Proms resurrected

Rain overnight, but it cleared up this morning in time for Liz's removal van to arrive early and get to work. It was only a small van, as she is moving to a much smaller place, and has arranged to leave the furniture she doesn't need for a charity house clearance specialist to collect - a good idea I think. She took her leave of Meadow Street just before midday. The house next door seems strangely empty now.

I spent the entire morning on several different piece of work - Carole's funeral, my sister's interment of ashes prayers, Sunday's sermon and a Mothers' Union centenary service in memory of the death of Mary Sumner its founder. I've been asked to do this a week Monday. After lunch I recorded some of the texts for next Thursday's Morning Prayer using my new Olympus voice recorder. I was pleased with the sound quality and ease of use. It plugs into any USB port and is instantly recognised, so file transfer is easy.

After supper I watched another episode of 'Nordic Murders' set in Usedom on the German Polish border, but this week including the maritime connection with neighbouring Denmark as well. It was interesting as it highlighted a legacy from the end of the Second World War, when huge amounts of live munitions were dumped in offshore waters. It seems that phosphorus from deteriorating hand grenades escapes and gets washed ashore, stopped from spontaneous combustion on exposure to air by a film produced by its reaction with seawater. It looks just like pieces of amber, and stays inert until broken open, the sort of thing an unwitting beachcomber might collect and injure themselves. That was the pretext for one part of the plot. The other part involved the illegal salvaging of high explosive shells, whose contents could be extracted and used by criminals. Is this possible seventy five years after? Well possibly, if the shells lay undisturbed in cold deep water, to be collected by expert divers. An unusual backdrop for another family based crime mystery.

To finish the day, the first night of the Proms from the Albert Hall with a very happy full house audience featuring pieces by Poulenc and Vaughan Williams, plus a moving performance of a new composition 'When soft voices die' from James MacMillan and finally Sibelius' Ninth Symphony. Such a wonderful moment following on from last year's powerful defiant utterly memorable lock-down Proms in an empty Albert Hall. From Harrowing Hell to Resurrection. Hallelujah!

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