A lovely bright blue sky sunny day, though still a bit cool in the shade. I hunted down the key for the door which leads out on to the little east facing balcony, to open the shutters and let the sun in to warm the dining room during the morning. I also climbed up on to the flat roof of the house and took some panoramic shots of the surrounding countryside. Just think, I've been here a month and that's the first time I have been up on to the roof. As Clare said when we chatted later, if she'd been here she'd have found the key and gone up on to the roof in the first day of settling in.
I'm seeing and hearing more sparrows at the moment. A couple have spent time resting in the louvres of the study window shutters, chirping madly at their mates in the bushes yonder. I've heard a blackbird singing for a mate out in the arroyo yesterday evening and this morning that's new. The few lemon blossom buds on the tree are now bursting into flower, so hopefully the terrace will be an aromatic experience in a day or so.
Five days ago I noticed a tiny snail on one of the steps leading up to the terrace. When I checked next day it had re-positioned itself on the terrace corner pillar, a distance of about five metres higher up. Next day I found it on the outside of the pillar at the other end of the terrace, a distance of about eight metres away. Then the next day again, it appeared on the wall above the steps where I first saw it, a distance of fifteen metres if not more?
I'm pretty sure it's the same snail, for if it had been eaten in the night at any stage how come there was an identical one some distance off? Formidable. This morning I found a second tiny snail, nestling on a ridge of concrete grouting in the stone faced ground floor exterior of the building. Hard to spot. In addition a large sized snail had taken up residence in the middle of the concrete path on which I do my daily round. Not sure where that one came from. I didn't see it yesterday, I don't think.
With Sarah's help recording bible readings, produced the audio file of tomorrow evening's bible study to send to Dave, as the sun was going down. Clare sent me a message to say that Radio Four was broadcasting a documentary about the St Paul's riots and it was just about to start. Pleased that the 40th anniversary hasn't been forgotten, even if the programme isn't on the day. It was a good hour's listening with lots of original sound recordings covering all the events of the fateful day from the perspectives of both the police, the rioters and local residents.
When the violence started I was busy getting things ready for the evening's Confirmation service after returning from a lunchtime Community Relations meeting at which the underlying state of tension in the community was being discussed. Pete Courtier and I, both living in Badminton Road, went home by different routes that afternoon. He ended up right in the middle of the conflict zone and I missed it altogether, as I was working in my study or else in church, not realising there was trouble just three hundred yards away.
I didn't go out on the streets until after the service, about nine in the evening, and was out until very late. The piece by piece story of the riot took me several days to gather together. The documentary did a good job of joining all the dots together. Even so, I hope for the day to come when the story of St Paul's riot day will be told including a mention of that Confirmation service, with the teenage girls in white dresses standing in Ashley Place watching the bank burn into the night.
Five days ago I noticed a tiny snail on one of the steps leading up to the terrace. When I checked next day it had re-positioned itself on the terrace corner pillar, a distance of about five metres higher up. Next day I found it on the outside of the pillar at the other end of the terrace, a distance of about eight metres away. Then the next day again, it appeared on the wall above the steps where I first saw it, a distance of fifteen metres if not more?
I'm pretty sure it's the same snail, for if it had been eaten in the night at any stage how come there was an identical one some distance off? Formidable. This morning I found a second tiny snail, nestling on a ridge of concrete grouting in the stone faced ground floor exterior of the building. Hard to spot. In addition a large sized snail had taken up residence in the middle of the concrete path on which I do my daily round. Not sure where that one came from. I didn't see it yesterday, I don't think.
With Sarah's help recording bible readings, produced the audio file of tomorrow evening's bible study to send to Dave, as the sun was going down. Clare sent me a message to say that Radio Four was broadcasting a documentary about the St Paul's riots and it was just about to start. Pleased that the 40th anniversary hasn't been forgotten, even if the programme isn't on the day. It was a good hour's listening with lots of original sound recordings covering all the events of the fateful day from the perspectives of both the police, the rioters and local residents.
When the violence started I was busy getting things ready for the evening's Confirmation service after returning from a lunchtime Community Relations meeting at which the underlying state of tension in the community was being discussed. Pete Courtier and I, both living in Badminton Road, went home by different routes that afternoon. He ended up right in the middle of the conflict zone and I missed it altogether, as I was working in my study or else in church, not realising there was trouble just three hundred yards away.
I didn't go out on the streets until after the service, about nine in the evening, and was out until very late. The piece by piece story of the riot took me several days to gather together. The documentary did a good job of joining all the dots together. Even so, I hope for the day to come when the story of St Paul's riot day will be told including a mention of that Confirmation service, with the teenage girls in white dresses standing in Ashley Place watching the bank burn into the night.
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