Christmas Photos

Overcast today with a cold wind. Up at eight, after a broken night's sleep though how broken is impossible to say. I think my Fitbit wasn't attached to my wrist well enough to read consistent body signals. It's not as accurate as it pretends to be. We went to St Catherine's for the Parish Eucharist after breakfast, both of us a bit late. Getting going and getting there seems to take longer. Maybe it's the impact of wintry weather. 

We were about thirty for the service. Some families in the congregation are probably away visiting relatives, if not taking a winter holiday. Sue's term of office as churchwarden ended with a presentation at the end of the service and a piece of cake with coffee in the church hall afterwards. Clare went home before me to cook lunch, I followed on carrying her slice of cake wrapped in a napkin.

After lunch I slept in an armchair for an hour then walked in Llandaff Fields and the neighbourhood until sunset. I always feel relieved if I can reach home before dusk. My eyes adjust to walking in the dark under streetlights quite well. Impaired vision and my slow reactions in low light make me nervous. I noticed this when travelling yesterday. So many people wearing dark clothes moving through areas of strong light and shadow are not easy to navigate around without bumping into others. On one occasion, I couldn't see Clare sat on a bench in an area of contrasting light and shade. She was wearing a dark jacket. This makes it difficult to spot her in a moving crowd.

After my walk I uploaded Christmas photos and shared the album with the family. I forget to take pictures including myself, so it's just as well that Kath is good at taking group selfies of the whole family. She had a group photo printed of last year's Black Patch Christmas celebration and it now hangs in the hall next to the coat rack. Happy memories from last year as well as this week, despite my being painfully weepy yesterday. I'm still feeling a bit emotionally fragile The realisation of how much I love my family turned into heart breaking grief as I realised, in the aftershock of life threatening illness, that it's all slipping away from me. I've been so blessed to have such wonderful children and enjoy life together with them.

After supper I watched the second episode of Le Carre's 'The Night Manager' on BBC iPlayer. I've seen it before, but the plot is so complex I don't remember the detail. The photography and acting are superb.