Los Boliches Eucharist

It seemed strange not having to make the effort to be up and out of the house early on a Sunday morning. The Eucharist at St Andrew's Los Boliches is at eleven thirty. With a twenty minute walk, I didn't need to leave until ten thirty to have plenty of time to spare before the service. There were thirty eight of us at the service, making the chapel look quite full. Fr William was there and deaconed for me in his street clothes. Nowadays it's rare for me to minister at the altar with another priest. It was good for both of us I think. 

There was a glitch with the singing of a verse version of the Gloria. Having used one that goes to the tune of 'Cwm Rhondda' last week at Calahonda, I'd briefed Dave the organist thinking it was the same, not realising there's another versified version in use to a different tune 'Woodlands'. It's the one popularly used for the versified Magnificat, but in the moment I couldn't remember this so that Dave could look up the music to play it. The congregation baled us out by singing 'Woodlands' unaccompanied and lustily! 

After the service, checking the liturgical filing system of existing prepared service sheets, we found there were two sets of sheets with different tunes for the one versified version and another set of sheets for the other. As ever the devil was in the detail. The name of the tune wasn't printed on all three set, and it was in small enough print to make it hard to read at first glance. 

Jen tells me that I can be paid my dues cash in euros if I wish, as happened when I was last here. It suits me fine, as it means there's no need to buy more currency than I already have while I'm here, and it will save Clare having to do likewise when she comes out in seven weeks time.

It was two by the time I got back to the house. I'd forgotten to take the chicken I was going to eat out of the freezer, so cooked veggies with a tin of sardinillas with instead - quite tasty. Then I walked back down to Los Boliches and wandered the side streets piecing together memories of once familiar places. With a little help from Google Maps, I found the celebrated English mini-market named 'Spainsburys'. I'm quite surprised it survived pandemic closure and didn't go out of business. I'm still trying to find the location of the excellent restaurant called 'La vieja Escuela', which did go out of business. I'm curious to find out what replaced it.

Then, a walk back up the hill for supper followed by a WhatsApp call with Clare before listening to 'The Archers', and settling down to read until bed time. I'm enjoying the change of habit, living without telly so far, and getting back into the habit of reading real books, not just stuff on a screen.