A Parish and Cathedral day

I was pleased to have the opportunity to celebrate and preach at the St Catherine's Parish Eucharist this morning, and pleased that it gave John an opportunity to experience and appreciate worshipping with our regular congregation.

After an early lunch, Clare went to her study group in Bristol, leaving John and I to walk to Llandaff Cathedral for Choral Evensong, with an installation ceremony making Fr Mark the new Precentor. It brought the Cathedral Chapter together with the Bishop, Dean and Diocesan Registrar, and the nave was full with parishioners, family and friends, not to mention dozens of clergy colleagues. Bishop June preached very well, and the service ended with a sung Te Deum. In her address she explained how revision and modernisation of the Cathedral's governance and management structures would work. Having a couple of new residentiary Canons, one of whom Fr Mark, is part of the plan.

I took my Lumix LX5 camera with me and was able to get a handful of photos of the key moments of the installation. Adequate, but not remarkable event pictures. You'll find them here.

John was delighted to be part of this occasion. I don't think he gets to Wakefield, his home Cathedral all that often. Clare and I received an invitation to a reception in the Prebendal House afterwards but the place was so crowded and busy, that it made either socialising or eating and drinking difficult, so we didn't stay for long and walked home for tea and scones as darkness fell.

I felt much more tired than I expected to, after a late evening out and an active day. Another bout of wound discomfort, drove me to bed early after supper, where I watched an episode of 'Endeavour' on my Chromebook, lying down rather than sitting up. No matter how much effort I make to stay fit and well, the energy drain is simply inescapable sometimes and I have to give in, like it or not.

  

Bank Holiday weekend

We drove to Bristol Friday to visit Amanda, who's in hospital again, and to give James some support. Caring for his mother this past month or so has led to him missing school and examinable assignments, so now he's not going to be able to complete his A level year. We took him out to his school at Thornbury, to find out what options might be available to him. His head of year and head of sixth form were delighted to see him as he has recently been the subject of their pastoral concern. They took an hour with him, mapping out the options for next year, encouraging him to come into school while he's free from having to care for his mother daily, and use staff expertise to write applications, once he's clear what he wants to do next. It's very pleasing to see that he has so much understanding and support there.

Saturday, we took the bus to Penarth and had lunch in the 'Cafe des Amis'. Then we went down to the sea front to inspect the recently renovated and now open buildings on the Pier. It's an impressive restoration and adaptation of a landmark building. 

Part of the upper level of the old ballroom is now a cinema. Underneath it there are function rooms and exhibition space. On the sea side is a stylish restaurant with deck and balcony level dining areas. The pier was busy with bank holiday weekenders enjoying the warmth and Spring sunshine. 

I had a fit of geekiness and took all three cameras, (Sony Alpha 55, HX50 and Lumix DMC LX5) along with me, aiming to take the same photo with each of them, in select locations for comparative purposes. It was an interesting if fiddly time consuming exercise. The wide angle capability of the Lumix lens in comparison with the others is impressive. The telephoto capability of the HX50 and the quality of output is quite remarkable. I used my 28-200mm lens with the Alpha, and found its performance disappointing. Maybe that's my inexperience at using it, even on auto settings, but it could also be a matter of quality as an entry-level priced lens. Some of the photos I took are here. 

We walked back to Cardiff Bay along the beach, as it was low tide, and then along the Barrage to the Millennium Centre for tea. We bumped into Canon Aled Edwards, the CYTUN executive officer in the foyer and chatted for ages. He was on his way out after an Open University Graduation ceremony - one of the many events hosted by our wonderful operatic auditorium.