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  Almost forgot about #ThickTrunkTuesday. Have some trunks. I can't remember much about this, as it was last winter; it's snowy here now, but I've not been able to get out much due to an injury. #trees #winter #nature #woodland #snow #Northumberland

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  Offering my nearest tree for #ThickTrunkTuesday, a lovely maple. There are few trees on my street, sadly, although there are many trees around and some lovely woods. It's just my street that's devoid. #trees #nature #winter

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  Another step in making my migration complete. I can't leave Twitter completely right now. There are good people that I can only communicate with there. And I must assume that those who furiously post 'you must close your Twitter account now!!!' never had any kind of community there. There is a reason why social media is called social. It's not just about shouting for clout. I digress. I'm moving on, as much as I can. And I prefer it here. #TwitterMigr...

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  The ending of The Snowman has broken me again. After all these years, you'd think I might know better. But forty years on, it remains one of the most devastating things ever committed to film. #TheSnowman #Christmas #animation

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  Another personal Christmas tradition: the walk up to the local castle. I used to do this every Christmas Day before lunch, back when Dad took charge of everything, but since Dad became ill and died we've all had to do more of the dinner prep. So I now go whenever seems good. And the weather was lovely this morning. Plus, I saw sheep, horses and alpacas. All living in perfect harmony. Let that be a lesson for us all. #Christmastodon #castle #history #animals #CaergwrleCastle #Cymru #Wa...

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  Happy #ThickTrunkTuesday to all who celebrate (and please remember to capitalise the words in the hashtag). Today, I'd like to share a couple of thicc bois with divided trunks. Twice as much thicc for the same great price! And a bonus ruined castle in the background. We don't have a #ThickWallTuesday, but if we did, that wall is very very thick. #trees #nature #CaergwrleCastle

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  Have a picture of my traditional early morning New Year walk. It was so quiet. I didn't see a single car until I was almost home, and only a couple of dog walkers. I'm not going to bother hoping that 2023 is better than 2022. Seems pointless now. But it will inevitably be different. And it's entirely reasonable to be glad that one terrible period of time has ended, even if you have no idea what comes next. #NewYear #Northumberland #winter #morning #landscape

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  Beautiful day today, not a cloud in the sky, so I went for a walk in the woods. Found a fallen tree, home to some nice moss (and I'm sure many other things). The stream is relatively high, which is nice. It's frequently a lot less than that even in winter, and is usually a trickle in summer. Can't tell you how glad I am to now live near woods. #woods #woodland #trees #stream #winter #Northumberland #Mosstodon

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  Happy #ThickTrunkTuesday - first of 2023. Once again, I'm doing a MultiTrunkTuesday - I hope that's okay. And if anyone knows what kind of tree this is, I'd be grateful. I'm hopeless at recognising trees when they don't have leaves. #trees #nature #winter

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  Very exhausted so I can't engage much with #ThickTrunkTuesday this time, but I found a picture I took recently of a thick trunk at an angle. Or maybe a thick branch. Can't remember. #trees #nature #farm

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  Was talking to a friend about old computers, and the true brilliance of the Spectrum keyboard occurred to me (the Spectrum+/128 in particular, which didn't have the notorious rubber keys). I was never much of a programmer, yet nevertheless, I learnt so much - almost by osmosis - about how to make a computer do stuff simply by using this keyboard all the time. Having all those BASIC commands on the keys was absolute genius. I couldn't help but learn something. #ZXSpectrum #Retro...

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  Bright sunny day, but very windy, and the wind carries with it the message that winter is returning. I went into the woods, and found shelter. After all, shelter is integral to our relationship with the woods; they have cared for us since time immemorial, and we should return the favour. There is a pond - I don't suppose #pondstodon or #mastopond are hashtags in use - providing a haven for ducks and, in summer, many an insect. #trees #nature #pond #Northumberland #winter

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  As I was saying, snow. #snow #winter #Northumberland

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  Happy #ThickTrunkTuesday - and again, I have a multitrunker of sorts. This oak's second trunk has lost bark and died, however - I don't know why but I'm thinking it might be squirrels. The greys damage bark, don't they? Also, there's a little #Mosstodon bonus for all you hardcore mossfans. #trees #nature #winter

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  #today I went to the garden centre. Bought a few hyacinths, a euphorbia shrub, an ornamental kale and some treats for the birds. This is something I would not have expected when I was a kid, that one day I would not just choose to go to the garden centre, but very much enjoy it. It's a lovely garden centre, mind you. Not the kind with fancy overpriced household stuff. Just some plants and whatnot on stone terraces, overlooking the valley. #gardening #GardenCentre #winter #snow #Northu...

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  The ornamental kale I bought the other day looks especially attractive in the frost. (It's going to move to a proper pot once it warms up, by the way.) #plants #gardening #kale #winter #frost

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  It's #ThickTrunkTuesday again. Comes round so fast, doesn't it? Admittedly, neither of these is particularly thick. But the first is probably good enough, no? And anyway, I appreciate its efforts to reach out across the stream. It's trying very hard and deserves attention. The second, I just thought I'd share because it fascinates me, even though it's not thick at all. I love how it found a way to force its roots into the old wall that it sits upon. Clev...

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  #today I have been missing Twitter. But I'm not going back there. The Twitter I miss doesn't exist any more. And I like it here anyway. But I miss the good times, and the people I knew on there who for one reason or another aren't using Mastodon. It is a tech version, I suppose, of a feeling that we Welsh call 'hiraeth': a longing for a time and place in which you were once content, and which perhaps never truly existed at all. #TwitterMigration #hiraet...

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  Not the best hour of birds. Disappointed that the collared dove couple didn't turn up, nor the blue tit that I've seen around occasionally, and only the male in the blackbird couple arrived (and he came very early to eat the berries I'd put out). Conditions were far from ideal, though, not least the drilling and hammering a few doors down. There were about twenty starlings watching over the street, but I felt they were a little too far away from my garden to count. #bir...

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  Interesting article, but this jumped out at me (screenshot because of character limits). Buses are essential, not just to passengers like me, but for the economy, and any plans we might have to reduce car dependency. Yet they're completely ignored. Both politics and journalism are full of people who rarely if ever use the bus. Remember Jeremy Corbyn asking a question about improving bus services, and the Tory benches all laughing at him? #bus #PublicTransport #UKPol https://inews.co....