Anthropax's Old Blog

...this morning. I had to take mother to the eye hospital again. While she was being seen to, I went and joined the Cathedral Theology Library, partly because it's rather ace in itself, and partly because of a day spent trying to find theological books at the council library - none of the authors were on the council's records apart from Tolstoy, and the book I needed from him didn't show up. I came away from Hereford with two books that'll be rather enjoyable to read and digest. I'm now looking for cheap copies of other books on amazon, but almost all of the books I need for anthropology, but the cheapest of the interesting (and, more importantly, good) books is in the £35 region, with most being double, or even triple that. *sigh*

Hello all. Thank you for all your emails - am getting through the replies... Hope all is good with you all - thought a little email might be nice... Gaelle, the French girl I have been working with since I got here, finally left on Tuesday so am doing my bit of the project on my own now! 13 schools have got me to look after them… can you imagine… the poor things! The team is as lively as ever, helped by the arrival of an American girl, Devon, at the beginning of the week, who seems pretty lively and up for a laugh. A lot of the team are off on a big shopping trip for the schools to Matara tomorrow – a fairly large town up the coast from here so that will be fun, even though Matara is loud, hot and extremely busy. Shopping there takes forever. Sri Lankans are never in a hurry to do anything. Went to a place called Unawatuna this weekend which was great fun – a very lazy place where the beach is just calling out for you to lie on it and the Arrack (a very popular dink here, a bit like very strong Vodka) is just crying out to be drunk! Lots of nice places to eat and we also did lots of swimming. The water is so beautifully clear and warm – so relaxing! Stopped off at Mirissa on the way back to Tangalla which is one of Sri Lanka’s nicest bay – a little secluded area wrapped round with palm trees. Again, very beautiful. Makes a lovely contrast to the chaos and danger on the roads! The local elections are today – some say there will be trouble as the new President is already deeply unpopular, but we are all hoping their won’t be trouble! We are just keeping our heads down for today, just in case. The schools are shut in any case becasuse of the elections so its office work! My parents and brother are coming out – seems to be quite spur-of-the-moment, but it will be really nice to see them. They are here for 10 days including over the Buddhist New Year on 13th/14th so it’ll be good to do some traveling with them then. Chris (Pyatt for those of you who know him - some don't I know! lol) arrives at the end of next week so as really looking forward to that. The plan at the moment is for Chris, Jo (another Monmouth friend who is working in Colombo) and me, along with my parents and brother to go up to the mountain town of Kandy for the New Year where apparently some of the best celebrations are. But am hoping to give my parents the slip I think… Jo is actually down on the south coast this week so we are hoping to meet up in Mirissa on Friday and spend some time there, perhaps over the weekend. It’ll be nice to see her, though I think we’ll both find it quite weird seeing each other in such a different situation from what we are used to! The whole situation in Sri Lanka still gets to me sometimes - you keep being jolted into the situation of a particular local and you realise that this is how they live, and its a world away from anything a Western person could even imagine living that way. I visted a school for deaf children a few days ago - the kids all board there yet there is no running water facilities and thus food and hygine is very difficult, not to mention drinking water in this heat... the water they have is from a dirty well which is just not suitable for 120 children and teachers. Yet they keep smling and make the best of it. I was shown their dorms - again, not enough beds, so many kids have to sleep two to a bed, in a bed thats not really big enough for one. The people out here are tough - perhaps the kids especially. I am constantly being amazed by them and they keep making me remember just how lucky the developed world is. The internet is becoming dodgy so I shall sign off and let you get back to doing something more important! Keep in touch with all your news! Love, Humph xx Technorati Tag: Sri Lanka

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Modalism 67% Nestorianism 67% Pelagianism 58% Apollanarian 42% Monophysitism 42% Monarchianism 42% Adoptionist 25% Socinianism 17% Arianism 8% Donatism 8% Docetism 8% Gnosticism 8% Albigensianism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

...on two essays at them moment. One's on Liberation Theology (which I think is ace), and the other's either on the 'War on Terror', assisted dying or divorce and remarriage (I haven't made up my mind yet). The Liberation Theology essay is rather fun to research, and having looked at social structures and theories as part of Anthropology last year, I can throw in a few kick-ass quotes about things. I'm focusing on the South American part of Lib Theol (as I've taken to calling it), and plan to bring in things ranging from the Christian Left (touching on Tolstoy's Christian Anarchism), to Chavez and Morales and the new wave of leftist leaders in Latin America. I'll also make reference to The Most Reverend Óscar Romero, who I have an Icon of as my Laptop Wallpaper (geeky I know!). Here it is (by Br. Robert Lentz OFM)

(Not including Christ Church Saint Laurence, and I hope, quite a few members of the diocese) I'd heard rumors that the Archbishop of Sydney has espoused views which could be heretical, and decided to have a little dig around, in order to find a little more out about this. I won't be looking at his alleged nepotism in appointing his brother to be a Dean, nor their treatment of the Cathedral of St. Andrew, which they seem to have withdrawn the celebration of daily Eucharist from. These few things may be of interest: "... The second argument has a much longer history, being able to be traced back to Reformation doctrines of Sola Scriptura. Under the Sydney version of this doctrine God's word is not Jesus, the Word made flesh, but the pure text of Scripture: immutable, unchangeable, absolute, and finished. Under this doctrine the Holy Spirit no longer reveals truth about God in the world; God no longer speaks to us in new ways, and we are to rely solely upon the set texts of previous revelation for information on how to live and carry on God's work in the world. There is only one way to interpret those texts - they will tell you what it is - and we should steer clear of any interpretations which make use of human reason, historical-critical method, or ongoing revelation unless we can prove them directly from other certain texts of Scripture - once again, the Jensens will tell you which ones. Perhaps this is moving towards a caricature, but again it's basically what they teach. When Anglo-Catholic and liberal Anglican Christians speak out against the leadership of the diocese of Sydney we generally do so because we disagree with some aspect of what they do - their attitude towards women or homosexual people, or their attacks on ritual and sacramental practice, or the way they plant congregations, often barely recognizable as Anglican, in other jurisdictions. Fair enough at one level, because these are presenting issues that affect real people and real Christian communities. But I think it is much more important that we realize that these actions and teachings are basically the outcome of two heresies that deny, first that Jesus is as fully God as God the Father, and second, that God the Holy Trinity continues to speak to the world through the Holy Spirit who has been promised to us as the prompting agent of constant renewal for the Church: that God still does new things. This is very worrying. As an Anglican, I feel able to tolerate people in the Church with different views on various things (even though I will challenge their views if I feel they cross a line), but this Semi-Arianism is too far. The Gospel of our Lord is super, but it is important to remember that Jesus is the Logos (word) made flesh, and not the Bible. The Bible is not the revelation from God that the Qu'ran is for Muslims, the book is a different sort of book. People must be wary of venerating the Bible as a substitute for Jesus. I'll add more to this when I have a little more time. Technorati Tag: Anglican

...talked about the BNP founding a 'church' of their own here, I've been following with interest the topic on the bastion of British Christianity on the web Ship of Fools. The forum there has discussion about the issue, and the idea was raised about refusing the sacrament to people who joined the group. "You can be excommunicated in the C of E. I gather that you have to give the person concerned seven days notice in writing and get the permission of the Bishop. The one instance I know about third hand was a stalker who was finally deterred by being excommunicated. Nothing prevents, AFAIK, the excommunicate from moving to the other side of the country or putting C of E on their census form. But God is not mocked. No, really he isn't, honest. So technically, if you have done something to warrant sufficient indignation an Church of England priest may deny you the sacraments. But it does depend rather on the discretion of the priest" (in the 'Purgatory' section). also "I don't see what's wrong with this in principle. The point of withdrawing the sacraments from someone is to bring about amendment on a serious and scandalous point about which they are not even seeking to repent, isn't it? I don't understand why actively claiming support from Christianity for the agenda of the BNP isn't seen as that serious by anybody, given the events of the last century. We've seen where it can lead and not just in places that would invoke Godwin's Law" If you were a priest, dear reader (or indeed are one!) would you refuse the blessed sacrament to someone you knew to be involved with this 'Christian wing of the BNP'? Technorati Tag: Anglican

by Rev Dr Tom O’Loughlin I had a bit of free time on Tuesday, and so nipped along to see the good Rev. Doc. give a rather good lecture on this subject, as part of the public lectures on Anglicanism series that the Uni was holding. He raised the fascinating idea of a Religious Tradition being defined by little theological 'nuggets' that are very dear to the majority of the believers in that tradition. Fellow blogger Greg came along as well, and therefore we had a very good discussion about the ideas raised, as well as many other enjoyable topics after the talk. Tom's major 'nuggets' for Anglicanism were:

• The Bible: Tom put forward the idea that one of the striking differences for him, was the high position given to the Bible in the Anglican tradition. He provided a superb explanation for this, reasoning that as Anglicanism came about after the reformation, the view of scripture was linked to how scripture wasdisseminatedd at that time. Printing of Bibles was going along well, and so Anglicans view scripture as one single tome, as opposed to a collection of various books. This results in a rather monolithic view of the Bible, as opposed to the recognition that the Gospels are more important that the rest of the New Testament, and then the Hebrew Bible.
• The Book of Common Prayer: Mainly, a fondness for the liturgy, and the way it replaced at least four other books that were used before. Mentioned the Prayer Book Society, who seem to be mostly young folk.
• The Early Church: The feeling that if the Early Church did it, then it must be OK. If you can find in the early texts, something that can back your arguement up, then a feeling of relief comes over you, as you can't now fail. Tom also talked about how you can tell the different types of Christians by the dates of their 'Early Church History' courses. As well as this was talk about the four eccumenical councils.
• There may have been a few other 'nuggets' that he mentioned, but I'm afraid that I didn't take notes, and am, well, a bit rubbish - if you were there, comment and I'll update the post.

Technorati Tag: Anglican

About 7 minutes ago, the BBC news service reported that ETA have declared a Perminant Cease-fire over Spanish Radio Eta said its objective now was "to start a new democratic process in the Basque country". The authenticity of the announcement - which said the ceasefire would begin on Friday 24 March - could not immediately be verified. It was made first on Basque radio and TV outlets in Spain, and then carried by the Basque newspaper Gara, the usual vehicle for Eta statements. The group's activities have been waning, with the number of bombings falling in recent years. Hmm. I guess that the commitment to 'start a new democratic process in the Basque country' is a jolly good thing all in all. I wonder if they'll go the SNP way, and look for independance via closer European integration? One to watch at least.

Hi all! Bit of an update for you... not too long so hopefully won't bore you! Went to Uda Walawe National Park last weekend with a workmate, Jo, for an early morning safari. It was fab - got loads of amazing pictures of wonderful animals - lots of elephants, foxes, monkeys and the most beautiful birds! (Bit more difficult to photo them though!) The park is set against the beginning of the South Country mountains that spread up into central Sri Lanka - they provide a very dramatic backdrop and are very lovely early in the morning! As the park is about 60km north of Tangalla where I am, Jo and I stayed in a guesthouse in the dusty town of Embilipitiya. The people running it seemed surprised that people actually wanted to stay there - we thought this was a bit odd... until we saw the rooms and spent the night there!! Am off to Unawatuna this weekend - apparently a lively hub with some nice bars and clubs. The whole Adopt Sri Lanka team is going down and making a weekend of it, so it should be fun! Am in the final stages of taking over from the person who has been doing my job since October. Gaelle has been great to me and I only hope I shall be able to fill her shoes! Thank you for all your emails - great to hear from you. Will continue to reply as soon as I can! Love, Humph Technorati Tag: Sri Lanka

Look at one star reviews of good books on Amazon USA For Nineteen Eighty-Four: 2 of 74 people found the following review helpful: DON'T READ THIS BOOK, September 23, 2003 Reviewer: Sheri (greensboro, north carolina) i give this book one star i had to read it for class and i know it's suposed to be a "classic" but god itis awful. first of all its NOTHING like the future is probly going to turn out. second of all every one says the aurthor george orwell is so trippy and wierd but i think he's just trying to cover up for the fact that HE CAN'T WRITE. please george do us all a faver and stop writing books. I just love the "please george do us all a faver and stop writing books" part, unfortunatly, Sheri's wish has come true as Orwell died in 1950.

...Ekklesia, the Christian think-tank report that the BNP are setting up a church and 'Christian Council of Britain' to spread their dreadful ideology. I'm not dreadfully sure how one can be both a member of the BNP, and a Christian. I wonder what their liturgy will be like - no doubt some Evo crap, with little focus on love, and lots on a few tiny little bits of scripture. Showing Jesus' (Jewish - don't forget) love, through the medium of ... hatred? Love your neighbor, unless they are black/Muslim/Jewish/gay/Eastern European/a refugee etc. I don't think I even need to state that this is an abomination. Technorati Tag: Anglican

Time again for the obligatory St. Patrick’s Day post. I never really though about St. Patrick's importance in helping people understand The Trinity before, but I guess his use of the shamrock would have been a great help to people. It's also worth remembering that he was sold as a slave, so today would also be a good time to reflect on that dreadful practice.

...is an island off the coast of Nagasaki, and is an abandoned coal mine island. It's an island, only it seems to have been built up so much that it seems like a giant fortress in the sea, or some form for massive battleship. It was abandoned in the 80's, and so provides a furtile ground for photographers interested in this special place. One such photographer is to be found here.

Hello all! Apologies for group email - am trying to work in lots of groups of people for emails to make them as interesting as pssible - if you think you're in the wrong group let me know! lol. Am settling in well, the guesthouse is nice and the people are incredibly friendly. The effects of the tsunami though are still everywhere - many people seem to have spent the last 15 months just sitting around waiting for help to come, help which may in fact never come. The locals put Whites into one of two groups - you are either here for "holiday" or for "help". The work is going to be a bit different from what I expected - I shall be working with about 14 schools that are at the moment twinned with UK schools and assessing their needs, coordinating their donations and supplying what they need with the donation from their UK twin school. Have spent the first week beginning to familiarize myself with the schools and the various projects with Gaelle, who I am working with for the next three weeks and from whom I shall be taking over properly at the beginning of April. The others in the Adopt Sri Lanka office are friendly and include a British woman and two Sri Lankans. Sadly, one couple who are working here are off tomorrow, so the group will become a little smaller - c'est la vie. Am looking forward Chris coming out and joining me in a few weeks and have already been in touch with another friend (Jo Bounds - have I mentioned her?) who has been out here for 5 weeks already working at an elephant orphanage. Tangalle is a nice, quiet town with most of the necessities - however it is quite likely that I shall never make it back to the UK as the roads here are as dangerous as a pool of petrol and a naked flame! Riding in a tiny tuk-tuk (taxi) is a time when I am particularly prayful! Apart from work have already managed to get to the local Rock Temple (a huge mountain of rock with temples set into it) and, as today is a Poya Day (a Bank Holiday) some of us here in the office have been invited to celebrate with one of the Sri Lankans that works here - they celebrate by visiting the temple to offer sacrifices to Buddha and then going home and eating lots with their family and friends! Have had loads of amazing experiences so far and have met some very interesting people. My journal is already pretty thick! Do email - be great to hear from you all. Interent not great though, so apologies for any delay in replying! Love, Humph xx Technorati Tag: Sri Lanka

...except for these two things via 'Pious and Overly Devotional'. Firstly, he talks about Bishop Spong in less than loving terms ;) Followed by one of the best things I have seen on the interweb for a long time: REAL ULITMATE ANGLO-CATHOLIC POWER Facts: 1. Anglo-Catholics are mammals. 2. Anglo-Catholics genuflect ALL the time. Technorati Tag: Anglican

Hardly

Slobodan Melosevic has died, and therefore a genocidal warmonger escapes justice. I'm certainly not weeping any tears for him. I took my mother to see Poly Toynbee talk about poverty in Britain, and her experiances of living on the minimum wage, and then had my copy of her book signed. I also got to have a little chat about the new wave of south american leaders who pledge to reduce povery in their own countries. Notably, our MP didn't attend - what a suprise.

Heading home yet again. The main exciting news is that I'm off to see Polly Toynbee give a talk as part of the Monmouth (my home town) womens festival - she's talking about her experiances of trying to live on the minimum wage (£5.05/hour - or about $9 for aur american friends). It'll take about two hours to drive home, so I'll knock up a few sandwhiches to take with me - a good bit of pastrami, and a local chutney, both from the small independant delicatessen in Lampeter (my only source of good olives for miles around!). I've also got to have a chat with the DDO, so I'll have an opportunity to do that tomorrow. I noticed, while browsing the newspapers, that the superb Karen Armstrong (who's books pretty much got me through my Christian Doctrine essay, not to mention Islamic Doctrine) has written a comment on the Danish Cartoon kerfuffle; On both sides, the radicals have tried to eliminate the middle ground, and this is extremely dangerous. The Muslims who vandalised embassies and brandished placards vowing to execute the cartoonists have fulfilled the stereotypical view of "Islam" in the west: a religion seen as violent, fanatical, selfdestructive and atavistically opposed to freedom. At the same time, those who aggressively support the repeated publication of the cartoons embody the view many Muslims have of "the west": as arrogant, disdainful of religion, chronically Islamophobic, and guilty of double standards - proudly boasting of its tolerance, but not applying it to anything Islamic. When the dust has settled after the crisis, these negative stereotypes will be more entrenched, to the detriment of a final reconciliation. A little bird mentioned to me that a certain person who seems to be distinctly unchristian has started a Christian Union at his school, but seems to be using it to spread and justify his dreadful right-wing views.

Today, I'll be writing about the clergy. However, before you settle down for a gentle meander through the CofE, this is going to be a little different. This is going to be about.... HERESY! I've been having a bit of a conversation in the comments section of this post which started off talkign about the church in the 'global south', and whether gay people should be allowed to be ordained. Regardless of that issue, the two major 'hooks' of the arguement seem to be: 1. Whether the Bible should be used as the only source of guidence. 'Chike' believes that it is, whereas I feel that there are other sources of authoritive guidence in the form of Reason and Tradition, with the experiance of life also being important. 2. Whether a Priests' moral status has an effect on how they perform their practical and spiritual duties in regards to Sacrements such as the celebration of the Eucharist. I feel that 'special quality' that allows the priest to minister the sacrements is indepentant of their 'level of sin'. As any person can see, this is linked to the Donatist heresy. So, discuss my friends. Technorati Tag: Anglican

...articles/blog posts from around the web. First, we have 'Capitalist Pig vs. Socialist Swine', who writes about Bishop Spong's response to some Mormons. I never thought that I would agree with Spong, but his view about the dangers of holding The Bible up as infallible, and the way that leads to idolatory of it does have some merits. Secondly, 'Thinking Anglicans' ponders an article about Aristotle and the African Anglicans, and calls for the CofE to take the moral high ground. In other news, The Pope seems to have dropped his title of 'Patriarch of the West'. The Church of England Newspaper covers it here, with a nice quote from my acquaintance Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron (a 'big boned' chap, with a slightly camp manner, but booming voice). The dropping of the title looks to be a move in the direction of reconciliation between Canterbury and Rome - Hurrah! *edit* My I take this chance to introduce a fellow student at this venerable institution that we call Lampeter University. Gregory is a gentleman most worthy of the description. Also his skill as a Catholic apologetic is formidable, as numerous evangelicals and other protestants have found to their cost. I have a feeling that his blog will soon have a reputation as a hotbed of theological and doctrinal debate. His love of rugby, sadly passes me by. Far too many memories of being forced into the terrifying environment of the ruck during my formative years at public school. My Sports master did not consider that although a person may have the physique of a prop, they will not necessarily make a good one. Just don't mention Buddhists to him.

Chi Fukami Taylor, one of the drummers, and a vocalist on one song.

The Team, although the 'A' person has been replaced by the very cool Kaori Tsuchida.

...on up to Hereford yesterday, partly because I wanted a few new clothes to go and see The Go! Team in, and partly to go to a service at the Cathedral. I had much less money in my account than I had though, so I had to limit myself to a pair of trousers, the 'We are scientists' album, and a version of St. Augustine's 'confessions'. I also drank far too much tea, waiting for the Choral Evensong service at 5.30 - there's not a single midday-ish service at the Cathedral, which was a little disapointing to be honest. Now, no-one can accuse me of being 'low church', but I do like a little 'audience participation' in a service, but with the evensong, I might as well have been at a concert. All we had to say was the apostle's creed (which includes the belief in the intercession of saints - interesting). Lovely singing though, and as the choirboys were rather short, there was a scaled down processional cross for the cruicifer. Technorati Tag: Anglican

Humphrey replied to my email: Subject: Good luck! Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2006 11:35:13 +0000 Humph, I hope you're rading this in Sri Lanka, in good health and so on. I presume the weather is slighly warmer, and rather less snowey than Wales is at the moment. I hope you had a good flight, and get to see many superb things. If you wish for me to post any update emails on my old blog, then I would only be too happy to. On that front, I seem to have been bogged down with various ecclesiastical matters recently. [Anthropax] With the following: I am reading this in the conditions you described! Looks to be good fun here. People are friendly. My first impressions of Sri Lanka is that it is a loud and colourful country, but having a terrible, terrible time after the tsumai. The effects are everywhere and it is quite heartbreaking already. Apologies for short email - not got the computer for very long! Also apologies in advance - use of internet is going to be harder than I thought I think! Do email me though - I will get lonely out here sometime! Take care Humph Technorati Tag: Sri Lanka

...my elation this morning, having watched the BBC news describe the Anglican Church as having an 'impending split'. I've got mixed feelings on the issue. One one hand, the Church in America and Canada, while being correct in their attitude towards homosexuality, have acted in a very provocative way towards the more conservative members of the communion. On the other hand, the Churches of the global south, are not showing the tolerance of Churches from other societies that make up the communion. Overall, both sides haven't compromised enough, in order to keep the communion together, and that is what I feel the aim of the outcome should be. The communion must be kept together, if not 'at all cost', but as a priority. A schism would be tragic, as well as highly destructive. Hopefully, over time, a decision can be reached that will, if not entirely satisfy both sides, but at least allow them to co-exist in the communion. Technorati Tag: Anglican

...good chat with the Vicar today about the state of the Church, as well as a number of other things, such as the theology colleges in Oxford (she went to Wycliffe Hall, but thinks St. Stephen's House would be more my cup of tea). Things went very well, and I think I'm likely to get her support for when I see the DDO, Richard Pain, who I happen to know quite well already. This is all jolly exciting. I also had a bit of a chat with Rev. Cooling, who recomended an ethics book for my Christian Ethics module, that he had since seen reviewed in The Chuch Times. I also plan to pop up to Hereford on Monday, in order to see Alice, and get some new trousers, as well as have Mass in the cathedral. Technorati Tag: Anglican

1. Good luck to Humphrey. He's off at 8.30 tonight to Sri Lanka to help organise charity stuff, and teach English. I wish him well, and hope he has a fruitful and enjoyable time out there.
2. Chester Cathedral have been standing up to Unitarians by not letting them use the Cathedral. The reason is that they are, well, Heretics. Let's not be wishy-washy and call them 'non-Orthodox', as they are just as bad as Arius in their heresy. The Times covers it here.
3. This has been doing the rounds in Anglo-Catholic circles for obvious reasons. It's like having a little virtual priest-doll. Now that would be a great thing! A sort of action figure (one for each religious tradition) that comes with suitable priestly regalia! Eastern Orthodox would be fun, as would some of the Chinese religions.
4. I may be heading home later, if the blizzard that Lampeter is under subsides, but it won't be until after the International food fair, which I'm looking forward to quite a bit.
5. And finally, the Guardian compares the three Lib Dem leadership candidates to different parts of the CofE:

Surveys suggest that the Liberal Democrats have more support from clergy and regular churchgoers than any other political party.

The victor, Menzies Campbell, exemplifies many of the features of the traditional established churches of England and Scotland - gentlemanly, polite, venerable and reassuring, although showing some signs of ageing.

The runner-up, Chris Huhne, embodies several attributes of the new evangelical house churches and charismatic fellowships which constitute the most dynamic and successful sector within the contemporary British Christian scene - highly focused, media-savvy and unencumbered by baggage; but maybe tending towards the shallow, the slick and the opportunistic

Mother telephoned earlier today, and so I have a little bit of news from the homeland (which, to be truthful, is only two hours drive away). 1. She took my little sister to the mayor's charity concert thing at HMSG, and I was asked after by a member of staff. It also seems that between the two schools, there are rather a lot of medical students from my year. A bumper crop of docters perhaps? Although some may not have the bedside charisma or empathy that I would feel is needed *cough*RLN*cough*. 2. Someone from the shoot my father attends has bagged a deer for us, so that's hanging in the cold-room ready for some lovely stews to be made out of it, as well as the odd joint - delicious! 3. My complete Father Brown book arrived, and while cooking up Dahl last night I had a good chance to start on it. Top stories - GK Chesterton knew his stuff. I also picked up a good number of books after the service on Sunday, as the chapel is raising money for flowers by the chaplain and others selling books. I picked up a good few (8 or so), as well as a nice little icon. Delightful

...it's still not boring though. We've had well over an inch up here, but the sun is out quite strongly at the moment, making it rather tricky to see at all.