Another bright hot sunny day in Cardiff. Yesterday's 'Thought for the Day' on Radio Four by Angela Tilby gave me a fresh insight about Christ's Ascension, which inspired me to re-write a sermon I had already printed before leaving. By lunchtime I had a new edition ready to print. It's a working day at UHW, the hospital Radiology department booking line was still switched to answering machine when I called.
After a delicious meal of pork chop stewed with veggies we drove to Penarth for a clifftop walk. The tide was even further out than the last time we were here in February exposing different sand banks in the middle of the estuary, revealing more of the area of bedrock beyond the pebble beach, with red brown sand fringing grey limestone bedrock, combining with ponds to produce unusual abstract forms forms at the waterline. Though the air was clear, with fine high level cloud as a backdrop, the Somerset coastline together with Flatholm and Steepholm were bathed in sun and stood out against the distant haze.
It reminded me of paintings by JMW Turner. He visited Wales several times in the last decade of the 18th century, and found inspiration in the landscape. He made sketches and a few paintings in the Vale of Glamorgan most notably one in Ewenny Priory, but not the coast as far as I can gather.
I spotted a couple of very busy brimstone butterflies, too busy to settle on a plant for a photo sadly, also a small white. Clare found it too hot to walk more than two thirds of the clifftop metalled path, so she turned back and waited with a tea in the shade of Cioni's cafe.
I continued on to the coast path to enjoy the blackthorn blossom with its characteristic pungent scent. Finally the fields are drying out and rich with thick green grass. There's no water from the fields running off in streams down the path and over the cliff now, as it has done since last autumn. After fifteen minutes, I returned to Cioni's to meet Clare and drive her home for another cup of tea.
All is in place for the trip to Cardiff Airport tomorrow. Paul and I exchanged messages this evening. He and his mother in law Marlene will be collecting me at 12.45 for a 13.30 check-in. Good to make the journey with two familiar friendly faces, rather than an unknown taxi driver.
After supper, I printed off the revised sermon, to save me the bother when I get back to Church House. Then, Clare and I sat in the lounge relaxing together, no telly worth watching this evening. I went out for a sunset walk walk up and down Llandaff Fields to complete my exercise quota for the day. A song thrush was proclaiming loudly its last daylight call from a tall tree in front of the new row of houses on the corner of Cardiff Road. I took my phone out to record it, but as it was the first time I'd used this app since it 'upgraded' it pitched me a half screen advert obscuring the Record button. By the time I got rid of it, the bird had stopped singing for the day. I hate such intrusive and obstructive devices. Little do the marketing fools who propose this kind of sales pitch understand, this is the kind of thing that will deter me from using the app again.
Churchwarden John sent me a message to say the car will be in the garage for a few days in the coming week. Not that it'll bother me, now I'm used to the Line 3 bus and its timetable gaps. Now for an early night, as I'm on the move all day tomorrow.
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