Stephanie
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stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Stephanie
@stephanieoffer.bsky.social
1K followers 350 following 3K posts
Researching links between the Church of England in Croydon &the slave trade
Have ME, FM &mental health problems. Christian
Also into knitting, gardening #TheArchers
She/her
Formerly known as foggyknitter
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stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Morrisons are to be congratulated on their world first - crossing a cow with a salmon
A picture from the Morrisons supermarket website of a joint of beef, the description reads "Market Street Medium Salmon Joint" save 33% £11.46
November 13, 2025 at 1:03 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Brewer the dog has been learning how to steal the show from Ned. A tub of compost is apparently very comfortable #GardenersWorld
A brown dog with a white muzzle is relaxing in a tub filled with compost
November 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Anyone for a Christmas stocking that costs more than your house?
An online shop page showing a Christmas stocking with stars on it, the price says £999,999.99
November 4, 2025 at 9:13 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
This is definitely a good way to deal with a dark damp October day

(There is a cat under that duvet)
A large round lump under a green duvet conceals a clever cat keeping warm
October 29, 2025 at 9:06 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
The street light lights up the tree outside my house beautifully in the autumn. In the spring it makes the blossom look ethereal and ghostly
A view through a window of a tree with golden red autumn leaves lit up at night by a streetlight
October 29, 2025 at 8:52 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
I know the fur isn't as soft through a screen, but less likely to cause an allergic reaction
A dark tortoiseshell cat is lying curled up on a blue blanket in the sun, which is bringing out the ginger tones in her fur. She looks very relaxed
October 28, 2025 at 9:43 AM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Enjoying the autumn sunshine #ProofOfCat
A tortoiseshell cat lying on a blue cushion in the sunshine on a windowsill. There is a tree with golden leaves outside the window
October 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Another medical fact about previous Archbishops: there were three Archbishops in 1349 because two died of plague. The second only lasted 38 days as Archbishop. I wish the new Archbishop far, far better health and fortunes! #ArchbishopOfCanterbury #CofEPeeps #CofE ✝️
A list of Archbishops John de Ufford Archbishop 24th September 1348 died 20 May 1349 died of plague before consecration Thomas Bradwardine Archbishop 19th July-26th August died of plague Simon Islip Archbishop 20th December 1349-26th April 1349
October 4, 2025 at 7:17 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
They're complaining about creaming butter &sugar by hand? Lightweights - one of the recipes in Mrs Rundell's New System of Domestic Cookery calls for an hour of whisking! #GBBO #BakeOff

archive.org/details/b215...
A very fine Italian cream Whip together for nearly an hour a quart of very thick scalded cream, a quart of raw cream, the grated rind of 4 lemons and the strained juice, with 1 0 oz. of white powdered sugar ; then add i pint of sweet wine, and continue to whisk it until it becomes quite solid. Lay a piece of muslin in a sieve, and lade the cream upon it with a spoon. In 20 hours turn it carefully out, but mind that it does not break. Garnish it with fruit-jelly or with flowers
September 23, 2025 at 7:47 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Mudchute city farm in Docklands is awesome www.mudchute.org #TheArchers
Sheep standing in a field with the tower blocks of Canary wharf in the background
September 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
This is always an option?
A pair of bollards on a crossing with red crosses that have been painted yellow and pink like a battenberg cake
September 9, 2025 at 1:30 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
It really is, talk about going to town!

I also liked this about one of his illegitimate daughters, who married John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, and lived at Buckingham House before the (legitimate) royal family 🗃 #18thC

www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-lond...
The duke's proud widow, Catherine Darnley, the natural daughter of James II. by Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, lived here after his death. "Here," writes Mr. J. H. Jesse, "on each successive anniversary of the execution of her grandfather, Charles I., she was accustomed to receive her company in the grand drawing-room, herself seated in a chair of state, clad in the deepest mourning, and surrounded by her women, all as black and as dismal looking as herself. Here, too, that eccentric lady breathed her last." "Princess Buckingham," writes Horace Walpole, "is either dead or dying.
September 6, 2025 at 9:35 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
James II, he was even divided up among various Catholic churches and other organisations!
James died aged 67 of a brain haemorrhage on 16 September 1701 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[151] James's heart was placed in a silver-gilt locket and given to the convent at Chaillot, and his brain was placed in a lead casket and given to the Scots College in Paris. His entrails were placed in two gilt urns and sent to the parish church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the English Jesuit college at Saint-Omer, while the flesh from his right arm was given to the English Augustinian nuns of Paris.[152] The rest of James's body was laid to rest in a triple sarcophagus (consisting of two wooden coffins and one of lead) at the St Edmund's Chapel in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris, with a funeral oration by Henri-Emmanuel de Roquette.[3] James was not buried, but put in one of the side chapels. Lights were kept burning round his coffin until the French Revolution. In 1734, the Archbishop of Paris heard evidence to support James's canonisation, but nothing came of it.[3] During the French Revolution, James's tomb was raided.
September 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
I saw this cartoon last night which reminded me of this encounter
A four picture cartoon of two cats looking at each other through a window. The inside cat is being big and tough until their owner opens the window, when they hide behind their owners legs scared of the other cat, who has sat still and calm all the time
August 31, 2025 at 6:30 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Ideal job for any cat who's ever wanted to move to Scotland #CatsOfBluesky #ProofOfCat
A picture of a harbour with houses painted red yellow and blue. The caption says "Dream job making biscuits on "Balamory" island with accommodation provided"
August 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Relaxed cat with close up of toe beans #CatsOfBluesky renewing my #ProofOfCat
A very relaxed dark tortoiseshell cat is lying on a blue bed with her back legs in the fore ground. You can see the toebeans on one paw. The light has brought out the ginger in her fur
August 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Reminds me of this absurdity from Samuel Butler's "The Way of All Flesh" #19thCentury #19thC
Before the next course was over Mr. Pontifex had recovered his temper, and from that time to the end of the evening he was at his best. He told us all about the water from the Jordan ; how it had been brought by Dr. Jones along with some stone jars of water from the Rhine, the Rhone, the Elbe and the Danube, and what trouble he had had with them at the Custom Houses, and how the intention had been to make punch with waters from all the greatest rivers in Europe ; and how he, Mr. Pontifex, had saved the Jordan water from going into the bowl, etc., etc. "No, no, no," he continued, "it wouldn't have done at all, you know ; very profane idea ; so we each took a pint bottle of it home with us, and the punch was much better without it
August 28, 2025 at 11:08 AM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
If you ever decide to do the outer suburbs I've got quite a few records from Croydon I could share with you.

I also found this sad little story in Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal 8th November 1760

The full text is in the alt text

#18thC 🗃
Last week a Negro Girl, about nine years old, having eloped from her Mistress on account of ill usage, was brought to a church in Westminster, by two house-keepers to be baptised. But the mistress of the girl getting intelligence of it, while the minister was reading the Churching Service, seized upon her in the face of the congregation, and violently forced her out of the Church, regardless of her cries and tears; telling the people about her she was her slave, and she would use her as she pleased
August 21, 2025 at 2:19 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Renewing my #ProofOfCat with a sunbaked relaxed cat
A tortoiseshell cat is lying on her side curled up on a blue duvet in the sunshine. Her eyes are just open and her paws are all positioned together. The sunshine is bringing out the ginger tones in her fur
August 9, 2025 at 5:34 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
@nhm-london.bsky.social Do you often see bequests in wills for paleontological research? This is from 1819, the will of Thomas Apthorp. The transcript is in the alt text
The sum of one hundred pounds or the part thereof to the philosophical society at Philadelphia in America for investigating the bones of the mammoth found on the Ohio river
July 30, 2025 at 11:36 AM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Those hori hori garden knives are big &I can see why a passer-by might be alarmed. Even the company who make them recommend being careful carrying them around
Best usage As with all Hori Horis, these things are not absolutely invincible. DO NOT stick into hard ground and yank back hard - it will bend. Please familiarise yourself with the Offensive Weapons Law before carrying this tool in public. Under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953, it is an offence to have a weapon in a public place unless you have lawful authority or a reasonable excuse. This might include carrying tools for work or transporting gardening equipment. We strongly advise that you keep this tool concealed, sheathed, and out of sight in public spaces – preferably in a gardening bag or toolbox rather than on your belt.
July 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
In "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" Judith Kerr remembers overhearing her mother having a conversation about a Jewish professor tied up outside a concentration camp in a kennel, and made to eat off a dish like a dog

🗃
The book describes the scene as follows: “The Nazis had chained him to a dog kennel … The dog kennel was right by the entrance to the concentration camp and every time anyone went in or out the famous professor had to bark. He was given scraps to eat out of a dog dish and not allowed to touch them with his hands. Anna suddenly felt sick.”
July 21, 2025 at 6:31 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Another for "Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated", from the diary of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, January 1777.

To be fair to the journalist, the Hutchinson clan of Boston is a nightmare to disentangle

#C18th #Skystorian #18thCentury 🗃 #Rev250
Mr Hutchinson* of Queen Anne Street, who formerly was Governor of St. Helena, dying last week, the papers published the death of William Hutchinson Esq., late Governor of Massaschusetts Bay. This occasioned many compliments to me from the Bishop of Oxford, Sir Charles Wentworth, Colonel Egerton, Mr Bacon etc etc, on seeing me alive.
July 13, 2025 at 9:20 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
I love the intense yellow of fennel, with bonus hornet mimic hoverfly #BloomScrolling #GardenersWorld #GardenSky 🌿🌱
A yellow head of small bright yellow flowers with a black and yellow fly feeding on it
July 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
stephanieoffer.bsky.social
It is possible that the yellow corydalis needs trimming back. How much do I need to get out of the back door? It's growing happily in the patio #BloomScrolling #Gardensky #GardenersWorld 🌱🌿
A sea of yellow corydalis flowering in front of a back door and around a water butt. A cat is sitting with her back to the camera in the top left corner of the picture
July 4, 2025 at 6:39 PM