Rain again in the night and a cloudy start to the day, with occasional heavy showers. I slept well and woke up in time to listen to BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship, coming this Morning from Llancarfan Church, with 14th century singing from the Fountain Singers and led by Fr Edwin Counsel Ministry Area Leader of the Heritage Coast group of Parishes in the Vale of Glamorgan. He reflected on Advent themes of Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell, while guiding listeners through the remarkable collection of frescoes uncovered from beneath a covering of limewash on the church walls which had concealed them since the Reformation area. It was an admirable exposition and interpretation of one of Wales' historic artifacts and spiritual treasures, all in half an hour!
As a result of listening to this, I was late getting ready and eating my breakfast, considering that I had to be on my way for a nine thirty Eucharist at St Peter's Fairwater. I had to abandon my cup of coffee and half a slice of bread to get out of the house in haste, and thankfully the roads were clear and I arrived ten minutes early. There were just over forty adults and children present for the service. A mother with a baby asleep in a pram beckoned to me at the end of Communion to come over and bless the babe, as she'd been unable to carry her up without disturbance. So natural and spontaneous, every one a few weeks old to over eighty, all at home with each other in the Lord 's House.
I was back home at eleven and had a relaxed quiet time reading and text editing before Clare returned from church. After lunch, I started investigating 'Speechify', a piece of software which will turn text into speech from many different sources using a wide variety of voices, mostly paid for. I wanted to know about ease of use and how it works on digital devices you have, without needing extra hardware. Free voices are American accented. It's even possible to record your own voice for use in AI generated speech synthesis for playing back text audio.
I tried using it as a Chrome browser extension, and found it was fairly easy to learn how to use, though the software version of my voice only vaguely resembled mine. That was probably due to the shortness of the sampled sound recording it used. No trace of a Welsh accent, very slightly American, although the rhythm of phrases and sentence sounded OK. This was just a free demonstration sample. I daresay a paid for subscription would unlock the full potential of this app and produce a more accurate representation of recognisable voice. Buying into Spotify's digital ecosystem will be worth it, and help to ease Clare into a new way of interacting, before her sight becomes too poor to cope with reading.
After this, I walked down to Blackweir and around Pontcanna Fields. The Taff is still as high as it was yesterday. Then I went home to meet with Clare at half past four to go St John's for the Fountain Singers Advent concert. There were fifteen singers this evening. Some of the music we had sung with them the concert in St Catherines this time last year. It brought back good memories, an interesting making use of a dulcimer as well as bells and tambour. This really gives ancient character to the singing when some of the carols are in dance measures.
I admit that I miss singing this kind of music, but can't keep up with a rehearsal schedule which gravitates around Llantwit Major. It's a long way to drive in winter too. But it was good to see Claus and Anna. They are excited about a plan they're hatching to take a group to Lindisfarne for a workshop and concert next year. I imagine that Mother Frances will be delighted if this happens.
We got home in time for supper listening to the Archers, as ever. Then, a couple of episodes of 'Off Grid' before turning in for the night.
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