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  I follow some bridged Bluesky accounts, though I have chosen not to bridge my Mastodon account and try not to boost Bluesky content. But I did want to share the notice of a job at the University of Galway, as promoted by my friend David Stifter, professor of Old Irish at Maynooth. (FYI, 'Druid' refers to a theatre company in Galway. The link to the job post is below.) https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRK335/druid-lecturer-in-residence-05-fte #Galway #theatre #Ireland

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  Arriving in the post today is the latest issue of the North American Journal of Celtic Studies, a publication of the Celtic Studies Association of North America (CSANA). This issue contains the work of some 'heavy hitters' in Celtic studies, including Catherine McKenna, Robin Chapman Stacey, Charlene Eska, and Paul Russell. I was president of CSANA when the journal launched, and this latest issue is volume 10, number 1. Much of the journal's success is due to the foundin...

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  Tonight's dessert is apple pie. While my baking skills certainly lack the artistry of @NorcalGma2, I hope the taste is satisfactory. BTW, the crust is a Crisco crust from a recipe given to my mother about 60 years ago by a next door neighbour at their first home. The filling recipe is basically Betty Crocker, with tapioca flour added to the wheat flour to improve thickening. The top crust has an egg wash and demerara sugar. #food #baking #ApplePie #pie

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  When I was out and about yesterday, I found myself at a stop light behind a motorist whose personalised plate must reflect an interest in the 10th century and the final Carolingian king of West Francia. 😉 #Carolingian #MiddleAges #medieval

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  I am certainly among those saddened by the demise tomorrow of CBS News Radio. I had extensive interactions with radio personnel at CBS News when I worked for WWJ Radio (which was owned by CBS at the time) in the early 1990s, and the folks at CBS News Radio have always taken very seriously the legacy of Edward R. Murrow. (I should point out that the radio stations were in a different corporate division — CBS Radio — from the network's radio news, which was under CBS News, although we had...

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  The University of Oxford plans to appoint a part-time (80%) fixed-term Departmental Lecturer in Medieval Irish Language and Literature. The successful candidate will be appointed from 1st October 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter, for a period of up to four years. Applications close at noon BST on Monday 15 June 2026. Interviews are expected to take place during the week of 6 July 2026. Full information is available at the link below. #AcademicJobs #Oxford #Irish #medieval #CelticStudies...

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  Since folks were asking, I thought I'd share a couple of photos from Pippin's 6th birthday party a few days ago at the assisted-living facility he visits as a therapy dog. At the party were decorated cupcakes (which were promoted to the residents as 'pupcakes') with a frosting design to look like Pippin's head. I forgot to bring Pippin's birthday hat, so he was bare-headed this year, but everyone had an enjoyable time, and one of the residents al...

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  Today is the sixth birthday of my 'pandemic puppy', Pippin. (Six years going on six months. I am still waiting for mental maturity with this boy.) Here he is this morning on the daybed on the enclosed porch, happy to be inside on a rather gloomy and dreich day. Pippin will have to wait a week for his birthday party, which will take place during his next therapy dog visit to a nearby assisted-living facility. #DogsOfMastodon #BassetHound

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  RE: https://mastodon.social/@bsrome/116528449038739261 This looks like a very useful volume whose contributions expand upon the important and influential work Prof Simon Keay conducted on the archaeology and economy of the Roman empire. @histodons@fedigroups.social #archaeology #AncientRome #RomanEmpire

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  @paulcarbuncle The image of Ernie Wise and Eric Morecambe reminded me of their popular guest star Fenella Fielding, who used to give her year of birth as 1934, but it was subsequently discovered that it had to be antedated seven years to 1927. And here is a link to an online video of a sketch, televised on this date 53 years ago, from Morecambe & Wise's 1969 Christmas special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ju56GsnzLo #FenellaFielding #MorecambeAndWise #ChristmasSpecial

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  Some of the native woodland flora I planted in a shaded area of the front garden are in bloom. Shooting stars (Primula meadia) made their first appearance in bloom in the garden, and, at least this particular plant has white blossoms. When I purchased the roots from Jung Seed, the photograph in the catalogue showed deep pink flowers, but the description noted that the flowers may appear in shades from deep pink to white. The wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) has become an old friend, and each y...

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  Academic publisher Boydell & Brewer are holding a 60% off sale on selected hardback books on all sorts of subjects (but with an especially large selection in medieval studies) through 5 May. No special codes or coupons required. @histodons #medieval #BookSale https://boydellandbrewer.com/sale/

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  The blooms are almost finished on the azaleas (left, two quite mature Azalea x 'Girard's Rose'; right, a young Azalea x 'Girard's Fuchsia') in the front garden, which sandwich a Rhododendron x azalea that bloomed a few weeks earlier. I had not intended to get a different colour when I purchased the young azalea a few years ago to place to the right of the larger rhododendron azalea, but as the plants on the left were already in the front garden when I moved here 20 years...

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  I have been quite swamped of late, so I failed to mark the exact date earlier this month of what would have been the 18th birthday of my Basset Hound Dermot. Dermot was an amazing companion, and his interactions with everyone were always a joy. Just yesterday when I was walking Pippin, we ran into a woman who lives a few blocks away out on a walk of her own. While we chatted, the woman mentioned how special Dermot was. (No offense, Pippin. You have your charms, but Dermot was an especially cha...

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  RE: https://mstdn.ca/@BlakeHamiltonCA/116019959800950364 I am one of those folks who had a BlackBerry and LOVED the physical keyboard. After BlackBerry ended phone production, I stayed with the BlackBerry-branded phones for that physical keyboard. My current phone (which does not have a physical keyboard) is nearing the end of its planned obsolescence, and I definitely want to look into this new physical-keyboard phone. #BlackBerry #PhysicalKeyboard

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  The Mexican plum (Prunus mexicana) in the back garden is just starting to bloom. I have had to do some serious pruning on the tree in recent years to keep it off the electricity wires to the house, to keep it from reaching the garage, and to keep it from shading too much of the (already rather shady) garden. When I purchased the tree mail-order from a nursery in Louisiana (the tree was sourced from a Texas nursery) quite a few years ago now, I had been warned that the tree might not flourish i...

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  @VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social And then there's this. https://boundedbybuns.com/recipes/p/polish-luther

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  This works out to roughly 1.7 bananas per Orcadian. #Orkney #Tesco #bananas https://news.stv.tv/highlands-islands/orkney-tesco-store-orders-38000-bananas-by-mistake

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  I reckon that some visitors to Glasgow might well be intrigued by this accommodation option (though I would not be one of them). Does @thisismyglasgow happen to have more history on this structure? https://news.stv.tv/west-central/former-public-toilets-to-be-turned-into-windowless-holiday-let

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  The warm temperatures up to two days ago caused the rhododendron x azalea cross to start opening its buds. But today the temperature is below freezing with a dusting of snow on the ground. #garden #gardening #rhododendron #azalea #WinterWeather #spring

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  Every year I mark when the first daffodils open up. This year, flowers just started opening up yesterday (15 March) amid temperatures in the mid 70s F/25 C, when this photograph was taken. Temperatures are falling all day today, with cold winds and the occasional shower. As I type, the mercury is now below 40F/4C, on its way to 20F/-7C. So I do not expect to many more buds to open up in the next few days, at least not until temperatures get back up over 50F/10C again on Thursday. BTW, last yea...

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  Marigolds, tomatoes, and an experiment to see whether I can get seeds from my blackberries to germinate. I should be in good shape to get plants into the ground in two months' time. #garden #gardening #StartingSeedsIndoors

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  Hybrid lecture on early medieval Scotland and England (from Peadar Ó Muircheartaigh, Edinburgh): The departments of Celtic & Scottish Studies and Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh will host the 2026 John Bannerman Lecture (in-person and online) on Thursday 26 March at 1715 (Edinburgh time). A drinks reception will follow. This year's speaker will be Prof Fiona Edmonds speaking on Dál Riata and Northumbria, c. 700‒1000: Connections and Comparisons. Further details and boo...

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  @moxxi@mastodon.social @mia@hcommons.social But clearly sets the agenda and has staff. 😄

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  Oliver Goldsmith as interpreted by Mel Brooks? This might have happened had Brooks' plans for his own film version of 'She Stoops to Conquer' been greenlighted. That is one of the wonderful tidbits from Brooks' recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter (not to overlook mention of a Myron Cohen joke). #MelBrooks #OliverGoldsmith #SheStoopsToConquer #MyronCohen https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/mel-brooks-interview-hbo-documentary-career-...

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  Assistant professor in Celtic search at Cambridge: The Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge wishes to appoint an Assistant Professor in Celtic from 1 September 2026. Applicants who have research and teaching interests in any aspect of medieval Celtic languages and literatures are encouraged to apply. The details for the post, including the link to apply online can be found at https://www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assistant-professor-in-celtic-gh48210. The closing date...

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  The scene may look frigid, but it is actually 50F/10C right now, and high temperatures are forecast to remain above freezing for at least the next two weeks. The snow will not last long under these conditions. We have had snow cover for the past two and a half weeks, which seemed typical for a central Ohio winter when I was a child, though it has not been typical in recent decades. We had some bitter cold before the snow cover, and how that affected the garden is what worries me. But I shall di...

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  After nearly a month covered with newspaper and black plastic trash bags amid temperatures well below freezing and then more than a foot (30 cm) of snow, the Japanese false holly (Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki') plants are now exposed to the much warmer air and precipitation. The plants appear to have survived the cold, which is reassuring. If there is damage, however, the leaves and stems will gradually turn brown and die down to the point where a plant is undamaged. So it m...

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  Pippin says, 'Welcome to March!' Here in central Ohio, we are currently seeing 4 in/10 cm of snow that has been falling since shortly before daybreak, but the temperature will be rising above freezing later today, and with rain forecast tomorrow, the snow will be gone quite soon. In the meantime, Pippin prefers to hang out indoors. #DogsOfMastodon #BassetHound #WinterWeather #snow

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  Attention newspaper comic strip aficionados: Today's 'Blondie' shows Daisy (the dog) lying on top of Dagwood's legs while he is lying on the sofa (final panel). I do not recall ever seeing Daisy on the sofa with Dagwood, let alone on top of Dagwood on the sofa. 'Blondie' has been around for 95 years, and while the visual style hearkens back to comic strips of the 1930s and 40s, the strip is famous for gradual transitions that keep up with the times. I suspect this is o...