JanRalston

Fiction, food and faith. Bad housewife. Cheering from the sidelines welcomed.

[JanRalston @Jan7_str]

@DrJaninaRamirez Me. I’m here. Although not so much these days. 👋

[JanRalston @Jan7_str]

@ArtyBagger It’s 4.48am and I’ve been awake for about 15 minutes…

[Scott @Havenlust]

Cat art

[Dr Elaine Cox 🍃 💚 🍃🌽🥬🐦‍⬛🐌🇬🇧 @ElaineCox11]

Uncut grass keeps the ground at around 19.5°C
Grass cut to 10 cm raises the ground temperature to about 24.5°C
Bare ground in the middle of summer rises to over 40°C
It's important to raise awareness #NoMowMay

[Amanda @Idontgive2u]

Aujourd’hui, j’étais à la banque, dans la file d’attente devant un distributeur.
Devant moi, un monsieur très âgé. Plus de quatre-vingts ans, sûrement.
Il tenait une enveloppe dans la main, un peu tremblante.

Quand ce fut son tour, je l’ai observé discrètement.
Il touchait l’écran, hésitait, revenait en arrière…
Je voyais bien qu’il ne comprenait pas.
L’écran, les boutons, les étapes… tout semblait trop rapide pour lui.

La file derrière commençait à s’impatienter.
Lui, il s’est retourné vers moi, avec un regard gêné mais digne,
et il m’a demandé, tout doucement :
« Vous pourriez m’aider… s’il vous plaît ? »

Je me suis avancée tout de suite.
Je lui ai expliqué calmement, étape par étape.
Sans jamais toucher son argent.
Par respect. Par pudeur. Par délicatesse.

Il voulait faire un dépôt.
Il a réussi, lentement, en se concentrant.
Quand l’opération s’est terminée, il avait l’air soulagé.
Comme un enfant fier d’avoir réussi.

Il m’a remerciée avec un sourire incroyable.
Et juste avant de partir, il a sorti un billet de 10 euros de sa poche
et a voulu me le donner.

J’ai refusé.
Il a insisté. Il m’a dit que c’était « pour le petit-déjeuner ».
Pour me remercier à sa manière.

J’ai décliné encore, doucement.
Et là, je suis repartie avec un nœud dans la gorge.

Parce que ce monsieur…
ce n’est pas un cas isolé.

Ils sont nombreux, nos parents, nos grands-parents,
perdus face à un monde devenu trop numérique, trop rapide, trop froid.
Perdus devant les écrans, les bornes, les applications, les mots de passe.

Ces gens ont construit le pays dans lequel on vit.
Ils ont travaillé toute leur vie.
Ils ont payé, cotisé, élevé des enfants, tenu des familles.

Et aujourd’hui, on les laisse seuls
face à des machines qui ne parlent pas,
dans des banques sans guichet,
dans des hôpitaux sans accueil,
dans des administrations sans humain.

On parle d’innovation, de progrès, de modernité…
Mais on oublie l’essentiel : l’humain.

S’arrêter cinq minutes pour aider quelqu’un,
ça ne coûte rien.
Mais pour eux, ça change tout.

Parfois je me demande :
est-ce qu’on avance vraiment…
ou est-ce qu’on devient juste plus rapides à oublier les autres ?

[Yashar Ali 🐘 @yashar]

London Underground station flooding has reportedly been reduced by around 90% thanks to a group of engineers: beavers.

After conservationists reintroduced a family of beavers into a nearby city park, the animals built dams and restored wetlands that now absorb and slow floodwater naturally.

Authorities had planned major man-made flood infrastructure, but the beavers effectively created their own system — while also boosting biodiversity and restoring the ecosystem around them.

[JanRalston @Jan7_str]

@BirnieLinzi At least you don’t have FRECKLES too!

[JanRalston @Jan7_str]

@PriceLaurence @CptHastings1916 Possibly not even as a 16yo grammar school girl.

[Eleanor Parker @ClerkofOxford]

19 May is the feast of St Dunstan, one of the greatest saints of Anglo-Saxon England, who died in 988. Archbishop of Canterbury during a transformative time for the English church and nation, he was also a talented musician, craftsman and devil-fighter. https://t.co/HblFsbRp5o

[JanRalston @Jan7_str]

@theabingdontaxi Same in the ‘Tage.

[Michael Warburton @For_Film_Fans]

A clip from one of the most extraordinary interviews I’ve ever seen.

Here’s the late great Dennis Potter on naming his cancer ‘Rupert��� in ‘homage’ to Murdoch & the destruction of political discourse in the UK.

He passed away just 2 months later.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies. But our Father’s heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant, or the proud. God’s heart is with the little ones and the humble, and with them He builds up His Kingdom of love and peace day by day. Wherever there is love and service, God is there. #ApostolicJourney #Algeria

[Muriel Gray @ArtyBagger]

This was magnificent. And whether you agree or not ,it begs the question, should those rude colleagues, ignoring the speech by scrolling phones even been allowed in the chamber? What has happened to debate?

[JanRalston @Jan7_str]

@theabingdontaxi My daughter is a spreadsheet person

[Tom Holland @holland_tom]

Bede Librarian!!!

[History Defined @historydefined]

Paralympic high jumper Łukasz Mamczarz clearing 1.77m (5'10") on one leg

[Mark W. @DurhamWASP]

“The moment John Betjeman died the sun went in and the heavens opened… When a great nobleman dies we are all diminished. But with the death of Betjeman even the fields and churches of Somerset seem to have shrunk.”

Auberon Waugh

[Nick Young @nickofnz]

I don't want a city on Mars.
I don't want AI in every app.
I don't want data centres in space.

I want clean water.
I want a stable climate.
I want bees to survive.

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:

“It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.

“There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.

“If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice!

“Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.”

[Elsie Bee @BirnieLinzi]

This church is showing off. The rest of us have pigeons! #SignsOnSaturday.