Saturday lie-in followed by our usual pancake breakfast, then work on a eulogy for the second funeral I have to take on Thursday, while waiting for Owain to arrive in good time for lunch. We walked down to Blackweir afterwards. Several ponies were grazing in the field by the embankment, released from their two wheeled traps by their Traveller community owners out with their families for an afternoon in the sun. More shoals of stone along the river banks are exposed now the water level is low and are used as beaches by youngsters who also swim or paddle in pools of deeper water. No traffic, no telephone lines or power cables visible, a lovely bucolic sight in the heart of the city.
We booked a table for a six o'clock meal at Stefano's. Later evening slots were all fully booked. I'm so glad for this hard-working Welsh-Italian family. Before covid, they were going to close and convert the premises they own into a couple of apartments, and concentrate on business interests elsewhere in the city. Instead Stefano and his wife single handed established a take-away pizza and pasta delivery service, which kept them very busy during lock-down. At least for the time being the restaurant is open again and seems to be doing well. If you can't go to Italy, on a sunny evening Stefano's is the next best thing.
When we got back, we watched the movie 'Testament of Youth' based on Vera Britan's account of her life during the first world war. A powerful story of love, adventure and life lost with some powerful imagery telling the story without need for comment or dialogue. A filmic masterpiece. Then Owain and I watched an episode of the Canadian detective/courtroom series 'Coroner', full of quirky twists but bland by way of contrast to what we were watching earlier. Like junk food compared to cordon bleu from the angle of visual and emotional impact.
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