Allie Nickell

@alliethinks.bsky.social

1158 Followers 492 Following

Likes history, genealogy, art, movies, small furry animals and terrible jokes. Possesses a (mostly) logical mind and a vivid imagination. Born and rared in Belfast, and back there after wandering round Scotland and London.

Cartoon of Snoopy as Joe Cool, wearing a red sweater and dark glasses, and standing against a white background.
Puffin standing on a rock on one leg, presumably scratching, preening or working on an advanced yoga pose.
A round 'cake' of yarn viewed from the top, starting with dark plummy red on the outside, and changing through shades of purple, pink and orange as it moves towards the centre. Some of the yarn is a solid colour and other parts have different shades twisted together.
1837 OS map showing field and houses.
Map of the UK, colour coded with counties where I have lived, stayed, visited, stopped and passed through.
Tinted photograph of a dusty-looking road, with a striped church tower on the right-hand side. The road (the Holywood Road) is lined with low walls, hedges and trees. There is a pavement on the left-hand side, and a very narrow strip of pavement on the right. Two people are walking in the distance.
Examples of broken, auto-generated link and an amended, functioning link.
Examples of an auto-generated link to a census transcription page, and a modified short link.
Image from a scanned newspaper, where the text is unreadable dots and smudges, and the OCR has no chance.
An adult moorhen (facing away) standing next to two black chicks. They are on a smooth tarmac surface, so the large feet are clearly visible.
Black swan, sitting curled up on grass, in front of a log and water. Its neck is twisted round, with its beak buried in the feathers on its back.
Rear view of duck standing majestically on a fence, surveying its kingdom / pond.
Duck (female tufted duck?) walking across the grass with six very fluffy ducklings following in a line behind.
A quokka, with its paws outstretched, is delighted to see you.
Image of book from Internet Archive, with first page stating 'Uneven Number Pages Within The Book Only'.
Newspaper cutting, reading : "Mr Ward concluded his speech by expressin reret" The last two words are written in block capitals, making the missing letters more obvious.
Evil Kermit (and Good Kermit).
Newspaper cutting from The London Daily Chronicle, 5 May 1927 - A consultation with Angela Brigid - When I saw Miss Moyna Macgill, little Angela Brigid Lansbury was in attendance. Miss Macgill is, in private life, the very charming wife of Mr Edgar Lansbury, and Brigid, aged 1 1/2, is their daughter. In reply to my inquiry as to whether she used Pond's for that lovely complexion of hers, little Brigid made sympathetic sounds which her mother interpreted as meaning "not yet, but I jolly well intend to later on." And her mother completely approved of that very sensible decision. "One of the best things that I can hope for her," said Miss Macgill, "is that she should keep a fair and clear complexion, free from all blemishes; and when she begins to grow up she will be taught that Pond's Two Creams are the best means to that end."
Head and shoulders photograph of a man superimposed over text (from the Irish Times, 1936)
Headline from The Guardian: Secret Service says it dismantled 'imminent telecommunications threat' near UN general assembly ahead of Trump speech.
Title page for an "Eighth Annual General Report"
Footnote reading: 1 This was once revealed to me in a dream. The footnote is apparently found in Nikolai Berdyaev's book The Divine and the Human.
Back of an Ulster University library card (obviously not showing any of my personal details) sitting on an aquamarine Moleskine academic diary (this season's limited edition colour, don't you know, and very tasteful).
Newspaper cutting (Berwick Advertiser, 25 May 1917): "|An individual who called his first daughter Kate, when his wife surprised him with another girl, promptly christened her Duplicate."
List with the names Tlaith-Bheatha, Adhbhar Neambeo, Ar an gCanail and Miosoruin.
Newspaper cutting from the Newry Reporter, 29 October 1908: "Fishery Case. Mr Hugh Craig, Inspector of Fisheries, summoned Mr James Sinton of Belfast for having on the 5th of September used an otter for the purpose of taking fish in Camlough fresh water lake. Mr Edwin Harris, solicitor, who represented the defendant, pleaded guilty to the offence, which he said was due to ignorance of the law on the part of the defendant. The Bench imposed the minimum penalty - £4 and costs - and forfeited the otter. A similar charge against a lad who was with Mr Sinton on the occasion was dismissed on the merits."
Newspaper cutting, for a competition encouraging readers to fill in the poem's blanks and send it in: There once was a tomboy blank Tilly Who married blank dry as dust Billy She blank "Bill seems quite gay When he blank me his pay To blank him I wasn't so silly."
Newspaper headline from 1926: "Once Famous Actress Dead"
Sir William Orpen's da.
Part of an 1864 birth register - the children's names are recorded as 'Margaret intended name' and 'John intended name'
Part of a 1783 baptismal register, Douglas parish, Lanarkshire
Gravestone reading "In memory of his son George Williamson, mill wright, who departed this life on the 25th of November 1831 aged 22 years. Also Margaret Wilson wife of the above Fullerton Williamson who died on the 18th day of January 1846 aged 56 years."
Newspaper photograph of a young badger in a burberry check hand-knitted jumper. Badger looks slightly confused, but stylish.
Screenshot from Ancestry of comment reading "Information extracted from the death register entry for Margaret GARDNER, aged 69 (Mother's Maiden Name COCHRAN)."
xkcd cartoon 'Duty Calls' - a stick figure is sitting at a desk, busily typing on a computer keyboard. Dialogue: "Are you coming to bed?" "I can't. This is important." "What?" "Someone is wrong on the internet."
Two entries from a handwritten baptismal register.
Post from DieWorkWear's latest BlueSky thread about tie knots, with four photos of the late Duke of Windsor.
C'mon do something meme of a figure poking a stick at the words "My next brickwall when I've successfully broken down a couple."
A platter of fifteens, the quintessential Northern Irish traybake. Made from 15 crushed digestive biscuits, 15 chopped marshmallows, 15 chopped glace cherries and a tin of condensed milk mixed together, formed into a sausage-shape, rolled in dessicated coconut (or dedicated coconut, as it it sometimes known round these parts), chilled until it has set, and sliced (ideally into 15 slices, but don't be stingy). Some people with notions may tell you other ingredients can be included for a modern twist - they are wrong.
A red Henry vacuum cleaner (with nozzle), looking adorable as usual, and slightly mischievous. Henry is a squat, cylindrical cleaner, with a smiling mouth and big eyes painted on the front, and the top is shaped like a bowler hat with the name 'Henry' written on it. The vacuum nozzle is his nose.
Graphic with the caption 'Publication Date'. The left hand limit is 1809, the right hand limit is 1922, and sliders have been used to narrow down the period. Unfortunately the left hand slider is showing '1891' and the right hand slider shows '1874', i.e. time is going backwards.
Census schedule for Robert Goodman and his extended household, who lived at 16 Acacia Gardens and came from all corners of the world.
Notice from Internet Archive saying it is temporarily offline.
Text: Five-Pointed Duck Star. You will need five unusually cooperative ducks, kiddie pool, optimism. 1. Fill the pool with lukewarm water. 2. Gently place each duck inside. 3. Show the above diagram to your ducks and explain that this is what you'd like them to do. Drawing: cartoon diagram of said ducks being very cooperative and forming a five-pointed star, floating on their backs with their feet touching, wings stretched out and their heads at the points of the star. They do not look entirely happy, but they are holding the pose.
Small and very fluffy sea otter cub, poking its head and a single paw over a strip of green fabric. It is fluffy enough to make Agnes from Despicable Me yell 'it's so fluffy!' even though it's not a unicorn.
Photograph of part of a bright rainbow next to a fainter one, against a cloudy grey sky
Wikipedia entry for Watson Reid, which gives his dates as 1827-1891, but also claims he was Dean of Glasgow and Galloway from 1890 to 1903.
Small white ceramic pot on windowsill with a strawberry plant in it. There are two ripe strawberries hanging over the edge, plus one unripe one. The strawberries are a little on the small side, but at least they look edible and the birds can't get them.
Transcription of an 1911 Census record, only the name, age and sex has been transcribed.
1860 marriage register from Dublin. The handwriting is a beautiful copperplate, and parts of the register almost look printed.
The name Williams William handwritten multiple times across two columns (from a GRO index of births, 1843)
Very blurred black and white map, which is mostly black ink. All the writing on it is unreadable.