Marmalade hover fly

Marmalade hover fly, River Avon, Bristol, May 2024
Marmalade hover fly, River Avon, Bristol, May 2024

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Stop to rest a while

marvel of evolution

stop to look a while

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by Scooj

Mayzy days

Dog in a meadow, Ashton Court, Bristol, May 2024
Dog in a meadow, Ashton Court, Bristol, May 2024

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In meadow grassland

and sun-popping buttercups

to rest here a while

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by Scooj

Stay of execution

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Last minute reprieve

released from obligation

fancy dress party

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by Scooj

  • I have a near pathological fear/dislike of fancy dress parties, and if I am honest of parties in general, so to discover that I had been let off this evening’s arrangement due to the ‘no show’ of other husbands, offered unimaginable relief. 😅

Niche

Oak tree, Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood National Nature Reserve, Leicestershire, May 2024
Oak tree, Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood National Nature Reserve, Leicestershire, May 2024

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Where an acorn lands

is in the lap of the gods

make the most of it

,

by Scooj

Calling time

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Overwhelming joy

general election called

so long overdue

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by Scooj

  • I won’t go on for too long, but I have been waiting for this day for a very long time, and while the future under any new administration will be uncertain, there are truths about the past that are too much to bear. I care most about two things – public services and the biodiversity and climate crisis (that so many wedded to (funded by) the oil and gas industries have done their best to discredit) so I think you can probably guess who I won’t be voting for.
  • As someone who has spent my entire career in public service I have witnessed first-hand the jaw-dropping disregard the Tories have had for their staff in the civil service, health service, local authorities and agencies who have largely taken huge real-terms cuts in salaries over the last 14 years (in my own case about 19% cut). Cuts in staff numbers and budgets have been demoralising and to cap it all an ideology and poisonous narrative that suggests public servants are somehow ‘swinging the lead’.
  • But it is not just public service employees that have suffered, but the whole nation, particularly those who depend on or need the support public services can offer, the only people who are immune from the ferocious public sector cuts are the wealthy, many of whom do their very best to avoid paying taxes and resent paying taxes, so that they can maintain their ever more comfortable lives. I feel all of this is a sickening cliché… you know where I’m coming from.
  • I truly hope for change. I can see a much brighter future, both politically and environmentally. We do not have to succumb to the Hollywood tropes of a dystopian future, instead a green and compassionate future is something all of us can aspire to, a gentle kind world. This is my goal and my passion. It is why I am here.

Alea iacta est

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Season finale

it would take a miracle

I’ll hold out for one

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by Scooj

Perched

Speckled wood, St Paul's, Bristol, May 2024
Speckled wood, St Paul’s, Bristol, May 2024

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Drunken woken dance

from here to there in sunlight

then settled in shade

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by Scooj

Investment

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September’s bounty

depends on pollination

put on a good show

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by Scooj

Northern lights

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A good night for the

aurora borealis

so I understand

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by Scooj

Match day 36 (after)

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Three – nil victory

both efficient and stylish

title still in sight

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by Scooj