Stephen Byrne
@stephengbyrne.bsky.social
Gardener
at @bluebellcottage.bsky.social & others. Wildlife (ooh, look, geese!). Books (by the yard). Beer (strong, not too many).
at @bluebellcottage.bsky.social & others. Wildlife (ooh, look, geese!). Books (by the yard). Beer (strong, not too many).
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
Udo Kier - cinema’s fallen angel and an embodiment of the screen’s delicious power to corrupt - is gone. "I would live like the hero of Huysman's A Rebours,” he once told me. “Have no clocks, and hire two nuns to go by my window and pray at 12 o'clock each day."
November 24, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Udo Kier - cinema’s fallen angel and an embodiment of the screen’s delicious power to corrupt - is gone. "I would live like the hero of Huysman's A Rebours,” he once told me. “Have no clocks, and hire two nuns to go by my window and pray at 12 o'clock each day."
Oh, no. It wasn't the airplanes. It was Charlie Brown killed the Beast.
I amuse you, Charlie Brown? I make you laugh, Charlie Brown? Funny how, Charlie Brown?
Forget it, Charlie Brown, it’s Chinatown, Charlie Brown.
November 24, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Oh, no. It wasn't the airplanes. It was Charlie Brown killed the Beast.
Ah, look at his little face!
Unidentified Spanish painter (known as Master of the Amsterdam Bodegón), Kitchen scene, c. 1610-1625, oil on canvas, 100 cm x 122 cm (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
November 23, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Ah, look at his little face!
When it's too cool for cats...
November 21, 2025 at 9:44 AM
When it's too cool for cats...
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
Last weekend of my annual exhibition - 60 original watercolours on show www.jamesmccallum.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Last weekend of my annual exhibition - 60 original watercolours on show www.jamesmccallum.co.uk
Minus five. Hand-hurting cold. The exotic garden has been properly bashed.
November 21, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Minus five. Hand-hurting cold. The exotic garden has been properly bashed.
@slightlyfoxed.bsky.social I think you guys could do something together for a future Quarterly :D
Ah, thank you very much. I’m so pleased you like it. I had no idea about Steeple Chasing being in Slightly Foxed. Is it a review or something like that?
November 20, 2025 at 11:58 PM
@slightlyfoxed.bsky.social I think you guys could do something together for a future Quarterly :D
@peteralanross.bsky.social 'Upon a White Horse' is a lovely book, Peter. Julian Cope, Mrs Edith Pretty, and George Mackay Brown. What more could a reader ask... Did you know 'Steeple Chasing' is in this quarter's Slightly Foxed magazine? That's four foxes now.
November 20, 2025 at 10:41 PM
@peteralanross.bsky.social 'Upon a White Horse' is a lovely book, Peter. Julian Cope, Mrs Edith Pretty, and George Mackay Brown. What more could a reader ask... Did you know 'Steeple Chasing' is in this quarter's Slightly Foxed magazine? That's four foxes now.
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
Betty Mackereth, Philip Larkin's feisty long term secretary, immortalised in the 1962 poems Toads Revisited, has passed away today aged 101. Betty was a great supporter of the Philip Larkin Society. We send our condolences to her family.
November 20, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Betty Mackereth, Philip Larkin's feisty long term secretary, immortalised in the 1962 poems Toads Revisited, has passed away today aged 101. Betty was a great supporter of the Philip Larkin Society. We send our condolences to her family.
Minus two, but here she comes...
November 20, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Minus two, but here she comes...
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
Dorothy Hodges' remarkable book 'The Pollen Loads of the Honeybee' (1952) has seasonal colour charts to identify which flowers the pollen comes from
November 19, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Dorothy Hodges' remarkable book 'The Pollen Loads of the Honeybee' (1952) has seasonal colour charts to identify which flowers the pollen comes from
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
the bricks are alive at this day to testify it;
therefore deny it not.
therefore deny it not.
November 19, 2025 at 6:57 PM
the bricks are alive at this day to testify it;
therefore deny it not.
therefore deny it not.
Garlic mulched by Number One, The Larch. The Larch.
November 16, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Garlic mulched by Number One, The Larch. The Larch.
Getting ready for the Bullfinches.
November 16, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Getting ready for the Bullfinches.
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
THIRTY FIVE artists and makers under one roof showing their work. Wine, coffee, tea, sofas, jazz and buzz. Join us!
November 15, 2025 at 10:26 AM
THIRTY FIVE artists and makers under one roof showing their work. Wine, coffee, tea, sofas, jazz and buzz. Join us!
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
Lesser White-fronted Geese - framed ready for my exhibition. A flock of 24 painted at Ken Hill Marsh, Norfolk in Jan 2025 and one of the highlights of the year. @wildkenhill.bsky.social
details jamesmccallum.co.uk
details jamesmccallum.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Lesser White-fronted Geese - framed ready for my exhibition. A flock of 24 painted at Ken Hill Marsh, Norfolk in Jan 2025 and one of the highlights of the year. @wildkenhill.bsky.social
details jamesmccallum.co.uk
details jamesmccallum.co.uk
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
So at the moment, despite @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social’s piece, I wonder whether a better BBC response would be the Arkell v Pressdram one. proftomcrick.com/2014/04/29/a...
Arkell v Pressdram [1971]
In April 1971, Private Eye carried the story of how James Arkell, a retail credit manager, had dispensed with the services of two bailiffs who were on bail on charges of conspiracy to create a publ…
proftomcrick.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:31 AM
So at the moment, despite @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social’s piece, I wonder whether a better BBC response would be the Arkell v Pressdram one. proftomcrick.com/2014/04/29/a...
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
For those who are interested in rediscovering the joys of reading, I wrote a step-by-step guide:
bibliollcollege.substack.com/p/how-to-rek...
bibliollcollege.substack.com/p/how-to-rek...
How to Rekindle Your Love of Reading
I read 186 books in six months. Here's how.
bibliollcollege.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:14 AM
For those who are interested in rediscovering the joys of reading, I wrote a step-by-step guide:
bibliollcollege.substack.com/p/how-to-rek...
bibliollcollege.substack.com/p/how-to-rek...
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
Too many people have resigned themselves to not reading because they fear they no longer have the focus for it. You only need to limit your screen time for a few days to begin feeling the effects on your brain. I promise you, you are capable of reading books again.
November 10, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Too many people have resigned themselves to not reading because they fear they no longer have the focus for it. You only need to limit your screen time for a few days to begin feeling the effects on your brain. I promise you, you are capable of reading books again.
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
Shore Larks - Holkham Bay. Framed ready for my forthcoming show
November 7, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Shore Larks - Holkham Bay. Framed ready for my forthcoming show
Writer Ronald Blythe was born on this day in 1922. Like Edmund Blunden, who influenced him, he championed John Clare. He was President of the John Clare Society for some thirty-odd years: 'Just as Clare had the power to articulate the life of the fields and common lands with a reality unknown 》
November 6, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Writer Ronald Blythe was born on this day in 1922. Like Edmund Blunden, who influenced him, he championed John Clare. He was President of the John Clare Society for some thirty-odd years: 'Just as Clare had the power to articulate the life of the fields and common lands with a reality unknown 》
Reposted by Stephen Byrne
We are launching a seasonal series of Nature Talks in 2026!
These will be online, one for each season of the year with a fabulous speaker.
Our Winter Talk is on the 20th January and our speaker will be Dr Kevin Butt, telling all about his fascinating study of the Earthworms in Gilbert's Garden! 🪱
These will be online, one for each season of the year with a fabulous speaker.
Our Winter Talk is on the 20th January and our speaker will be Dr Kevin Butt, telling all about his fascinating study of the Earthworms in Gilbert's Garden! 🪱
November 5, 2025 at 12:58 PM
We are launching a seasonal series of Nature Talks in 2026!
These will be online, one for each season of the year with a fabulous speaker.
Our Winter Talk is on the 20th January and our speaker will be Dr Kevin Butt, telling all about his fascinating study of the Earthworms in Gilbert's Garden! 🪱
These will be online, one for each season of the year with a fabulous speaker.
Our Winter Talk is on the 20th January and our speaker will be Dr Kevin Butt, telling all about his fascinating study of the Earthworms in Gilbert's Garden! 🪱
They're not enjoying the headwind gusting.
November 5, 2025 at 12:56 PM
They're not enjoying the headwind gusting.
The carpet! *swoons*
I visited the Omni Parker House in Boston last July, and the Press Room has Charles Dickens’ handwritten manuscript for ‘A Christmas Carol’ printed into its carpet. The door to Dickens’ room where he stayed in 1867 is also on site, as well as the looking glass he practiced ‘A Christmas Carol’ in.
November 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
The carpet! *swoons*