mastodon 4.7.2Academic historian, genealogist, former computer scientist, Doctor Who fan and accordionist. Pronouns she/her. Equality ally. #BLM
Some bonus #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Some bonus #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Some #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #Butterflies #Cats #CatsOfMastodon
Some #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #Butterflies #Flowers
Wild strawberries newly spotted growing in our back garden in northeast Scotland (Dundee). We planted a supposedly dwarf bramble bush some years ago, which is sprawling mightily. But we have not intentionally planted strawberries. #Scotland #Fruit #Strawberries #Garden #Dundee
Had emotional wobble yesterday re my ongoing wait for suspected cancer surgery. Quite understandable wobble I think in the circumstances! But calmer today. I'm hugely grateful to my husband being here to field phone calls while I sleep due to my progressive neurological illness. Woke at 4pm today. #NHS #Cancer
Some bonus #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Tomorrow will mark 12 weeks since the Perth gynaecologist found the problem which led after more tests to a suspected ovarian cancer case. It will also be 5 weeks since I saw the Dundee gynaecology surgeon who agreed to operate on me, if I was cleared fit enough for surgery (which I was). Still to hear a date for surgery. Hopefully sooner rather than later. The non cancer gynaecology surgery waiting time in NHS Tayside is over 2 years ... But hey ho! #NHS #Cancer
Some #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #Deer
There’s a lovely segment in the latest episode of BBC Scotland’s Beechgrove Garden, visiting Bird Gardens Scotland at Oxton in the Scottish Borders. Starts about 12 minutes into the programme, and is about 6 minutes long. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002yfw3/beechgrove-garden-2026-episode-14 #Birds #BirdsOfMastodon #Gardens #Scotland #ScottishBorders
Some bonus #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Some #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Oor Wullie and The Broons celebrate 90 years of mischief and family fun https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rjxppeqdko #Comics #Dundee #Scotland #Newspapers
Some #photos from my husband's Friday afternoon birding in #BroughtyFerry and #Monikie Country Park near #Dundee, #Scotland. #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Some bonus #photos from my husband’s Saturday walk to the Dighty Burn wooded river valley near our home in eastern #Dundee, #Scotland. #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Some bonus #photos from my husband's Friday afternoon birding in #BroughtyFerry and #Monikie Country Park near #Dundee, #Scotland. #Photography #Birds #Birding #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon
Sorting my repeat prescriptions, and marvelling at how many empty pages were included in my latest prescription slip from the health centre. "How hiv thei gien is a' thae bits o' paper?" was promptly uttered. "How" as in Hawick/Teri Scots speak, meaning "Why". Luckily my husband understands me! I speak more Teri when more tired. Not always knowing how things are spelled but know the sound. #Scots #ScotsLanguage #Hawick #Scotland
Relieved my latest severe neurological flare continues to subside. Good chat with my long-time GP today - he's retiring, eek! - and agreed not to raise my steroids for now. But have backup plans if things go pear shaped. Phenomenally grateful for his help over the years and the NHS keeping me alive. #NHS #Neurological #ChronicIllness #Health
Sadly this potential Eurovision entry didn’t win the Finland final! https://youtu.be/BQNMBYSvFVQ #Eurovision #Finland #Music #Accordion
Longer clips from newly rediscovered Doctor Who episodes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvwUrJAuAHk #DoctorWho #TV #BBC #1960s
Visiting Perth Museum – some thoughts, including the Stone of Destiny and Mary Queen of Scots last letter displays https://vivsacademicblog.wordpress.com/2026/03/27/visiting-perth-museum-some-thoughts-including-the-stone-of-destiny-and-mary-queen-of-scots-last-letter-displays/ #Scotland #History #Museum #Perth
Just enjoyed the first half of "The Importance of Being Earnest" with Ncuti Gatwa. Will watch the rest tomorrow or the day after. It is streaming free on YouTube until March 18th (Wednesday). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obX-HGs-PS8 #Theatre #NationalTheatre #NcutiGatwa #DoctorWho
Nice afternoon outing, to Monifieth Library and MAC centre cafe, with a funfair outside. Then off to Broughty Ferry, Maison Dieu coffee shop, the Bookhouse bookshop, and chips from Murrays eaten by the seaside. Yum. The queue for Visocchis ice cream was too long for us to tackle today! Very popular. #Dundee #Angus #Monifieth #BroughtyFerry #Scotland
Backed "Memories of Rainbird and Beyond Software" by Richard Hewison, a history of a British 1980s 8-bit software house. Including their ties with interactive fiction companies Level 9 and Magnetic Scrolls. Just a few hours left. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zzap642021annual/memories-of-rainbird-and-beyond-software #80s #RetroGaming #VintageComputing #8bit #InteractiveFiction #Game
More than a bit exasperated at yet another outsider to the interactive fiction game community, coming along with yet another (unwanted by the IF community) AI-driven thing, that exploits the creative work of hundreds of authors, including myself, and has to be told that this is not ok.
Getting to the end of a week-ish of home blood pressure readings for a medic. My arm hurts! But the weekly average is good. 125/80. I have a cerebrovascular disease (cerebral vasculitis) so keeping an eye on it is good. White coat syndrome means my health centre/hospital readings are not reliable. #Health #NHS #BloodPressure
Staring at my folders of Infocom text adventure / interactive fiction game files (from the Lost Treasures of Infocom boxes I bought new decades ago), and wondering what Z-code format one of them is in. "Let's try Z5!" says me. And whether that's the right or wrong version, Lectrote opens and runs it. Off into foggy Victorian London for a Sherlockian adventure ... #InteractiveFiction #SherlockHolmes #Game #RetroGaming
RIP Tony Hoare, the computer scientist who invented the Quicksort algorithm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJgKYn0lcno #ComputerScience #Programming #Algorithms
Pirates of the Caribbean on a mechanical organ https://youtu.be/8MCVHMjr6iA #Music
Sting - Shape of My Heart (Live at the Rijksmuseum) https://youtu.be/hKks7D7DVZw #Music #Sting
This should have been broadcast on the telly. Shani Wallis - Nancy in the 1968 movie version of Oliver! - singing wonderfully aged 92. https://youtu.be/F7JHtDOVlKc #Music #Musicals
Art in Sight - The Dundee Public Art Programme, 1988 https://youtu.be/7dbkf2lQUyQ #Art #PublicArt #Dundee #Scotland #1980s #80s
Outlook for Mac bug makes font choice a purely decorative feature. This is bad, but on a day to day level I'm more annoyed by Thunderbird for Mac having a still-not-fixed bug where it won't handle Dark Mode properly, often giving white text on white background ... https://www.theregister.com/applications/2026/07/09/outlook-for-mac-bug-makes-font-choice-a-purely-decorative-feature/5269242 #Thunderbird #Outlook #Email #Bugs #Mac
Spanish National Anthem but with Rubber Chickens https://youtu.be/N_cDNbgr8qw #Spain #Music #Football
