It's past 5 am and I am going to bed. My only thought is that if this is as bad as it seems, Western Europe including the UK will have to stand up to Putin on behalf of Ukraine and others who have most to lose, Trump has 6 months of sanity left. and a worse VP to succeed him.

Prediction for the next cabinet pick: Falstaff for Lord Chief Justice.

A Game at . . . Beyond Shakespeare

Free Lecture no booking required, Hull Minster, Tuesday 15 April 1pm. "The Hull Raid on the Lincolnshire Pirates, 1577" It is the Chris Ketchell Annual Memorial Lecture, and yes, I'm giving it. The two below are Clinton and Purser, not my Lincolnshire pirates. Still, same fate.

Such a pleasure to record this Royal Studies podcast episode on my biography of King James VI with Dr Johanna Strong buzzsprout.com/1934722/episod… Royal Studies Network Routledge Books #earlymodern #KingJames400 #historyteacher

Trump is to Elon Musk as Henry 8th was to François 1er

Experts are saying that Russia is weeks away from complete economic collapse and other experts are saying that Russia is weeks away from invading Finland and Latvia. Sometimes it's even the same expert.

I was asked to make Typhoid Mary's signature Peach Ice Cream. No sweet ripe peaches yet so I substituted strawberries. Turned out to be iced cream, not ice cream. So I made an egg custard, but over-cooked it and now have a scrambled egg strawberry ice. Living history is a process

Last night I went to Faustus 2025 which was dire, unless you had gone for a pantomime with spectacular fire dancing. I should have read the blurb. I refreshed my brain with this: youtube.com/watch?v=75ObLy…

I have a sudden bad feeling. I have seen two serious street fights in two weeks, one in London and one in Hull, both in areas I would consider very safe and the combatants were all Brits. Talking to people, there is lot of anger around, and we don't seem to have a recovery plan

To the Rapture-disappointed from an Early Modernist. In the time of Christ, they used the Julian Calendar. You guys have been working by the Gregorian. By the Julian calendar 23rd September is yet to come. Although probably not a Rapture.

I met the cat-who-hates-me yesterday for the first time since she was spayed, and she was perfectly friendly. Her personality has transformed. She now likes people (but still kills mice) Is there a larger lesson here?

I have discovered Nålbind. Which is old Norse knitting using one’s thumb and a darning needle. My aim is a Viking hat, but it is not going to be finished soon. It is incredibly fiddly. This pic is a fifteenth attempt.

I made this in 2016. Nothing since has made me change my mind

A day in the Archives yeasterday and there are four new additions to the wildlife at TNA. They seem healthy. Also the Piccadilly line was having a day off so I spent too much time assisting baffled foreigners. Including a dozen Poles trying to get to Heathrow on the District Line