Farewell concert

Yesterday morning we went into the city centre together for a while, then Clare went off to meet up with a former colleague in Morges, and I went off to see my friend  and former colleague Julia in Divonne. I took the train to Coppet, which is as far as one can travel on the Geneva public transport season ticket. Philippe picked me up and drove me the last leg to their home for an afternoon of conversation sitting out under the trees in their garden, catching up on all that's happened since my visit last October. I was very pleased to hear that Julia's post-ordination training programme is at last completed, and soon, after an interview, she will be fully licensed as a non-stipendiary assistant chaplain.

This morning we visited the farm shop, in one of the buildings belonging to the farm which is the nearest neighbour to the apartment block in which Manel lives. Until the late fifties, most of Petit Saconnex was still given over to orchards and pasture. The farmers who owned the land which is now the Parc du Budé, sold of most of it for housing development, reserving a few hectares and farm buildings in the middle of it, until 2050 for their own use. The land is now managed by a new generation of organic farmers, growing and selling their own organic produce in situ. The shop is well used by neighbours and sells a select range of organic vegetables, oil, honey and Geneva organic wines.

Then we went into the city centre shops to look for a few things we need but can;t get at home and lunched in our favourite department store. As we didn't find what we wanted in the city centre Migros supermarket, we went out on the 18 tram to the Migros in the much larger suburban shopping centre of Balexert. Clare was after a pair of basanes, a lightweight gym shoe, to wear for eurythmy. I also found a pair that just fit me. They'll do nicely for Tai Chi. I also looked for some rubber washers to replace ineffective ones on the joints underneath Manel's leaky kitchen sink. We had no luck in the Migros, so we jumped back on the 18 tram and went further out to the Jumbo DIY superstore in Meyrin, where we quickly found the right ones. We returned to Manel's and I fitted them without any difficulty. A successful expedition.

Our evening was given over to Keith Dale's farewell organ concert in Holy Trinity Anglican Church. Over eighty people were present. Keith delivered a fine programme, which included some duets with trumpeter Christian Crocoll, who attends Gingins. In his day job he's a local air traffic controller working at Cointrin Airport. Keith introduced each of the pieces performed with a background story about the composer and the piece of music. He's an enthusiastic raconteur and his 'act' certainly brings the music alive. It was good to see so many supporters of Geneva Anglican church music present for this occasion. A collection was taken which raised £1,200, to be divided between the organ fund and an orphanage in Myanmar.