Sushi on the menu

Sunshine returned to grace the morning, but sadly gave away to cloud by midday. Clare was going to take Rachel and Jas for a spa session, but learned that the spa jacuzzi is not working, so the trip has to be put off until tomorrow. Instead Clare taught Jas to play Oscar Peterson's 'When Summer Comes' on the piano and Rachel improvised an accompaniment - just for fun.

I started preparing next week's Morning Prayer, and then booked Rachel's coach ticket to Heathrow for this Thursday. I'll only need to get up at five and drive her to Sophia Gardens, less stressful than a drive to the airport with the sun in my face. So far to see her go. I look forward to a time when she can return to the UK for good. We miss her. Jasmine would like to live in Britain when she's finished college. She prefers the climate and loves the environment here.

After a light lunch and a siesta I went for an hour's walk in Llandaff Fields. I need to break up my daily exercise rather than do the target distance in a couple of hours as usual. It's due to the energy draining effect of the bug that's been giving me a sore throat and chest plus chronic catarrh for more than a week. 

Rachel and Jasmine prepared sushi for supper. It's a meal Jasmine enjoys, as she does many things about Japanese culture. It made a delicious change. We ran out of sushi Nori seaweed sheets, so Rachel and I had to go hunting for this in the local food shops. Fortunately we were lucky first time in our local Tesco Metro. This was a discovery for me. I knew the store offered popular Indian and Mexican ingredients but now I know they offer Far Eastern foodstuffs as well.

Rachel Jas and I went for an evening walk in Thompson's Park. The gates are staying open much longer. I'm not sure if they stay open all night nowadays. Then I started watching the second series of 'Hierro', with a child custody dispute at the centre of a story, in which a hit man dies of a heart attack while trying to assassinate a suspected smuggler in trouble with the law in the first series. An interesting twist. The background story is about the impact of organised crime in the Canary Islands, centering on cocaine and blood diamond smuggling. As ever the spectacular scenery of a volcanic island co-stars with a marvellous cast in a original context.