Popped down the village to our local for pints of Loch Lomond & Tempest ales. Lovely well kept beers, along with excellent food.😋 The Wee Black Beastie 🐾 is quietly crashed out under the table; she's still not worked out why she is flying solo but seems she no longer feels she has to defend anyone.

2 weeks on, finally plucked up the strength to unclip & remove Yarly's harness from the back seats. Stupid old fart that I am, I welled up while doing this.☹️ I miss her Back Seat Wooffit antics & pubs just aren't the same without her always at my side ready for a pork scratching & a good tab fuss.🐾

I think this is one of the better & more "user friendly" articles I've read in CR, plus it features folk I know very well.🙂 Well done to everyone, particularly Luke 👍 local-boy-done-good 🍐👌 @mnkybridgecider.bsky.social #cider #perry cider-review.com/2026/08/08/t...

The Yew Tree Cider Trials: Yes, Your Peers are Judging You

In her first solo piece for Cider Review, Anna heads to the Yew Tree Cider Trials, where community judging reigns supreme and a bamboozling blind tasting flight threatens to dissolve her sense of w…

cider-review.com

Removed grafting tape yesterday & trimmed side shoots.🙂 Also was told that I can't register a name for these mild bittersweet apples as they are "small" & therefore classed as "decorative". Pooh!🫤 Could have saved the cost of the DNA test if I'd realised size of apple would be an issue.🙄 #grafting

And why not? Had heard of "Sassy Cidre Bio Normand", saw it on the shelf at Tesco in Berwick-upon-Tweed... so in for a penny, in for £5.50. Nice toffee-apple nose, rich amber colour; very fizzy with plenty of mousse, long lasting too. Rich, less tannin & sweeter than I'd hoped, but very pleasant.😋

In Notts we haven't seen, seen evidence of, nor heard Song Thrushes for well over a decade. 🫤 The habitats for wildlife have been devastated in the area. Here in Northumberland, we hear, see, & find evidence of Song Thrushes daily.😊 This stone in our garden is a favourite "anvil stone" for them.💚

Feels like our hearts have just been ripped out. 🐾💔 We knew this was coming but it never makes it any easier. Go have fun, Yarly! Chase skiwwels & bunnies, paddle in streams, pee in puddles (& then drink out of them), roll in the snow, & go swim in warm seas. We'll miss you & never forget you. ❤️

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a spider to a fly; "'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy. The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I have many pretty things to show when you are there..." Giant House Spider (Eratigena sp.) living behind our outdoor tap. #spider

Seems a good idea to me.? Worth a shot anyway. Old pub in town we visited in the late 80's / early 90's "The Seven Stars" has sat closed for over 30 years despite attempts to take it over & having an ACV. Plans have just passed to demolish it. #pubs #community petition.parliament.uk/petitions/77...

Petition: Create community right to buy for empty pubs that are Assets of Community Value

We call on the Government to pass a law where pubs designated as an Asset of Community Value that are empty for 6 months or more, and where the owner refuses to sell or rent out the asset at an indepe...

petition.parliament.uk

Goodbye, old friend 🫤 Spring 1981: clutching some of my first teaching pay, I went into Moorgate Acoustics in Sheffield, where in their upstairs studio they'd set up a system for me to "audition": Mission 700's, Dual CS-505, & this A40. 😍 Just take my money - & they did.😊 Still works perfectly. ❤️🎵

And verily, thou pooch shall say unto thee: "If thou doth leave the Holy Slipper without an overseer, then Lo! I shall taketh it up unto the wilderness, lick it, anoint it with slobber, & cast it upon the grass." And when thou doth cast thine own eyes upon thy slipper, thou shalt beg forgiveness...

I really hope this gets to Number #1 on some chart or other... 👍🤣 Very clever, very well put together. Bit of fun, satire & parody - makes a very refreshing change from hatred & intolerance. 👌 [Need sound on to fully appreciate this 😉]. #clacton #binface youtu.be/iNp16EPj1Us?...

Bin, Bin, Binface! - Basic Craig | Satirical Music Video

YouTube video by James Cunliffe

youtu.be

We're in the end zone now; the brain-racking, emotion-draining time of what is best for Yarly. 🐾 The vet said Yarly clearly has dementia, she also now has cystitis - & currently losing around 400g-500g a week. Shit. Then she comes to you wagging her tail, wanting to play, barking for treats. 🫤 #dogs

I'm going to call this a win..? 7-0, no penalties. 😊 Very happy that all seven grafts have taken & are thriving. I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed but not quite so tightly.. 👌"Cherry Melville's" on MM106 rootstocks. 🍏🍎🌱🌳 #appletree #grafting

Peak irony today. Official Grant of Probate copies arrived. Only difference from originals received in Feb 2024, is that my late brother's name has been removed; he died suddenly 8 weeks after my mum in Jan 2024. The irony is that today would have been his 72nd birthday. Happy Birthday, Mike. ❤️

Ears up for added cooling effect. Snoring softly so we know she's still alive & breathing. Sadly, countdown is progressing; no matter how much we love & care for her, time is against us all. 16 yrs 6 months & trying to make the most of every second left. Bloody dogs are heartbreakers. 🐾Yarly 💔 #dog

While the Post Office is busy closing its branches, here’s an example of some branches closing in on the Post Office. This postbox on Drayton Gardens, South Kensington is slowly being devoured by a London plane tree.

Out of curiosity & to check I wasn't seeing things... Each image taken 24 hrs apart over 4 days, of the growth springing from around the top of one of the apple grafts. There's a bit more substantial growth lower down & out of shot, which is presumably powering these shoots. 👌💚🍎 #grafting #apple

Sad git perhaps ... I've always liked spiders especially these GHS (Giant House Spider - Eratigena group). 😊 This cracking female was tucked away minding its own business, so after getting it to pose, I carefully moved it after it had run across my hand. Totally harmless & way more scared of you. 👍

You're never too old to have a bath...🐾 Celebrating Yarly's 16.5 years with a warm, wet & soapy shampoo, followed by a bit of canine haute coiffure.👌 A girl has to look her best, no matter how old. ❤️ #dog #washing #bathing

With thanks to Darren @orchardnotes.com for timely advice, all rootstocks on the "Cherry Melville" grafts have been trimmed of growth. Still early days & not counting chickens, but the number of bud bursts is impressive; these 2 pics taken 24 hrs apart. I'm thinking there's some change here. 🤔

After a fortnight away, very pleased to see all 7 "Cherry Melville" scions showing various stages of growth. 😊 Now Week #10 since grafting. I am no expert at this, so a question for those with more experience: Do you leave well alone - or pinch out the tips of growth from the rootstock? #grafting

1990: Got a new shed for this house, built in 1959. When digging out for the concrete base, something clinked on the spade & I unearthed the first of 2 filthy, scratched, old beer bottles full of mud. Just refound them so Steradent tablets are polishing up the inside. #oldbottles #newproject #beer

This cast iron railway wagon plate is definitely coming with us.👍 Got this in Derby, mid-1970's; workers were cutting up old wagons for scrap in the (long gone) Chaddesden sidings. I was allowed to take one from the pile of plates. Now back home from long-term-loan at The Station Hotel, Hucknall. 🙂

Moving house & downsizing means you have to let go of many things ... so after more than two decades, we bid a fond farewell to our table football set. 🫡⚽ The missus always beat me anyway...🙄

Blimey! It's like being on "Time Team" or "Digging For Britain"..! Brought back tasty memories.😋👌 @rfcider.eurosky.social #cider #wholejuice #fulljuice

Get those notes in! Choose wisely, though! 🙂 #banknotes #uk #wildlife 💚 www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/he...

Help us celebrate the UK’s wildlife

Tell us which animals you would like to see on our next series of banknotes by 3 July 2026

bankofengland.co.uk

Sorting & sifting stuff, with piles for charity shops, keeping, & binning: Part II. My favourite weighty classical tome - in hardback too. 👌📖

Sorting & sifting stuff, with piles for charity shops, keeping, & binning ... & this pops up. For saying this was released in the UK a couple of weeks short of exactly 40 (forty!🫣) years ago, the sleeve & vinyl are in excellent nick. 👌 Cracking choon too..! 😊 #vinyl #single #RUNDMC

There have been some very nice lenticular clouds hovering above the Cheviots over the last few evenings. This one wasn't quite "Close Encounters" territory though. 👽 Stand easy, Roy Neary 👍