Lent begins

I woke up to bright sunshine just after seven, posted today's YouTube link to WhatsApp at half past, and said Morning Prayer before going down for breakfast. There were nineteen adults plus baby Sebastian at the Ash Wednesday Eucharist, and half of them stopped for coffee and a chat after the service. I collected this week's veggie bag on my way home.

Clare had already decided to make savoury pancakes for lunch as we didn't have any yesterday. On Shrove cooks traditionally used up remaining eggs milk and butter in pancake batter as preparation for the Lenten Fast. Using a vegan batter recipe doesn't defy tradition. Buckwheat flour, almond milk, oil and salt are all that's needed to produce excellent pancakes. I took charge of making the filling using onion, mushrooms, garlic and lentils. A small amount of kale and the last parsnip from the last veg bag served as a garnish both savoury and sweet. I was pleased with the result, even though it produced a lot of washing up.

I had an email from Staysure travel insurance notifying me that my annual policy would be automatically renewed in April. I wasn't aware of consenting to this, and not yet decided whether  or not I want to pay for an multi-trip annual insurance. I plan to visit Veronica in Catalunya in early May, and we're thinking about another river cruise, but would insurance for a couple of fairly short separate trips cost as much? No sign so far of any locum duty coming my way this year, which would require a multi-trip insurance, but who knows? 

I looked at my Staysure account, and decided the premium wasn't too excessive. The reason for this may be that I haven't yet reached my eightieth birthday when the insurance starts. I just hope we get to travel as I suspect insurance charges will rise next year. When I went on to confirm auto renewal, I encountered a glitch in the pop-up dialogue which meant I was unable to confirm, so I had to open a Direct Message channel with a 'bot' I guess, and waste half an hour making sure auto-renewal would happen, and my credit card debited - I didn't know their system retained my card details, or I didn't notice this when last I paid. Thinking of this led me to check on my car insurance, due at the end of April. I expected this to rise anyway, but it's not excessive, so I can afford to insure a car for another year - for better or worse.

Then I went to the shops to re-stock on various plant milks, fruit and veg. When I was about to pay at Beanfreaks, I found that I'd left my card wallet and phone at home. I'd taken out my cards to check if the right account number had been used and forgot to put them back in the same place. I had to go back home to retrieve them and start again, first Beanfreaks, then Tesco's. My very full rucksack must have weighed 7-8 kilos on the way back. Thankfully my back and legs didn't give me any trouble. The stimulus of good weather on a bright cold day makes me feel less than my age. I only needed a short walk in the park to exceed my daily step count.

After supper, I watched two fiendishly complex to follow episodes of 'Astrid - murders in Paris' and then it was bed time.