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gwenfar.bsky.social
Gwenfar
@gwenfar.bsky.social
210 followers 180 following 310 posts
Plants. Cats. ME/CFS. Also, Paleobotany, dinosaurs & earth sciences. #MedievalHistory #Disabled #FreePalestine #TransPeoplesRights #Anarchist They/them. Wales. #GardeningWithME #GreenParty

Also on Mastodon @GwenfarsGarden@rage.love
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gwenfar.bsky.social
Gwenfar @gwenfar.bsky.social · 14d
Adding Alt Text image descriptions matters.

There a lot of people with a range of disabilities & needs, who can only understand what a photo in your post is saying if you tell them!

Without Alt Text, the attached photo would be meaningless.

Please add #AltText where you can.

#Disability 1/4
A cat sitting up looking straight at the camera and looking quizzical. She wants to know if you've added alt text.
Reposted by Gwenfar
brainmage.bsky.social
Right. Here's my big pitch:

Muppet James Bond

James Bond in…A Heart-Felt Goodbye

Dominic Cooper as Bond
Kermit M Frog
Mrs Moneypiggy
Beaker & Dr Bunsen HoneyQ

The agents of G.O.N.Z.O. want to kidnap the world's chickens. MI5 has a mole (Rizzo the Rat). An agent is undercover as a chef in Sweden.
December 4, 2024 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
smolrobots.bsky.social
Just make Jane Bond starring Katy O'Brian and watch the entire world tear itself apart. Outdo the backlash the female Ghostbusters got by, like, an order of magnitude. Set it off like a grenade and watch the discourse lay waste to everything humanity has built. It's the only way.
November 11, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Reposted by Gwenfar
hleehurley.com
How many trans people have the BBC had on this week discussing the BBC's pro-trans bias?

Zero.
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Gwenfar
katlister.bsky.social
"There are soiled sheets, unvoiced fears, missed doses of morphine. The hard truth, in short, about underfunding palliative care is that people who are at their most vulnerable – the dying – suffer more pain, more indignity, less choice & less autonomy than they might have." Please read this piece:
drrachelclarke.com Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 22h
"We would never tolerate a government that chose to defund 70% of neonatal services, gambling that charities would fill the gap. Yet this is exactly the situation for end-of-life care."

Please read my piece on the travesty of NHS palliative care underfunding 🙏

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
As a palliative care specialist, I’ve witnessed the human tragedy of our end-of-life care crisis | Rachel Clarke
While the government debates assisted dying, palliative care is an afterthought. And many more people face death without the care and support they need, says Rachel Clarke
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Gwenfar
tatianatrifan.bsky.social
Some in mental health are really bending backwards to dig up myths and pseudoscience to discredit complex physical illness and to claim it is, actually, psychological.
mecfsskeptic.bsky.social ME/CFS Science @mecfsskeptic.bsky.social · 2d
1) 🇨🇦 Problematic letter in the Canadian journal BCMJ, stating:

"Patients with fibromyalgia and ME/CFS have a high proportion of childhood physical abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual trauma. This trauma contributes to profound attachment disruptions..."
November 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
hetanshah.bsky.social
At a time when humanities and social science courses are facing severe cutbacks I’ll be mounting a defence of them and their role in shaping a better future at this lecture at De Montfort University on 27 November. All welcome
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shaping-a-...
Shaping a Brighter Future
The first event in our Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture Series, delivered by Hetan Shah, Chief Executive, The British Academy
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
mooseallain.bsky.social
Cartoon of a small figure in a landscape. There is a horizon line and a single tree in the background. The figure is leaning back. Caption: Person who, during the process of sitting down has arrived at the moment of realisation that there is in fact no chair behind them and yet they have passed the point of no return.
November 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
goingmedieval.bsky.social
Men like this are transphobes because they are, deep down, misogynists. They simply believe they are better than women at everything, and in trans women they have found a group it is alright to descriminate against. This man believes cis women are his physical inferiors, and needs you to know that.
November 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
susieoftraken.bsky.social
Links to petitions for the suspended courses in Biosciences, University of Nottingham:

Plant Biology c.org/d8PQr9Rd9Z
Food Science & Nutrition c.org/Tp7gQBgYwD
Agriculture c.org/CDkdk95LxZ
Microbiology c.org/YXLh57RZyy
November 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
aldpaleo.bsky.social
Colours AND smells 🙃🌳💩
Several Ginkgo yellow leaves with various shapes and ovules
November 9, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Gwenfar
zackpolanski.bsky.social
If this is true - this should have happened a long time ago.

The Green Party alongside campaigners have been calling for this - and it's good to see maybe they've finally listened.

Will reserve relief for all children being lifted out of poverty until we know it's happening.
pippacrerar.bsky.social Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 1d
NEW: Rachel Reeves signals she intends to remove the two-child cap *in full*

"I don't think a child should be penalised because they're in a bigger family through no fault of their own," she tells BBC.
November 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
lockdownyourlife.com
This week has been a long year. But you know what to do. 😍
September 13, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by Gwenfar
smolrobots.bsky.social
Not that anyone will learn a single thing from this, but let it serve as yet another example of the futility of trying to appease right-wing extremists. No matter how much you try to meet them halfway, they will still paint you as insufficiently servile to their ideology.
November 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
griffinkate.bsky.social
Yeah, so just to clarify: if you're buying Christmas stuff now you are sending an economic signal to retailers that this nonsense is profitable enough to make it worth annoying and panicking people. You are not just part of the problem, you ARE the problem. Resist!
November 9, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
jenblacker.bsky.social
10 years ago I was running 10ks

This week I took 2 sides of A4 worth of symptoms/issues to intro myself to yet another new GP

We still have no real diagnosis beyond "fibro??"
gwenfar.bsky.social Gwenfar @gwenfar.bsky.social · 2d
If there was just one thing I wish every healthy person could understand, it is this: ANYONE can get a chronic illness.

Illnesses like #MECFS & #LongCovid can happen to absolutely anyone, it doesn’t matter how healthy you are.

Chronic illness can happen to good people. It could happen to you.
November 9, 2025 at 2:20 AM
gwenfar.bsky.social
Finally written up my notes from this year's garlic harvest. So if you want to know what did and didn't work, you've come to the right place!
www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2025/11/garl...

#Garlic #GarlicPosting #GardeningWithME #SpoonieVeg
A montage of 8 different cultivars of garlic that I grew this year. There is a label underneath each cultivar naming the variety. There is 70+ bulbs of garlic in all.
November 9, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
ph-ph-ph.bsky.social
‘They..suggest candidate treatments for clinical trials.
These include
immune suppressing drugs,
pre & probiotics to restore the gut microbiome,
dietary supplementation with compounds deficient in people with ME/CFS,
& drugs to boost serotonin levels.’
tomkindlon.bsky.social Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · Sep 24
The NIH in the US have highlighted a recent ME/CFS study they funded:

"Overactive immune responses in ME/CFS"

www.nih.gov/news-events/...

#MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MEcfs #CFS #PwME @mhornig.bsky.social
NIH logo Home News & Events NIH Research Matters September 23, 2025 Overactive immune responses in ME/CFS At a Glance Researchers found signs of overactive immune responses in people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS. The findings provide insights into the causes of ME/CFS and suggest new treatment approaches. ME/CFS involves unexplained fatigue that may worsen after exertion and cause problems with thinking and memory that lasts at least six months. People with ME/CFS often report symptoms consistent with infection before developing ME/CFS. Yet no single microbe has been found to be responsible. This suggests that ME/CFS may be caused by a more general immune response to infection. To test this idea, a research team from several institutions, led by Dr. W. Ian Lipkin at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, collected blood samples from
November 8, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
angrygeriatricgenx.bsky.social
Zack had Trevor Phillips stuttering throughout the whole interview.
He kept trying to shut Zack down, but he stayed on point and got his message across.
👏👏👏
November 9, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Gwenfar
chronicillness.bsky.social
@wonder_cripple When you say be positive to a disabled or chronically ill person, you're not saying it for their benefit. You're saying it because their their discomfort makes you uncomfortable and you don't wanna hear it. Stop lying to yourself.
November 8, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
blooyonder.bsky.social
My friend's community org The Fidget Project CIC supports autistic children in South Devon. This crowdfunder to help them has a gorgeous prize draw, just 3 days left to win www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/win-a-luxu...
Win a Luxury Weekend In Devon for 10 People
Support The Fidget Project and win a truly unforgettable eco-luxury escape for 10 in Devon!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 8:47 PM
gwenfar.bsky.social
I still occasionally have bad dreams where I am frantically trying to dial on a rotary phone and it won't dial. Even though I haven't used one for 40 years. The dreams need an upgrade, to trying to call on my mobile only I keep forgetting the pin number or something 😆
midnightx.bsky.social midnight🦇🏴‍☠️🕸️✡️ @midnightx.bsky.social · 3d
(i got a zero lolz)

THE FABULOUS WEIRD CHECKLIST
Give yourself I point for each thing you've NEVER done.
THE FABULOUS WEIRD CHECKLIST Give yourself I point for each thing you've NEVER done. 1. Operated a rotary phone 2. Slid a floppy disk into a PC 3. Typed on an actual typewriter 4. Snapped photos with a film camera 5. Played music on a CD 6. Rewound a cassette tape with a pencil 7. Dropped the needle on a vinyl record 8. Rocked a Walkman like a rebel 9. Blasted tunes from a boombox on your shoulder 10. Watched a movie on VHS and prayed it doesn't jam 11. Sent or received a fax like a business wizard 12. Recorded songs from the radio like a mixtape hero 13. Rented a VHS at Blockbuster on a Friday night 14. Heard the screech of dial-up internet 15. Looked up someone in a phone book 16. Sent a postcard with actual handwriting 17. Used a paper map and didn't get lost 18. Owned a proper dusty dictionary 20. Had a whole encyclopedia collection
November 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
robonabike.bsky.social
Well, there's a paragraph that pulls you in.
PROLOGUE My mother is a physician; she started medical school when my three siblings and I were of primary school age. It was the late sixties in Pittsburgh. She had to keep us kids a secret at school to escape being branded as delusional.
November 8, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
ladylettera32.bsky.social
Alt text: a poster with a quote on it from Dr. Elizabeth Sawin. It reads "Stop referring to the pandemic in the past tense and climate change in the future tense."
mayaofaotearoa.bsky.social Māyā @mayaofaotearoa.bsky.social · 4d
Only thing is...
November 8, 2025 at 8:43 AM
gwenfar.bsky.social
If there was just one thing I wish every healthy person could understand, it is this: ANYONE can get a chronic illness.

Illnesses like #MECFS & #LongCovid can happen to absolutely anyone, it doesn’t matter how healthy you are.

Chronic illness can happen to good people. It could happen to you.
November 8, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Gwenfar
celestelabedz.bsky.social
Fellow seismologists, we're going to get a lot of mileage out of the latest @xkcd.com
xckd coming of a flowchart. The top reads "someone is claiming to predict the exact date of a future earthquake. Should you listen?" A diamond-shape says "start" and one arrow leads to a box reading "NO" in very large letters, followed by "(there are big earthquakes constantly, so if anyone ever DOES figure this out, it will be immediately obvious that their method works and then the world's seismologists will not shut up about it. You won't need this flowchart."
November 8, 2025 at 5:27 PM