Hmmm..... This, on my clematis a couple of days ago, is a moth (Jersey Tiger) but)looks anything but introverted.

@drsarahballantyne.bsky.social Can I present the veg box diet - a chap just drove up from Kent and dumped these on my doorstep. I now have two weeks to eat it all before the next box arrives!

FB just reminded me of my favourite family photo, my mother on the right, with her sister Eva and baby brother Douglas. It must have been taken around 1911, when she would have been eight. All three lived to a ripe old age, 99, 90 and 101.

The Beignets de Crevettes at Chez Tonton Gaston in Grand Bassam, the beach near Abidjan. Gaston had been chef to Ivory Coast's first PM, who met a mysterious death. He returned to his home town and served up big piles of rustlingly crisp fried prawns. Cold beer, sand between the toes, bliss.

I have a letter in today's (London) Times, signed along with more than fifty other former colleagues. I'm appalled that the government (with help from BBC management) is prepared to hollow out BBC World Service just when the world needs it most.

Some people saying that VOA deserved to be closed because it was a propaganda channel.
Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Radio Marti were propaganda. But VOA, apart from clearly flagged editorials, was a proper news operation, and their correspondents were worthy colleagues and competitors.

This is going to be fun - movie afternoon at the British Museum. First a showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (with popcorn), then a glass of wine and a session with one of their Holy Grail experts to tell us whether it was total tosh.

A special treat, organised by a friend of a friend who runs a little bakery and cafe inside old County Hall. A ride on the London Eye, a tour of the building, and a chance to try some of her latest dainty desserts. All delicious, although the matcha mochi (the green blob) was definitely a bit odd.

Even as a Cambridge graduate, I have those things. But now, finally, at the age of 78, I have what I always wanted. A proper pencil sharpener, like teacher had.

At Paul's at night, done with charcoal and erasers on a toned ground. (I have been spending Christmas with a friend who lives on the opposite side of the river)

On the television this afternoon, Cliff Richard's 1963 film, Summer Holiday. I was no great Cliff Richard fan, but a younger friend was. It was classified as 'PG' (parental guidance) -- goodness knows why, since it's very innocent. 1/2

All the houses on our estate have identical large front windows, so we use them as a kind of Advent calendar. This year I drew day one, so here it is, after a rather Blue Peter session involving sheets of tracing paper, rolls of cellophane and a lot of sticky tape...

A mind-stretching day yesterday at the British Museum, exploring the astonishing network of world trade more than a thousand years ago.
This 12th century map, centred on Mecca, is a sobering reality check for those of us in Britain (one of those white dots down at the bottom right).

I made Mattar Dhokla yesterday. It looks a bit like a washing up sponge, but it's a savoury snack from Gujrat. I love Dhokla, but the traditional version entails grinding and fermenting lentils overnight, and needs a warm climate. This was done with green peas and baking powder, and was delicious.

My veg box supplier likes to keep us on our toes. This week's mystery item is leaf celery, former known as smallage, the ancestor of modern, blanched varieties. Google informs me that in Ancient Greece it was used for funeral wreaths. I'm planning celery soup.

Weeding at @kewgardens.bsky.social yesterday, and found this yucca had suddenly burst into late flower. It bites, though. Canny weeders take care not to get too close......