Diana
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chalkhill.bsky.social
Diana
@chalkhill.bsky.social
96 followers 130 following 350 posts
Proofreader and word wonk.
woke: adjective
(often derogatory) alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination.
Always be kind. Life's often difficult. Take a pause; try to make the day brighter.
Refugees, RSPB, wildlife, Ospreys.
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Reposted by Diana
harbourbirds.bsky.social
Drake and redhead Smew out in Brands Bay/Redhorn area. An amazing end of year species! The last Poole Harbour drake was in 2008!! Ironically, also on News Years Eve. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social
December 31, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Reposted by Diana
brianbilston.bsky.social
These are unsettling times.
Upon Awakening to the Sounds of Distant Rumbles   He awakes from seasonal slumbers to distant rumbles. A storm approaching, perhaps, or the muffled guns from the ghost of a war long since waged upon faded fields.   The dawn chorus wakens the dead and rattles the brain as the back street clatter recedes into murmured memory and the awful truth emerges. Bin day! The revised Christmas holiday collection schedule.   Thoughts fly unbidden to the rooms of recycling, Pennines of packaging, glaciers of glass, corridors of cardboard and cartons, growing, overflowing, silently creeping up the staircase, across the landing, clawing at the bedroom door. The horror! The horror!   He lies there and tries to collect himself. Brian Bilston
December 30, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Diana
anothergreen.bsky.social
The polluter pays principle, big oil pays the politicians and the politicians oppose net zero.
anothergreen.bsky.social Another Green @anothergreen.bsky.social · 10d
'Fossil fuel lobbyists, polluting industries and climate deniers have donated £8.4 million ($10.6 million) to the Conservative Party since December 2019. Within the same period, they provided 92 per cent of the funds raised by the rightwing Reform UK' newint.org/democracy/20...
Big Oil is bankrolling the UK’s election
UN advisor Ibrahim Özdemir argues that urgent action is needed to protect Britain’s democracy.
newint.org
December 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Diana
twamers.bsky.social
Photos from the 2 White Tailed Eagles over Studland earlier today,unfortunately poor light and shooting into the sun meant some rather creative editing, maybe after the festive break someone can confirm the rings @harbourbirds.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @dorsetraptors.bsky.social
December 25, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Diana
harbourbirds.bsky.social
A very Happy Christmas and festive season to you all. We’d like to extend our thanks to everyone for another brilliant year and to wish all our followers and supporters a full and exciting 2026 ❤️
December 25, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Diana
brianbilston.bsky.social
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas, no matter how you choose to spend it.
A Traditional Family Christmas   It wasn’t until that first Christmas with your family that I realised how we all do it differently, how every family forges its own traditions, as bright and distinct as any giant, shining star.   The way you laid out coal sacks instead of stockings; the recital of a limerick before the opening of each present, Christopher Lee’s heavy metal Christmas album playing quietly in the background; the pre-breakfast snorkel;   the Dance of the Seven Baubles; the festive epaulettes; lunch with its ptarmigan fritters in milk sauce, the suet potatoes, and the sweet and sour popcorn; the replenishing of glasses with red turkey wine;   sprout-rolling in the park; the posting of a tinsel stick through Mr Jennings’ letterbox; and back for an evening of TV (some classic episodes of Panorama) and games (Hoist the Pickle, No Elbows Please!, Speculum) then bed.   The following year you came to my family for Christmas. You said later that it was weird. Brian Bilston
December 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Diana
eddavey.libdems.org.uk
Every year, people mock this tree. But I love it anyway.

It reminds us that if we stand together in tough times, we can overcome anything.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours. 🎄✨
December 24, 2025 at 9:02 AM
chalkhill.bsky.social
A roaring fire, a whiskey mac, plus an orange and some cloves to fashion a fragrant pomander.
December 23, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Diana
brianbilston.bsky.social
Here’s a poem called ‘Christmas without you is’.
Christmas without you is                A cracker in need of pulling. A glass of wine that could do with more mulling. A stocking lacking in presents. A champagne cocktail without effervescence. A Santa Claus who doesn’t convince. A deep-filled mince pie with no deep-filled mince. A Wise Man bereft of myrrh (substitute gold or frankincense, if you prefyrrh). A card you've written but forgotten to send. It's A Wonderful Life without the bit at the end. An out-of-tune carol. A big tin of Roses with no Golden Barrel. A Bowie without a Bing. A merrily-on-high dong that’s lost its ding. Mistletoe without a kiss. That's what Christmas without you is.   Brian Bilston
December 23, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Reposted by Diana
thetnholler.bsky.social
👇🏽 🎯
December 19, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Diana
darren32359.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Diana
ledbydonkeys.org
The story of Farage and Putin, told by British-Ukrainian soldier Shaun Pinner on a destroyed apartment block in Kyiv.
December 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Diana
arusbridger.bsky.social
How pleasingly ironic it would be for the British Broadcasting Corporation to remind Americans what the First Amendment is all about. The BBC may be about to lose a director general, but it still has a spine. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC has no choice but to teach Trump a lesson about free speech
The corporation may have lost a director general, but now needs to prove it still has a spine
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
December 19, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Diana
chrisgrey.bsky.social
Amusing and insightful
December 16, 2025 at 11:18 AM
chalkhill.bsky.social
This is heartbreaking and infuriating in equal measure. I hope the police go after the culprits and throw the book at them
milesking.bsky.social Miles King @milesking.bsky.social · 14d
Police investigate after white-tailed eagles go missing across UK
www.theguardian.com/environment/... satellite tags found to have been cut off one fledgling and two adult White-tailed Eagles.

Who could possibly have killed these birds and cut off their satellite tags? The usual suspects.
Police investigate after white-tailed eagles go missing across UK
Conservationists appeal to public for help after rare birds disappear in suspicious circumstances
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Diana
brianbilston.bsky.social
These are a few of my favourite words …
My Favourite Words    Pipette and plectrum, obumbrate and flimsy,  balderdash, spatchcock, flapdoodle and whimsy,  obnubilation and nontrepreneur – these are a few of my favourite words.    Sachet, humdudgeon, haboob, hurly-burly,  scroddled and dottle, goluptious and surly,  mumpsimus, tawdry, decumbent and blurb – these are a few of my favourite words.    Susurrus, zephyr, rubescent, boondoggle,  reboant, gaggle, hubris and hornswoggle,  plethora, refulgent, plinth and perturb – these are a few of my favourite words.    When the rose droops  When the branch snags  When I’m lachrymose  I simply remember my favourite words  and then I don’t feel morose.  Brian Bilston
December 17, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Diana
brianbilston.bsky.social
I got visited by three ghosts last night, who were all experts in English grammar.
Tense Christmas I The Ghost of Christmas Past Perfect Progressive Midnight. Awoken by a ghost. I thought I must be raving. He’d come to me so I could see how badly I’d been behaving. II The Ghost of Christmas Present Perfect Simple Later still, a ghost again: with a much more recent scene. More evidence piling up of how unpleasant I have been. III The Ghost of Christmas Future Unreal Conditional Then, a final ghostly vision – but this one lacked the pain and strife. I saw if I could be a kinder man, I would create a better life. Brian Bilston
December 14, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Diana
brianbilston.bsky.social
Here’s a poem which has become trapped in a vicious circus (and other phrases of a similar elk).
To Be Pacific Why do you always go off on a tandem, say goodbye without further adieu? It’s time you climbed down from your pedal stool – this is not a phrase you’re going through,   when antidotal evidence suggests you’ve been three-wheeling right from the start. Or rather, from the gecko, as you might say. You’re always upsetting the apple tart.   Now I’m not saying I’m above approach: it takes two to tangle, I won’t deny it. But when push comes to shovel and all’s set and done, I need rest bite. A little piece of quiet.   I’d love to curl up in the feeble position but you pass me from pillow to post, you see, with your Belgian whistles and semi-skilled milk – they do not pass mustard with me.   I don’t regard you as a social leopard. You’re no escape goat – just a hapless case. But do be aware there may be reaper cushions when you cut off your nose despite your face.   Brian Bilston
December 10, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Diana
bikingbirder.bsky.social
A flat-out gorgeous visit to #BrownseaIsland this AM to survey the waders and wildfowl on the lagoon. Highlights: 980+ Black-tailed Godwits, 550+ Avocet, 300+ Euro Teal, 50+ Gadwall, plus loads more. Called into Poole Park on the way home to see some #plasticfantastic 😄

@dorsetwildlife.bsky.social
The lagoon on Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour. The lagoon on Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour. A Mandarin Duck on Poole Park lagoon.
December 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Diana
adambienkov.bsky.social
Brilliant piece by @labourlewis.bsky.social on why the Nigel Farage racism allegations matter.

If we end up rewarding a politics based on the instincts of a racist schoolyard bully, we should't be surprised at what follows bylinetimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
'If Nigel Farage's Racism Is Forgotten It Will Give Him Permission for Far Worse'
When someone tells you who they are, over and over again, it is wise to listen, argues Clive Lewis MP
bylinetimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Diana
brianbilston.bsky.social
Annual reminder to water your Christmas tree poems …
This poem is written in the shape of a Christmas tree (well, most of it is) … Needles I wrote a poem in the shape of a Christmas tree but then forgot to water it and only a few days later [but the words beyond this point are scattered around the bottom of the page, like needles which have fallen from a Xmas tree) there were words all over the carpet
December 7, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Diana
dizzygirl66.bsky.social
@harbourbirds.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @annaaubrey.bsky.social coombe and shipstal .2 peregrine buzzard red kite pintail dunlin curlew redshank wigeon teal Brent geese little egret goldfinch goldcrest long tailed tits marsh harrier cormorant 31 spoonbill black tailed godwits oycs
December 6, 2025 at 2:01 PM
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leftwardswing.bsky.social
Sound familiar?
This is from the diary of Anne Frank, written in 1943.
The parallels are striking 😮
#Fascism #ICE #Trump
A picture that says --- “Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.” Below the quote, in smaller text, it is attributed to “Diary of Anne Frank, January 13, 1943.”
December 1, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Diana
theguardian.com
Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot
Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot
I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover Program, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:38 AM