Some news in brief for you.

We've just gone from 2 stars (Fair) to 4 stars (Very Good) on the Environmental Health assessment of our kitchen operations. Congratulations to caterer Alison especially, but also everybody else who's wielded a mop or scourer, a spatula or a spud-peeler in recent times.

Library cataloguing is under way at last. We're using a brilliant bit of web-based software called 'Librarything' which means before long you'll be able to check out online exactly what titles we have.

Our fruit cage is back to normal shape after being bent into a grotesque sculpture by the weight of unexpected snow. In future it'll have extra wide mesh on its roof in winter, just in case.

Our Polish core members Jarek and Dagmara have gone to Bath to run an up-market 'boutique hotel' - not exactly like Othona! We're so grateful their original six weeks here turned into six months.

I (Tony) have become a sprout-farmer. Not brussels - beans and seeds. With the help of an Easygreen Mikrofarm from the States I'm experimenting with all kinds of tasty beansprouts to add to our home-grown salads.

The builder we had engaged to replace the warden's cottage 'Littleness' suffered a serious accident (not on site here). We've found a replacement, but this has delayed the start of foundation works until the summer. We do hope Richard, our original choice, will recover in due course.

Body Mind Spirit Detox is a new item in our programme (3rd-9th May) and filling up fast. It will include the option of introductions to both yoga and meditation, with daily practice sessions, all as part of the package

This year's Quiet Day on 14th May (organised by our local Guild of Health group) is led by Br Samuel of the Anglican Franciscans. Sam is an excellent speaker and his theme "The Healing of Creation" is thoroughly Franciscan.

Vincent Nichols will soon be Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Roman Catholic church in Britain. In the 1990s as an auxiliary bishop in North London he actually had the title Bishop of Othona! Presumably in recognition that the little church at Bradwell was a bishop's seat long before the Church of England was invented.

Finally on the matter of bishops, nobody has yet confused me (plain T Jaques) with Bishop TD Jakes who's one of a select group of five spiritual advisers to Barack Obama. Distinguishing us is not difficult when you know that Bishop Jakes is "a nationally known preaching powerhouse who fills sports stadiums and draws 30,000 worshippers to his church in Dallas, The Potter's House."