Melissa
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iammelissa.bsky.social
Melissa
@iammelissa.bsky.social
210 followers 800 following 320 posts
Mother, wife, community builder. Covid aware cargo biker.

Current: Edinburgh, Scotland
🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺
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iammelissa.bsky.social
It was cold a couple of weeks back so I decided I needed jumpers for my hands 😆 I hear the cold is coming back? Just in time, I finished these unicorn mittens - typical Scottish accessorising 😅 #knitsky
Pink and purple handknit gloves with a unicorn on each hand, meeting together in a kicking style, designed as in the unicorn tapestries The palm side of pink and purple handknit gloves with a repeating pattern
November 11, 2025 at 3:56 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Today’s Edinburgh bike day trip: Craigie’s Farm for pumpkins. Except for the last 1/2 mile it was a fun ride. Extra bonus points for a rainy ride home with just a bit of extra gourd 🎃
Orange Craigies farm sign in a field of pumpkins, with pumpkin garland in the foreground on the right. Five pumpkins in a wheelbarrow
October 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Did a first time bike/ScotRail trip, going from Edinburgh to Stow to check out the newish pump track! It’s very close to the station so easy to do. Ofc I’ve been informed by my crew that it’s the same exact design as the SKELF in Dumbiedykes so could have saved a bit of effort. 😅
Three bikes piled in a taxi because the adult’s bike broke before we got down the street Three kids bikes in the bike stand on the train carriage - not sure two adult bikes would also work so this is clearly a limited scenario situation Stow Pump Track sign on a wet October day. A few bikes are scattered in the mid distance Pump track, a bit wet but nice green grass and well paved track! I’ve been told it was worth the journey as the quality of the paving is high!
October 21, 2025 at 4:22 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Things that make being a pedestrian feel exponentially less safe. Never mind the 4 cars in the last two days who’ve almost knocked me off my bike. Come on, Edinburgh!
A bus stop that’s been damaged with the bus stop poll lying bent on the pavement, plexiglass in the bus stop shelter no longer in place. The sky is grey because it’s autumn in Edinburgh.
October 19, 2025 at 4:04 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Friday
A challah bread, two Shabbat candles, and an array of seasonal gourds on a table
October 3, 2025 at 6:05 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
I was knit-fluenced by @bluegal.bsky.social to do my first colourwork and knit both these hats. I was sad I didn’t see any of the Shetland Wool Week hats in the wild last week but maybe it was too warm 😆 or no one comes to Edinburgh on their way to Shetland? 😅😅😅 #knitsky
Two knit hats on a marble surface. On the left is a purple, yellow, cream, pink, and green Shetland wool hat in a pattern called awl ower toorie, with a tassel. On the right is a pink and maroon colourwork hat with a pompom and the phrase Eat the Rich.
September 30, 2025 at 12:04 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Can’t stop thinking about this photo at an exhibition on resistance in Edinburgh right now:

“Aspiring fascists queue to sign on to join the Union Movement at the time of its launch
Bethnal Green, London, 1948”
Unknown photographer Aspiring fascists queue to sign on to join the Union Movement at the time of its launch Bethnal Green, London, 1948
September 22, 2025 at 7:05 AM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Can’t say I felt particularly uplifted…. But certainly far more informed. On until January - very much worth your time!
Resistance. How protest shaped Britain and photography shaped protest. Steve McQueen
September 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
And even about the antifascist 1936 Battle of Cable Street and the 1948 British fascists for the Union Movement (quoting the caption directly here)
The Battle of Cable Street was a defining moment in British anti-fascist resistance. Over one hundred thousand residents of London's East End prevented Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists from marching through their Jewish community. The barricades bore the slogan 'They Shall Not Pass, a powerful echo of the Spanish Civil War's ¡No Pasarán!', symbolising the enduring spirit of resistance in anti-fascist movements. The local Jewish, Irish and Communist residents worked together to build barriers from furniture, paving stones and overturned vehicles. Despite the force of 6000 police attempting to clear a path for the fascists, the East End community stood firm. Protestors in 1936 in front of a sign that reads they shall not pass on a street in East London Unknown photographer They Shall Not Pass', protesters on the barricades during the Battle of Cable Street, London, 4 October 1936 Courtesy of People's History Museum Unknown photographer Aspiring fascists queue to sign on to join the Union Movement at the time of its launch, Bethnal Green, London, 1948
September 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Also learnt about the British Black Panthers
Four young girls with British Black Panther screen printed tote bags in 1970. Neil Kenlock Young girls wearing British Black Panther school bags, 1970 © Neil Kenlock
September 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Anyone in Edinburgh, or visiting, highly recommend the Modern 2 exhibition on Protest Photography from 1903-2003 by Steve McQueen. Learnt a lot.

Eg did we know that the first use of surveillance photography in Britain was against the suffragettes?
These photographs represent some of Britain's earliest known examples of surveillance photography. After the suffragettes attacked Manchester Art Gallery, police went to great lengths to capture their images. Taking advice from a scientific instrument maker, they acquired a sophisticated Wigmore Model 2 Reflex Camera with an 11-inch telecentric lens, photographing militants from a concealed van in the prison yard. The images were circulated to London museums and galleries, where guards checked any woman entering. The suffragettes did everything they could to make it difficult for police photographers to collect mugshots: they contorted their faces, closed their eyes, and turned away from the camera. Four suffragettes captured by surveillance photography in 1914 from the Criminal Records Office Photos of 10 women numbered from surveillance photography of suffragettes in 1914 Criminal Record Office Surveillance photographs of militant suffragettes, 1914 © National Portrait Gallery, London
September 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
A rear view mirror so I can keep an eye on cargo. We had led strips going for a while for extra visibility. Cat squeaky bell does make folks jump …
The front half of a tern GSD bike at the beach. A picnic blanket is behind the bike and it has a pink euro crate on the front
September 16, 2025 at 10:41 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Gravel evidence - truly such a public safety concern on a right of way. Anyway at least Tesco is doing the right thing now - I’d love to know if the council helped in the end or if this was their own decision?
September 8, 2025 at 10:13 AM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Voi bikes spotted in the wild! #EdinburghCycling

Almost forgot after all the wild driving behaviour today. Stay safe out there
Two voi electric bikes parked along Charlotte square in New Town, Edinburgh
September 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Sometimes when it’s all too much, when you suspect it might be the last warm night of the year as summer fades, you ride via tree lined paths to catch the pastel sunset in a way only a bicycle can

10/10 recommend
Sunset over the Firth of Forth
August 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM
iammelissa.bsky.social
I think this sign has been getting bigger each week? Saw a pedestrian just screaming at a cyclist today while standing in front of this sign saying the cyclist was going the wrong way.

Maybe the sign should be bigger 😅
Blue road sign says “caution two way cycle lane in operation. Pedestrians and cyclists look out for each other.” Sign is in front of temporary walls and on George St, a section which is currently closed to host a fringe venue and bar
August 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
What needs to happen is, like TfL, Edinburgh Council needs to work with citymapper to fix the bike routing in the app. Some recent examples of my recent routes - one planned by citymapper (Meadows to Porty), one just a regular and dangerous occurrence #edtravcyc
Route from the meadows to Porty via wooded trail by Holyrood Bus rolling and parked over the cycle lane on the mound
August 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
The hills of Edinburgh don’t burn with fire but rainbow

(For now anyway)
A rainbow over Corstorphine Hill and housing from the top of the Roseburn to Canal bike path.
August 4, 2025 at 12:32 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Paint as cycling infrastructure.

My hot take on a muggy Thursday - pedestrianise Old Town. Honestly it’s entirely wild, the tourists take over. Just give it to them, de-stress everyone involved, they’ll probably spend more.

But make bike lanes too.

Thank you for your attention… etc
#Edinburgh
A Lothians bus stopped on a painted bike lane going downhill on the mound in Edinburgh. There’s an (ancient?) stone wall on the left.
July 24, 2025 at 9:26 AM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Yes! Our Sainsbury’s is at the entrance to a bike path but won’t allow bikes onto the path into the plaza. And here’s the gravel Tesco dumped, causing all sorts of falls and flats. The solution has been disbursement of rocks 🙃 I’ve been told we’re just to live with it
July 17, 2025 at 9:12 AM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Well the U.K. got lucky as @leahlitman.bsky.social ‘s book is here!
Me holding up Leah Litman’s book, entitled Lawless. In front of a Welsh blanket and a monstera leaf
July 2, 2025 at 9:05 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Hit 3k on the @ternbicycles.com GSD on a lovely summer evening 🥰 #EdinburghCycling
A photo of a bike odometer on handle bars saying 3000 miles, with a pink create with a purple jacket. The bike is at an intersection with trees in the background
June 20, 2025 at 8:23 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Hey @bluegal.bsky.social ! I love the corrugated rib on your Slava Ukraine hat! And thanks for the inspo for Shetland Wool Week - I was worried about the size but now I’m not! #knitsky

lol the rest of the U.K. is 🔥 but it’s just 16 in Edinburgh so still wool season…
A photo of 8 Jamieson and sons wool skeins and a set of needles ready for 2025 Shetland wool week on a wood shelf
June 19, 2025 at 2:13 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
The tagging is growing on the Roseburn to Canal path. I’m reading fun words, getting proselytised to, and seeing a variety of dick jokes/drawings (poorly captured here!). Flying by so I don’t need to explain to my little kids. #EdTravCyc @spokes.org.uk @edi.bike @blackfordsaferoutes.co.uk
I am so not the person who knows what fuck b7 means but it’s all over the place on the path Some proselytising paint on a path More tagging on an overhead bridge A poorly captured dick pic. Sorry friends, I didn’t want to alert my cargo
June 17, 2025 at 4:41 PM
iammelissa.bsky.social
Made it to Portobello despite the number of dogs just jumping out of nowhere on the Telford, Chancelot path et al. It’s like an irl video game of some kind 😅
#EdinburghBiking
A liv gravel bike leaning on a light green fence overlooking portobello beach in Edinburgh
June 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM