Gripping finale

We sat together in the congregation again at St Catherine's Parish Eucharist today. It's quite a relief not to be officiating or preaching at the moment, as mornings are when I have most discomfort and pain from my 'thorn in the flesh'. Emma presided and we had a visiting priest called Mary to preach who'd officiated here yesterday at the wedding of two parishioners one of whom she'd known since childhood. It was nice to sing the 'Salisbury' setting again, as this was what we sang at the St John's Sunday Eucharist in Montreux. Happy memories.

After lunch, I revived and walked down to Blackweir bridge for the first time since returning. It was sunny, bright and breezy. The river was a little swollen due to last week's rain, and I got photos of a pair of cormorants drying their wings. They like to hang around here when the solitary heron isn't about. A fellow birdwater stopped to chat and told me about a pair of dippers nesting in the opening of the salmon ladder the other side of the river. I must look up this species in order to have a chance of recognising them next time.

Like eleven million others, we watched the finale of 'Bodyguard' on BBC One. The tension in the last twenty minutes really made me hold my breath, waiting for the catastrophe which never came. The final unravelling of the plot in the confession made by suicide bomber, master bomb maker and electronic engineer cum artificer Nadiya, who failed to complete her mission in episode one, was a real sinister surprise. It also stretched credibility somewhat, taken at a pace, overshadowing detail of the wider criminal political conspiracy which overlapped with it. We still don't know how the bomb which killed the Home Secretary was planted under the stage or whether the senior Met Commander was in on the plot. Still, it was worth a watch from start to finish, and demonstrated that an old style cliffhanger of a serial format is still competitive in the age of bulk episode downloads on catch up. 

Best of all, a brief trailer for the fifth series of 'Line of Duty', to be rolled out in the New Year. This too had that 'unmissable' quality for a TV programme. Funny how police and political corruption are themes which play out often in modern drama - as they do in real life, in fact.

   

Day of rest

Gail accompanied Clare and I to the St Catherine's Parish Eucharist this morning. It was lovely to be welcomed back so warmly, as it was also to relax and worship in the congregation. I accompanied Gail to Cardiff Central station after the service, in good time for her return train to Worcester, then returned for lunch. We didn't go out for our usual Sunday afternoon walk but siesta'd instead, as we both felt tired. While I lay on the bed I listened to choral evensong on the radio. Rest is good for my recovery I hope. Each day brings small improvements as the course of penicillin continues. It seems, from checking, that my blood pressure is reducing to what the medics consider 'normal', which is unexpected. Perhaps it's I have nothing to do but relax and get well again at the moment. 

In the evening, we watched the fifth episode of 'Bodyguard'. It's clear a multi-layered conspiracy is afoot in the storyline, but there are few clues so far about the author and extent of it. Next week is the final episode, when all will be revealed - unless much is revealed though not all, to pave the way for a series two. There's been quite a lot of this in TV movies these past few years. It's disappointing not to have plot closure. Another series with the same scenario and dramatis personae would be fine but a completely rounded conclusion to the story is, to my mind, preferable.

  

Good news in Montreux

My farewell Sunday Eucharist this morning. No more locum duty is needed here as an appointment has been made. I don't know who's coming, but the Church Wardens were delighted to make this much of an announcement at the end of the service. Mojacar, Malaga and now Montreux - three places in a row where I have been in post when a prospective Chaplain has visited and later accepted the appointment. It gives me a kind of job satisfaction, daring to think that I have been useful in a small way as part of the process that leads to another priest uprooting themselves and venturing to move to and serve in another community/country. The vacancy in Canton Benefice was filled before I left for Montreux. Thursday this week I return home, with no idea of what comes next in my ever eventful ministerial life. What an adventure!

After lunch I walked to Chateau de Chillon in the sun, annoying myself by losing an unused public transport ticket en route, having noticed it on the return trip and passing it over without realising it was what I dropped. I won't be doing much more travelling around in my final few days. I just have to lie low, rest and look after my affliction in order to be ready for a journey which may or may not be uncomfortable, as I still can't sit properly. But, so far so good.

I watched the four episode of of the BBC autumn season's popular it serial 'Bodyguard'. Yet again a Jed Mercurio story featuring Keely Hawes in which, sad to say, she doesn't make it to the end. The plot thickens however, with much villainy revealed in high places. But is the final resolution of it all going to be entirely in the hands of one lone male outsider/avenger/victim?