Helen
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hopefulharpy.bsky.social
Helen
@hopefulharpy.bsky.social
Food, environment, cookery and health, gardening and growing, hiking and exploring. DIY apprentice, give me a YT video and some No More Nails and I'll have a go. General bodger.
Reposted by Helen
One of the reasons that emergence of ‘cold spots’ of subject provision matters: 52% of 18 year olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds (the most deprived quintile in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation) plan to live at home when they go the university
www.thetimes.com/article/22cc...
Nearly a third of university 18-year-olds will live at home
According to figures from Ucas, a record 89,510 18-year-olds with university offers plan to live at home when they begin their studies this autumn
www.thetimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Helen
I wrote a Christmas gift guide! Who am I? Anyway, there’s lots of crap out there so get the best deal for the wildlife gardener in your life. Merry Christmas 🎄

open.substack.com/pub/katebrad...
Gifts for wildlife gardeners that really work
(Or, don't buy a hedgehog box that kills hedgehogs. Ok?)
open.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Helen
Irish artist Mildred Anne Butler, Shades of Evening, 1904 #womensart #November
November 26, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Helen
When in the woods, best beware of dead man's fingers lurking there.
Reaching up above the ground, a creepy fungi to be found.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Photo: Sheringham Park by Rob Coleman
October 31, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Helen
Professor Benjamin Zephaniah testifying for all of us here in 🇬🇧 with a multicultural culinary poem about the people of Britain (with notes)

"The British"
October 16, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Feel really quite emotional after watching The Librarians on iPlayer, I'm horrified for you all, the kids you support and the kids that are still to come to your schools @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social .

Everyone should watch this.

#thelibrarians
October 15, 2025 at 8:43 PM
It's my annual Practical Magic viewing night. One day I'll do this properly and fix myself a Margherita. I mostly however, just want this hat.
October 11, 2025 at 7:19 PM
A cat has appeared in our garden, scaring our cat. However, it yowls mournfully and doesn't want to fight her. It comes right up to the back door but runs off as soon as we try and approach. It scoffed a small tin of food but I can't decide if it's lost or not? Any feline behaviour experts here?
October 7, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Ruin a book with a car:

Half of a Yellow Datsun
Ruin a book with a car

The Ford of San Luis Rey
Ruin a book with a car:
Wuthering Hyundai
September 25, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by Helen
Look what we have here then.
September 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
A Wednesday afternoon snooze circle.
September 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Helen
Me: "Finished that statue of the vagina mary that you asked for"

Priest: "You mean the virgin mary"

Me:

Priest:

Me: yeah
The new statue of the Madonna at Santa Teresa di Gallura is an "abstract of Mary's form" 👀
September 9, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Slightly diminish a book: The French Corporal's Woman
Slightly diminish a book: The Peckish Caterpillar 🐛
Slightly diminish a book: A Long Weekend in the Country
September 8, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Helen
"A culture is no better than its woods." - WH Auden
September 5, 2025 at 5:56 AM
And the stripy shoes!
Is it very bad that my main thought (after wtf) is about where she got those trousers
September 2, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Helen
Actually, Frankenstein is a doctor success at the Venice film festival
August 31, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Watching the series on iPlayer about the Piper Alpha disaster which is very good, moving and infuriating (at the casual industry attitude to safety), has got me reflecting that the late 80s seemed to have so many hideous disasters like this, Zeebrugge, Lockerbie, Piper Alpha etc.
August 25, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Hello, I'm a regular drinker in a British pub but I'm just going to leave the last 1/3 of this pint and get up and go at the end of this conversation.
Hello. I’m a woman in a film who woke up in a full face of make up and put on a man’s shirt to make coffee. I buttoned it badly
Hello. I am an expendable character in an action film. If you shoot me with a regular gun I will scream in pain before I die. But if you shoot me with a silencer I will - obligingly - just let out a quiet gasp.
July 27, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Helen
Lioness

Artist: John Leigh-Pemberton
July 27, 2025 at 6:49 PM
A favourite old tweet from the other place...once again!!
July 27, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Helen
Simple but effective…

Plant trees to tackle deadly heatwaves, say experts

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Climate change could see more trees in cities to tackle heatwaves - BBC News
Scientists say air temperatures could be reduced by 5C by planting more trees.
www.bbc.com
July 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Helen
An extreme public health crisis that is being normalised and in the process destroying the world’s soul.
Rachael Cummings from Save the Children: "The situation is absolutely desperate.. this is the worst its ever been.. there is not enough food.. the water is dirty.. there is open sewage in the streets.. there is nowhere safe.. the overcrowding is extreme.. people are exhausted"
July 22, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Reposted by Helen
"The malnutrition I'm seeing is terrible and children and adults are dying as a result of it."

British surgeon Nick Maynard speaks to @ayshahtull.bsky.social about conditions in Nassar Hospital in Gaza, where he is currently working.

Read and watch here:
Teenagers being shot by Israeli soldiers – British surgeon in Gaza
We spoke to Nick Maynard - a British gastrointestinal surgeon, who is currently in Gaza, working at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
www.channel4.com
July 21, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Reposted by Helen
In a horrifying article about the dangers of Teslas, one point stands out: Teslas automatically disengage self-driving mode <1 second before an imminent crash--not enough time for the driver to react, but enough for Tesla to deny responsibility for fatal crashes, since self-driving "wasn't engaged."
July 5, 2025 at 9:53 AM