picked up in a bookshop in Pittsburgh, PA.

1/

Close up of map of eastern Saudi Arabia

About 10-15% of the population of Saudi Arabia is Shia. They live mostly in the Eastern Province and are concentrated mainly in Qatif and Al-Ahsa, across the sea from Iran. They face systemic discrimination and mostly live in poverty.

The Eastern Province is also where the Saudi oil is refined.

1/

Because this house is too old to have a meaningful BER I don't know empitically how much the hempcrete insulation + air to air heat pump has improved things but my goodness it is so much nicer now.

The air to air heat pumps are underappreciated in domestic installation - but most retail or commercial buildings use them.
The heat up a lot quicker and are more efficient than the air to water ones.

More details:-
bsky.app/profile/dunc...

This seems to be the way - if you get your effective electricity cost to zero then efficiency (at the cost of increased capital costs) is not as important.

He wore the RA's Gerry Beret - the kind you find in a second hand store?

Or infra red panels and solar PV if you want to keep the hardware costs down.

bsky.app/profile/dunc...

An air to air heat pump would probably be viable?

(air to water is a weird thing that pretty much only the UK and Ireland are into and that is why every other country does better than us with heat pumps)

Wren

Wren

Wren

The Wrens are starting to get busy building and preparing their nests, these were taken last year during the material gathering process and I hope to capture more this year #birds #thegardenjungle #wildlifephotography #birdwatching #shropshire #UKwildlife #birdphotography #canon #photography

Keep it close to shore for the brass to inspect - also known as the naval gazers.

For air to air heat pumps it could go as high as 75%.

mhi-hvac.co.uk/air2air-heat...

(Water is harder to heat than air so A2W rarely worthwhile)

You get more heat per unit of gas if it goes gas->electricity->heat pump than going gas->boiler.

Our heat pump & solar/battery system in an ordinary Victorian terrace had a total cost of £22k (incl. BUS grant), will save around 3 tonnes of CO2 per year, so over 15years ~ £500 per tonne saved, and will also reduce bills by ~£1,200 per year at current rates. Gov subsidy = £166/tonne

Many years ago I wondered which the "Dire Straits" were.

It turns out "Hormuz" and "Bab al-Mandab".

The only downside is that you need an f-gas certified installer but in the UK they are plentiful (and in cities in Ireland). Just look under "air conditioning" in the directory...they mostly do commercial and retail but its the same thing for a domestic install.