Haircut time

How lovely to wake up to bright sunshine and a relatively mild temperature. The damson bush which Clare bought last autumn, to replace the apple tree that went to the church garden (and now flourishes), has the first tiny leaves emerging from even tinier buds. A sign of good things to come, hopefully. 

Having collected the extra medication prescription from the surgery at the end of my afternoon walk yesterday, I went to get the medication after breakfast. Boots didn't have the right kind of doxazosin slow release tablets in stock, so they must be ordered. I'll get them tomorrow. 

On my way there, however I called at Stavros' salon to book a haircut appointment. Already he's fully booked until next week. At that moment he was on the phone managing this and that, rather than cutting hair. He took one look at me and ordered me into an empty barber's chair. One of his team came and took my temperature and contact details, then in between handling phone calls, Stavros gave me his 'Clint Eastwood' cut. Last time he called it a 'George Clooney' cut. A most enjoyable experience - the buzz of a key family business at the heart of Canton's high street, getting back to normal with enthusiasm.

Mother Francis has asked me to officiate at the funeral of an elderly retired priest, who requested a male cleric. His daughter lives locally. I'm meeting the two of them on Thursday morning for a briefing This will be another 'first' for me.

I cooked lunch, and then did the circuit into Bute Park via Blackweir and Millennium bridges. Several groups of young men were practicing their rugby moves on the pitches over there. I'm not sure whether team training activities are allowable yet, but they continue un-policed. A group of ten youngsters were sitting by the riverside in quite a confined space, certainly not socially distanced. Perhaps they have all had covid and recovered, and think their immunity means they don't need to comply with the rules. It's a bit difficult to understand from my viewpoint.

We watched the first episode of 'The Story of Welsh Art' on BBC iPlayer after supper, covering its evolution from unique stone decorations found in Bronze Age tombs and Celtic crosses of the 8th-9th  century through to innovative portrait painters of the 18th century. A fascinating overview, from which I learned some new things to be proud of about our remarkable cultural history.