Disclosure received - vote cast

I had a funeral Monday lunchtime out at the Vale Crematorium. Apart from that, it was time to gather all that I need to take with me to Spain, and start packing. Clare can't get over the fact that I've started far earlier than she can ever remember me starting to pack before. I should be well practised by now with all my comings and goings on locum duty this past few years. Truth is I still get nervous. Life is much easier when I don't forget to pack all I need. I've also been working on preparing sauces and chopping veggies for individual freezer packs, to make it easier for Clare to make the meals she wants while she still has limited use of her right arm.

I took a trip into town on Tuesday morning to get some new cotton pyjamas, and bumped into a loss prevention worker who contributes information to the RadioNet DISC system. She said she had some material for me in the office, but didn't start work for an hour, so I arranged to meet her when her shift started, after I'd completed my errands and bought myself a snack lunch. Rather than take the material home with me to work on, I slipped into the office to process and upload the material and update other data that was ready to add. It took longer than I expected, so it was gone four when I left for home, and an evening of food preparation and packing.

Much to my delight, the morning mail today delivered my CRB Enhanced Disclosure certificate for the diocese of Llandaff, and my Postal Vote documents, bang on time. Two things I now won't have to deal with by remote control from Nerja, as the former could be posted straight to the Archbishop's Registrar and the latter to the Returning Officer straight away. 

I had a message to say that I wasn't needed to celebrate the Eucharist at St David's Ely this morning as Father Jesse has returned from sick leave, good news indeed. So, after a visit to the GP Surgery to get a medication prescription for the duration of my stay in Spain, I attended the Eucharist at St Catherine's and had a chat with Fr Mark afterwards. After lunch, there was another funeral, this time at Thornhill Crematorium, with more mourners in attendance than I had been led to believe was likely, given the unfortunate and sad history of the deceased. Then, back home to complete packing by adding my alb and stole to the suitcase, just about ready to go.

Early evening I had an appointment for a special haircut with our friend Chris, who is currently doing a specialist hairdressing course alongside his apprentice, Michael. I was to be his model to experiment on, with a hair and beard trim. Chris is the only person in my life I have trusted with trimming my beard, and I was well pleased with the outcome, at the end of a long and relaxed session at the training salon in Coleg Glan Hafren. I was long overdue for a haircut, and it was great to have one of South Wales' top hairdressers working on me, the last step in getting ready to return to Spain.