Time with Rachel

I posted to WhatsApp the link to today's Morning Prayer video as soon as I woke up, then after breakfast worked on next week's reflection, before walking into town with Clare and Rachel, so that she could buy a Welsh souvenir for Jasmine from one of the tourist shops. Having seen what was on offer in the shops, she had to wait for Jasmine to wake up in Arizona to consult her about the suitability of what was on offer. She settled on some Wales branded socks in the end, as she already has a Wales branded tee shirt. Then we had lunch in a Portuguese pasteleria opposite the Castle before walking home again.

An email from Emma at Euro-diocese HQ awaited me on return, asking if I'd be available for locum duty in July and August. Two month cover is becoming the norm now as chaplaincies can't afford to cover the cost of flights more frequently now. With Jasmine coming to visit us in the second week of July all I can offer is a seven Sunday stint instead of the nine needed, so it's unlikely to happen unless they're desperate. It does mean, however, that I'll be in line to get Euro-diocese Safeguarding training done this year, before I go anywhere, and that is good news.

Having had a discussion with Rachel about making an audio vision stream to boost the branding of her Chocologie-love website, she sent me fifty odd promotional photos of chocolates she's made, which I was then able to combine with the three minute fiftyfive second MP3 of the song called 'Chocolate' which she wrote and recorded over twenty years ago but never promoted, much to my disappointment as I thought it was good, but she thought it might stereotype her as a pop artist rather than a serious singer-songwriter. Now she has her own veegan organic chocolate making business, it seemed to me worth revisiting.

Before receiving all her photos, I first a made a proof of concept video, then a visually richer video with about twenty different photos. She was pleased with this and proposed adding even more photos, which I will do after she's gone, as we have now established a simple file exchanging routine using Google Drive. It was fun to do, and a hope it draws attention to the song, and to her excellent chocolates. Last night she found the remnants of a packet of cacao powder in the cupboard, plus the remnants of a jar of coconut oil, flavoured with orange blossom honey, and made a small batch of truffles, which we enjoyed with tea and strawberries today.

In the evening, she gave Clare some Reiki and while I was watching 'The Girl in the Spider's Web' on Film Four, she gave my wonky foot a therapeutic massage. I didn't like the film. As a sequel, I didn't think the story-line was worthy of Steig Larsson's original narrative in the Millennium Trilogy. The film was too unreal in its hyper-violence.and using CGI for incredible stunts, making them frankly, incredible to watch. Not even worth suspending disbelief to watch..