Return of the organ

Still no break in the overcast weather we've been experiencing since Thursday, but it was heartening this morning at St Catherine's Parish Eucharist to have live organ music again, although no singing due to the health restrictions imposed. Again there were twenty eight of us worshipping together, steady summer numbers. When school holidays are over, will the numbers pick up again without Sunday school being open? If it's to happen safely it will require extra safety measures which  and it may not be practicable straight away. 

I confess I'm relieved not to have any parochial pastoral responsibilities and no locum duty services to undertake at the moment. My time in Ibiza seems to have drained me of seal and desire to be useful in God's service, just grateful to be just on the receiving end for a change. Uncertainty about my state of health and feeling less well than I'm used to is a major factor. Tomorrow I'll be chasing my GP to find out what the blood tests taken nine days age have revealed.

After lunch and a siesta, we walked up to Llandaff Cathedral and enjoyed sitting quietly together in the nave before returning, dampened by light rain, which started unexpectedly not long after we left the house. The children's playground in Llandaff Fields finally re-opened re-opened yesterday. The chains have been removed from the gates. There's a new notice attached to the fence stating how many children are allowed to use the facility at any time, eighteen apparently, and another with the usual list of covid-19 precautions applied to playgrounds. 

Since the end of lock-down, children have been climbing the fence to play, if not lifted over it by some parents, while others shun and explain to their kids the reason why. As far as I can recall, no modifications have been made to playground apparatus during the long wait. Admittedly there are hundreds of play parks around the city, but what took them so long to unlock such a popular venue?

In the evening we watched a re-make of the crime thriller 'The Lady Vanishes', originally made famous in Hitchcock's 1938 movie. I was disappointed that this wasn't a showing of the original classic version.