Maria Farrell
@mariafarrell
Irish writer and speaker: let's rewild the internet! Dog lady. Forest bather. She/her Rep: No DMs
the fellas rather liked the weekend and request it be resumed immediately.
Face of a little guy who JUST DISCOVERED blackberries grow on the side of the road and can be plucked by careful, neckering little lips.
Far be it from me to perpetuate rustic stereotypes but now we're on the correct island for a spell Milo and Chip are unabashed hayseeds
the lads seem moderately pleased to be on the correct island at last.
Spent Pride in Piccadilly painting faces with my lovely assistant Milo Moments I'm only processing now; a teenager and their traditional Nigerian mum shyly asking about a NB stripe, 2 Chinese students amazed by the freedoms. A trans girl delighted I'd nearly run out of their colours A gift of a day
In more cheerful Piccadilly Circus-related news, Odo the baby-hating church dog was this weekend merely glowering and growling at the (actually very sweet) nearby toddler. His owner says Odo can't tell whether babies are human or animal. TBF they make weird noises and can be quite stinky.
Mullvad has been advertising on a dedicated structure in the middle of London's Piccadilly Circus for weeks, now. The Orwell reference hits different when you know the VPN's co-founder is funding the Swedish far-right to "re-migrate" anyone with brown skin. An Orwellian phrase if ever there was.
Milo is chilling under this year's enormous rhubarb (fallow year for lots of lovely crumbles in 2027) after a Gail's visit where we sat beside @kardyology.bsky.social who recognised him! we reminisced about our mutual @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com and guilt-free café days at the old place
though Milo is elderly in dog years, he has, as they say, still got it.
Milo continues to believe he can style this out. I have to whoosh and shut him into our one semi-cool room as the day goes on He grumbles that his ancestors on the Siberian steppe tolerated temperatures in the high thirties. I counter that he is 12.5 yrs old; 80+ in human years. And so it goes on.
Garden is looking the best it will for the rest of the year, following last night's drenching. NGL I'm definitely a 'more is more' kind of gardener NB I cut back a veeeery aggressive clematis this year and the artichoke it had been, well, choking, has roared back with no less than SIX flower heads.
Went up north yesterday for a swim in Hampstead Heath pond and spotted this epic trolling from Camden Council at the bottom of Highgate West Hill where vast houses in the tens of millions, the odd one derelict, hold Putin's allies' £££ Great to see a council devoted to such prominent signage...
This scruffy little dauphin sends you love and also his sincere hope that there is no bath in his immediate future. (it's from a couple of weeks ago. there was.)
Milo is pretty indifferent to Chip. But Chip, who had a tough start in life, has carefully studied Milo for 7 months and just recently learned - sob - how to play with toys. He never had any before. Of course, being a dog, the very next thing he learnt was how to steal Milo's ones.
gah! don't know if a photo will exactly help with either, but wishing you the energy of this very happy bumble bee I saw at the chelsea garden show.
Chip & Milo found the weekend quite adequate, really, now it's a bit cooler and their garden is enjoyable once again.
Palantir's Mosley showing what nasty pieces of work he and his sinister employer truly are. I recently made this clipping from Francis Spufford's marvellous new novel, Nonesuch, on fighting fascists in WWII London - clearly an evergreen topic. Hoped for a reason to use it. Now here it is!
Church dog yesterday. Glorious handlebar moustache (which I now know is called a 'Hungarian Handlebar', the biggest kind), and movie star eye lashes. Wildly intolerant of babies. Willing to be fed treats and minded while his humans circulate afterwards. V. fixed views. (possible Presbyterian)
Chip's world is getting wider. He's part of a pack with a kind human leader, is learning to get in and out of <other people's> car (Classic rescue dog error - we thought as he would for us it was transferrable. It was not!), and has met a man (he has big fears) he wants cuddles from. #dogsofbluesky
As Chip traversed the country - big hurray for the UK's hard won public paths system and the right to roam! - Milo and I pursued more sedate goals such as our first iced coffee in the park of 2026. Life goals!
Well this little chap has up and walked (scampered!) the literal width of England - from Bowness to Wall's End. Didn't disgrace himself at any of the B&Bs he and his human stayed at. Enjoyed all the smells and gallops to be had along Hadrian's Wall. Last seen sipping a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale.
the boys enjoyed their weekend In The Country, though Milo finds most walks a bit long, and Chip now wants a cushion-lined Aga compartment for himself thank you very much. for a chap who spent his early years blanket-less in a cowshed, his standard of living expectations have risen sharply!
Boys passed an excellent Easter, albeit Milo now in a long-needed bath immediately necessitated by Chip having such an exciting park play with a pomeranian-huskey - the only cross to match him, chase for chase - that he peed all over Milo's head. No, I don't get the physics of that either.
Oh! As the long slow weeks of (giving up Bsky for) Lent chugged by, I longed to share my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE BOOK SO FAR THIS YEAR, @jamesbluecat.bsky.social's Pagans Read it slowly to savour each detail of this alternative history. It all rang so deeply true. And a fantastic tale. Roll on Book 2.
Well, a good Easter weekend. Reading the first of @pnh.nielsenhayden.com's incomparable Starlight anthologies. Just. so. many. bangers. and the wagging tail of a delighted cockapoo as the congregation belted out the Hallelujah chorus of Handel's Messiah. Also there was roast lamb and mah jong.
I'm giving up bsky for Lent. bloody hell. worst thing since ditching chocolate for 40 days as a schoolgirl. Hopefully these mucky pups will enjoy fewer requests to Stop Right Now So I Can Photo You Horrifying to think it'll be just me and my thoughts for the duration. and books, I suppose. fuck.
well, Monday and all that, but in happier news Milo found his platonically ideal Stick in the park this weekend and chewed it to a tiny stub.