A cold, but sunny start to the day after a long night's sleep. One of the roofers arrived early to add a new section of drain pipe to the back of the house, and show Clare exactly how to open both of the new Velux windows, as we found them rather stiff yesterday.
After breakfast, and sending out a few emails, I had a long phone call with Iona, then went to St John's to attend Alf's funeral, at 94 he was one of the last of a generation of lifelong St John's members, living working and worshipping locally since returning from National Service in the RAF in 1950. He was an technician with the GPO, later British Telecoms, effectively in the same job for his entire working lifetime, through all the changes that involved. I loved the story told of him that he could tell you the number of the telegraph pole in the street where he used to meet with Lil his wife when they were courting! Such a lovely man.
On returning, I cooked a paella for lunch, using a generous quantity of a fish pie mix from the freezer. It's been a while since I did this, and the result was satisfactory, although it took me much longer than I expected. I've been trying to figure out how long I've had the big skillet pan I use for making paella. It's still in excellent condition, as it doesn't get heavy usage. It may be as much as ten years, but I can't pin it down, searching through my blog. When we'd eaten I did my share of the housework, then wrote and recorded another talk for Basma, and then went for a walk. I saw a redstart for the first time this year, in its usual foraging ground near the stables and got a photo of it.
Today's news reports on the mounting international pressure on the Israeli government announcing a final assault on the remaining brigades of Hamas fighters concealed among the population of the Gaza border crossing city of Rafa, hosting over a million displaced Palestinians, driven to seek refuge there as a result of the fighting in the north. Inevitably this action will cost many more civilian lives. Leading international figures may be saying 'Enough is enough' and calling for a truce and exchange of hostages to start with, but it will take mounting pressure from the Israeli electorate, perhaps enough to dislodge Netanyahu and those who are keeping his government in power before there's any possibility of change. The damage done to Israel's standing and credibility by such an extreme right wing regime is incalculable. It's heartbreaking.
After supper I completed and uploaded this Thursday's Morning Prayer video, then watched this week's double episode of 'Silent Witness'.
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