Sunshine returns again today. It's a few degrees colder, but the air feels fresh and clean, stimulating. As I was having breakfast Lindsey, who manages Pontcanna Pharmacy, called to ask if I could come a quarter of an hour earlier for my annual 'flu jab, booked at ten. I said yes and made an effort to leave and get there on time. By five to I was standing outside St Catherine's locked gates waiting for the church to open, writing an email on my phone to pass the time. Clive and Hilary who usually open up early are away this week, so it was a question of waiting for Fr Sion to arrive.
I helped him with opening up and preparing for the service. This week, we joined him for the service sitting in the choir stalls. There were five of us, plus baby Sebastian, who's now sitting up almost on his own, and taking notice. His mum parked him on the table after we'd drunk our coffee following the Eucharist, and I sang him Ba Ba Black Sheep, made eye contact, smiled and talked to him - and got a few smiles back, plus some early efforts to imitate the sounds of speech. Sheer indulgence on my part. I'd love to be a grandpa all over again.
When I went to retrieve this week's veggie bag from Chapter, I discovered a stray carrot in last week's bag, in the bottom. Don't know how that got overlooked. When I got back, Clare was cooking sausages and veg in the oven for lunch. It tasted good, but I don't enjoy washing up oily roasting pans afterwards. Then I sat down to read the news on my phone and fell soundly asleep for an hour. My average daily sleep time has risen to eight hours now, even if that means a siesta after I've fallen short at night. I must need it. Now that I have far fewer ministry assignments, I'm somewhat more relaxed, not having to meet deadlines or plan ahead. I think I've subsisted on less sleep than I really need for a long time, and my metabolism is slowly adjusting to a different pattern of activity.
I went out for my afternoon walk taking my Olympus PEN camera with me, but discovered it had run out of charge. After a complete circuit of Llandaff Fields, I went home and picked up my Panasonic TZ95 and went to Thompson's Park in time to take a couple of sunset photos. The high cirrus cloud formation was too extensive and mostly behind houses to get a photo, but the tiny pattern of purple and pale grey clouds tinged with orange was a wonder to behold. Both cameras needed charging this evening.
Weeks ago there was a rumour that The Conway pub, which closed a year ago, was going to re-open, but nothing in the news. Last weekend, I was passing by and there were lights inside. A man inside saw me peeping through the whitewashed window and came out as I was passing the front door. It was Matt, the landlord to be. We chatted for a while. He said that as a Llandaff publican he'd come to The Conway on his night off, to enjoy the food and company. He said that news of reopening had been warmly welcomed in the neighbourhood, and he proposes continuing to offer hospitality in the same spirit. Whether the preliminary work can be done in time for Christmas, he's not sure, we'll see.
After supper I watched the final, rather tragic episodes of 'Those who kill.', and the second of 'Shetland', ninth series, before winding down for the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment