Travel plans

Clouds and a cold wind today. After breakfast as usual on Mondays housework, but under pressure to get to Coffee#1 for a ten o'clock rendezvous with Rufus, to chat about his work as Seafarers' Chaplain in the ports of Wales. It's challenging for him. In addition to ship visiting duties he has to raise and train a team of volunteers to sustain the work in each port, and that's increasingly difficult with the diminishing number of church people from the parishes able and willing to participate. It's a key missionary undertaking that's been neglected over the years, sad to say. It was great to see him in good form, despite his workload.

I returned home to cook a prawn stir fry with brown rice for lunch. Clare, who was out shopping, left me a message to call Aviva. It took me a while to get connected with a human being, and it turned out nobody knew of a reason for me to make contact. When I checked with Clare, she'd picked up on a message from last week when I received a queue call-back which I was unable to pick up, as our phone was accidentally off the hook. I'd forgotten to delete it. So much confusion!

After lunch, I prepared the text for next Wednesday Morning Prayer, and then went out for a walk around Llandaff Fields for an hour and a half. I got some nice photos of a pair of missle thrushes and closeups of a wood pidgeon. There's a newly planted cherry tree by the footpath connecting the children's play ground with Pontcanna Fields, and its blossom is out, joining the other trees whose buds burst into flower before the leaves come out.

I got back home in time to receive a call from Kath's school friend Kate who is now a personal travel agent. She's going to research river cruise options for us late summer, either on the Duoro or the Rhone. I've decided to cash in one of my investment bonds to pay for this, while we're fit enough to make the journey. I also contacted Veronica to discuss the timing of our visit to meet her and John at home in L'Escala, early May. Our first visit to the Costa Brava where Veronica settled and made her home forty odd years ago as a young teacher.

I printed off the withdrawal form Aviva sent me to apply for a cash transfer of funds when it expires, seven pages in all. Filling it in, signing and sending it is not as straightforward as I hoped it would be as it contains legal or financial jargon I'm not familiar with. It's also a portmateau kind of document designed to cover several complex kinds of trust fund owners and multiple signatories. It says it may require verification of bank  account ownership and passport or driving license to prove identity. It doesn't say 'must', and doesn't say if passport or driving license copies are sufficient. It seems to depend on whether electronic verification is satisfactory on its own. More hassles.