Jul 14 2026
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Observing the bees

Monday 13th July 2026, 5.35pm (day 5,436)

Bees at work, 13/7/26

Respect the pollinators. I know bees are ‘social insects’ but do they socialise, particularly? When two come together like this are they in fierce competition or is it more like, “Hey Bob: make sure you check out the bit just to your left, there’s some good stuff over there”?

I pick the title of this post because it’s not just me watching them, either. The blob to the right is not a blemish on the lens (of which I have plenty) but some other little bug hanging around, and unless I’m mistaken you can see a second one just behind the wing of the rightmost bee. As you can see the weather stays clement — very pleasant stuff I think, although the grass in the garden is starting to go brown.

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Jul 13 2026
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Random contents of scavenger bag

Sunday 12th July 2026, 5.40pm (day 5,435)

Puzzle pieces, 12/7/26

Our acquaintance Toby is something of a scavenger, the sort of person who will go through the skip outside your house and in five minutes retrieve from it a range of interesting items that you had no idea could be found within. What he has in mind for these various 3-D puzzles, who knows — but I do not think it involves simply putting this one back together.

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Jul 12 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post, Sport

Malt Shovel FC

Saturday 11th July 2026, 1.00pm (day 5,434)

Malt Shovel landscape, 11/7/24

While I believe there might be a different version of football still going on somewhere in the US, here at home we are in the realm of the Pre-Season Friendly. Malt Shovel FC — the name being that of a nearby pub — play in Selby, a place which thereby becomes the 536th different one to appear on this blog and makes its debut with this quite impressive factory backdrop. And it smelt good, too: whatever was being cooked up in there wafted extremely pleasant, and hunger-inducing, scents over the pitch in the second half. It finished 2-1 to visitors Brighouse, in green, but that’s an irrelevance.

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Jul 12 2026
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

Friday DVD stall

Friday 10th July 2026, 3.10pm (day 5,433)

Friday DVD stall, 10/7/26

If you find yourself in Hebden Bridge on a Friday afternoon and in need of some cheap DVDs, this market stall is the place to come, believe me. I’d spend more money here except that most of the films stocked that I do want to see, we already own. “Nordic Noir” is a new genre on me — but I think it just means that in this box can be found a couple of copies of The Bridge.

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Jul 10 2026
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Additional support needs?

Thursday 9th July 2026, 10.00am (day 5,432)

One-legged pigeon, 9/7/26

Whatever happened to its other leg it didn’t stop it soliciting donations of food this morning — not that I had any. There’s a guy regularly seen in Hebden who has only one leg but even he needs a crutch to get about, and as later evidence proved, this pigeon can still take off, propel itself through the air, and land perfectly competently. Its ASNs are therefore not too extensive.

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Jul 09 2026
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Daily Post, Portrait

Wet Leg

Wednesday 8th July 2026, 10.10pm (day 5,431)

Wet Leg, 8/7/26

If I was 23 years younger, looked like Rhian Teasdale (vocalist and general frontperson of the band Wet Leg), could play the guitar and sing, I’d probably be seeking a career in rock stardom too. She seems to be making a pretty decent job of it.

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Jul 08 2026
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Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

More fruit (a lot more)

Tuesday 7th July 2026, 4.35pm (day 5,430)

Jostaberries, 7/7/26

It’s only ten days since I depicted the loganberries, but the fruit on the neigbouring jostaberry plant just looks so succulent at the moment, and there’s lots of it. I think I will try making jam with it. Jostas are a cross between blackcurrants and gooseberries and, according to the Bible (OK, Wikipedia), were first cultivated in Germany and first made available to the public in 1977. The original scientists can be assured that in the climate of Hebden Bridge their creation is doing very well.

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Jul 06 2026
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Daily Post, Interior

Bibliotheca Almae Materis

Monday 6th July 2026, 2.20pm (day 5,429)

“Alma Mater” doesn’t seem to get a translation out of Latin to English, it just comes up the same on Google. “The place where one went to university” is the windier but more colloquial version. It’s been a while since I have been back to the campus of the University of Leeds, which guided yr. humble blogger through two, or was it three, degrees (astonishing!) and then five years of employment (staggering!) between 1993 and 2005. And, yes, I put in my time in the rooms behind the doors to the right of this shot. I like the red lines to top right, which contrast the No Smoking sign and is the only reason I might get away with the latter blemish.

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Jul 06 2026
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Daily Post, Urban scene

The pipework

Sunday 5th July 2026, 3.40pm (day 5,428)

White Swan drains, 5/7/26

Some Sundays are eventful and interesting days. This was not one of them, although neither was it unpleasant. But photographically there wasn’t much to look at, so 5/7/26 will have to be marked by a study of drainage. Important stuff, though — you try living without it for a while.

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Jul 05 2026
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Daily Post, Interior

Collection point

Saturday 4th July 2026, 1.15pm (day 5,427)

Wrexham Wetherspoons, 4/7/26

Having celebrated Hebden’s attractive qualities yesterday I am also permitted to be relieved that the football season has restarted so I have excuses to leave it on Saturdays, when it becomes too full for its own good — and go drink in some other town’s pubs instead. Like Wrexham in North Wales, for example. Which, this being taken in a Wetherspoons (if you have ever drunk in the UK surely you know of these places), looks much the same as anywhere else, of course. But I don’t mind them.

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