Still pinching myself a bit that it's really happened.

A very pleasing book hoard (and incomplete, with some Christmas money to spend).

Happy Christmas to all at #clergymaltclub. Just a token sip of some Cooper King tonight.

A reminder in advance of everyone descending upon their relatives next week: the best thing about Old Twitter — @rhodri.biz #DuvetKnowItsChristmas — has moved to Bluesky. Post & hashtag your pics of having to sleep in the bathtub/beside the ironing/with the dog, and raise money for the homeless ♥️

36 Lessons and Carols over 5 days completed. (We took yesterday off). Very sad to be leaving that church and choir.

Beautiful Advent carol service this evening at the Churches Conservation Trust church of Holy Trinity Goodramgate. The choir: Caelestis, were impressive. Lovely range of music including Latin plainsong, Byrd, Rachmaninov and the gorgeous "In the Stillness".

This week, I've started my schedule of final services in each of my churches. It's a hard thing to say goodbye to people you expected to be with for many more years.

Five trips to the charity shop, four advent calendars bought, three floors of the house hoovered, two pizzas made and a batch of mincemeat chopped and prepped. #dayoff

Diocesan synod on Zoom tomorrow morning. I can't remember when it became my tradition to cook the mincemeat that day, but that's what I do. Easy to stir it every 20 minutes while it cools when you are in a multi hour online meeting. It's all chopped and mixed and steeping overnight. #CofEpeeps

Lovely evening at Market Weighton inducting and installing a new Rector. Friendly people, full church, lovely music, epic buffet. I remember the pies from a previous visit. Still excellent. Prayers for Robert as he takes on this role.

Carry On films were a major part of my childhood. Alongside The Railway Children, pretty much the only films I saw until I was a teenager. The lore... love it.

Yesterday, I spent 10 minutes fixing a hole on the right sleeve of my favourite knitted jacket. Feeling pleased with myself, I packed the darning materials away, put on the jacket and noticed a whacking great hole on the left sleeve. #knitting

Have you heard about The Bovadium Fragments, the new #Tolkien book published three weeks ago (and the last to be edited by Christopher Tolkien)? The Fragments are a satire on the impact of cars, and highlight again Tolkien's concern for the environment. www.tolkiensociety.org/2025/06/new-...

This is now reminding me of the time that my aunt’s friends got a magnetic catflap - which could only be opened by the magnet on their cat’s collar - and kept finding their cat stuck to the fridge.

I love maps so I'm giving away TWO signed paperbacks of my psychedelic/folkloric novel Villager each with these fantastic maps my dad illustrated of the fictional village in the book.Just repost this/reply below for a chance to win. Here's an extract from the book: www.tom-cox.com/the-village-...

Well, it's been quite a day today. #CofEpeeps

I don't know what the cats are queuing for, but it looks like they have settled in for a long wait.

My new book of science cartoons, PHYSICS FOR CATS is out in a week! Order a copy today from you local bookshop or at one of the links here: www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2

Having pretty much ignored me all summer, the cats are now valuing the cosiness of sitting with a human.

This is genius.

Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading. Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own. Just. Keep. Reading.

Autumn reading is slower than summer reading. I finished Vianne by Joanne Harris this week. It's such a lonely book (not a typo) and left me with a number of unanswered questions. Recommend.

✝️ Today we lift high the cross — a symbol of victory, love, and redemption. On #HolyCrossDay, we remember that through Christ’s suffering came our salvation, and through His death, new life was born.

Pleased to announce that today marks the beginning of wool socks season. It seems rather trivial in the light of all the awfulness in the news, but in a couple of minutes, I'll have warm feet, so may find the awfulness marginally less awful. Or at least be better equipped to face it. #knitting 1/2

The knight stood, triumphant, over the prostrate dragon. He raised his sword high above his head and- "I wouldn't if i were you" The voice was in his head. Confused, he glanced around. A black cat was cleaning a paw, casually nearby. He raised the sword again. "Are you REALLY, really sure?" /1

York was looking its very best this evening from down at the millennium bridge.

We don't quite follow this in our family, although cats do tend to get two or three different names. Binky became affectionately known as Mrs Wee-bag. Our current cats have names that suit them very well, so an occasional diminutive is all that's needed.

It is a legal requirement that all cat names must evolve like avant-garde jazz. By the time of a cat's fifth birthday the name by which it is generally known should have zero resemblance to its original name.

Today was Vera's funeral. Vera was a stalwart of our churches, one of those formidable women. It was such a privilege to preach (knowing that she wouldn't be able to offer her accustomed feedback) and remember the depth of her faith.

oh, hello

I sent for a copy of Ring The Hill earlier this year, and I really enjoyed it. If you like vivid prose, atmospheric country scenes, and cats, then this might be worth a look.

Obsessed with this: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Back at work today. It was genuinely lovely, but there's a lot less time for reading.

Summer read sidelines. I'm not really a one book at a time person. Alongside the main summer reads I've been rereading Emma by Jane Austen as my sleep-inducing Kindle read. Before that, I was reading Gail Carriger's Finishing School series (also a re-read).

Summer read #9 The Final Strike by Saara El-Arifi. I haven't finished this yet, but I'm back at work today, so I'm wrapping up the summer holiday. This is a library book, borrowed when I went to return the earlier library books.

Summer read #8 First you write a sentence by Joe Moran. I started reading this in 2019. It's a gorgeous book, not long, but dense. It needs full attention in order to take in the content. I ended up taking notes as I read.

Summer Read #7. Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde. I went to a signing and bought this almost as soon as it was published, then inexplicably set it aside for a year or so. Last month, I re-read the first book in the series, so it's finally time to indulge in this one.

Summer read #6 Politics on the edge by Rory Stewart. I ordered this from the library, having picked it up to browse when I was sheltering from the rain in Easingwold library. Really well written. Fascinating and depressing by turns to read a politician who seems to have principles and capabilities.

Summer read #5. The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness. This was a spontaneous pick from the library shelves. I've read her other books in the series. This was rather disappointing. Too much magic, not enough plot.

Summer Reading #4. Phoebe by @paulagooder.bsky.social Loved this.

Summer Reading #3. A surprise entry suggested by my mum. Interesting, but needed proofreading.

Bit crowded here...

We could do with a few more curates in the North now.

Summer Reading #2. Saved from birthday stash.

Summer read #1. Ring the Hill by @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social I have no idea what to expect, but I've been enjoying his posts and substack, so I'm hopeful that it's going to be good.

I'm on what has been described as "the weirdest road trip ever" today (by someone not on the trip). Any guesses?

A very pleasant evening playing Cyclades with T and P. Delighted to come within 3 gold coins of winning.

This sounds fun. Hit the like button on this post, I'll reply (some time later, perhaps) with a book I love.