Went out for the morning as buoders were in and took read books to the charity shop and ended up buying some new ones. It was a very good morning and my wallet is feeling lighter than my bookshelves. #booksky

I enjoy pancakes throughout the year, but there is something which feels very naughty about eating them in Lent. Trying out a new recipe, only meant to make 6, but got 12 out of it, so we might be eating them for a while.

Our garden has lots of bushes and trees but not many flowers, so starting on putting together a new flower bed. Today has just been breaking up the old lawn and hopefully tomorrow we will go out and get some compost.

We had the first of our church Lent groups this afternoon and we are reading "From Now On" by @revrachelmann.bsky.social. We have a usual congregation of 24 or so, and 18 came to the group. Twas a great time together, hearing everyone's dreams & hopes was a privilege, especially some older friends.

Really enjoyed attending Introduction to Feminist Theology webinar today, much to ponder & more questions forming about God, atonement and the Church, but that often seems to be the way with good teaching. Thank you @karenod.bsky.social (icon by Kelly Latimore @klicons.bsky.social )

Made Kitty Tait's overnight rye and toasted seed loaf to have with tea and it was lovely. Very simple to do with no kneading, just giving it plenty of time. The toasted seeds added a good depth of flavour, but not sure I could quite pick up the rye.

Finished Heartburn by Nora Ephron last night. A good drama, though found it lost what it was wanting to be and where it was going at times. It left some loose ends, though didn't feel worries at them not being addressed. Also contained some homophobic language typical of its time (the 80s). #booksky

This afternoon I went to the Teme Valley South lambing service, which was absolutely amazing. There were a few lambs, but they were unfortunately camera-shy, so here are some of the pregnant ewes instead. I also learnt that 44 of the 66 books of the Bible include sheep! @cofeworcester.bsky.social

Church is this afternoon, so I have been starting the spring cleaning. I have managed two of the bookshelves in an hour, so now sitting down for a coffee and reading break. I feel that the rest may be procrastinated to another day, but you never know.

Some photos of St Barnabas' Church in Brampton Bryan, including a rather unusual pulpit that had different patterns of parquet panelling in it sides and a rather worn tomb, which was still lovely.

Had a lovely little day trip today with good food, a small book haul (including visiting Aardvark Books in Brampton Bryan), seeing lots of snowdrops and a cute corgi. #Booksky

And my next book was a hand me over from E, Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella. It took a little while to finish as needed to put it down part way through with some of the toxic masculinity described, otherwise I enjoyed it. #BookSky

Reading has slowed down with weather and had a couple of books which I needed to pause on, so instead went for the comfier romcom that is Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I've read it before and find it an enjoyable read that allows me just to relax. #BookSky

Visited Holy Trinity, Amblecote, with a lovely stained glass window of St Francis. He is in a rather unusual blue habit, I guess to look prettier, has birds swooping round, and the seraphim above, though no sign of the Stigmata. The window was by John Herdman and Co. from 1965. #Franciscan

Lots of train travel this weekend so enjoyed "Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North" by Rachel Joyce. The novella wraps up a trilogy exploring the journeys of life, grief and the kindness of strangers and is beautifully poignant and raw in places. #booksky

Last night I finished Dara McAnulty's "Diary of a Young Naturalist", which I enjoyed and contained a mix of everyday teenage life interwoven with nature's magnificence, though the angst of nature's destruction was a consistent shadow. #booksky

Second book of the year was "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" by Peter Høeg and based in Denmark and Greenland. It has been on my bookshelves calling me for nearly a decade, but was the perfect off-kilter thriller for winter with snow and ice brimming throughout. #BookSky

New book arrived today, Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography. Feeling very geeky and excited to get into this soon, especially as it has a chapter on Juana de la Cruz. #BookSky

Now that the dissertation is in, I am back to reading whole books! First one of the year was Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata, a short Japanese tale from 1956 of lives entangled with love and the rules of society.