Master of design

Bright and sunny today, but with a cold wind. I went to St Catherine's and celebrated the Eucharist with seven others this morning. Mother Frances contacted me as I was about to leave for church to ask if I'd take a funeral from St Peter's Fairwater as Emma is on sick leave at the moment. This service is with local Splott based family funeral company White Rose Funerals that I've not come across before. Intriguingly, the names of family members involved in the business are Arabic. Very much a reflection of the diversity of today's Cardiff.

Clare's back is improving every so slightly, though still very painful. She bought half a dozen bedding plants when she went out for her morning walk, and after cooking and eating lunch, I planted them. Her bad back doesn't let her to do tasks like that at the moment. Then I went and collected this week's order from Beanfreaks, then slept in the chair for an hour. I mustn't complain about losing time sleeping if I wake up feeling refreshed and clear headed. It made my afternoon circuit of the park less of an effort.

In the evening I made the bereavement call to start preparing for the funeral in two weeks time, and then watched another fascinating editions of 'Secrets of the Museum', which featured the work of designer Sir Kenneth Grange, a man responsible for the form of hundreds of everyday objects, plus the Inter City 125 train during his seventy year career. He's still working at ninety two, and wouldn't think of retiring. He looks so young still doing what he's loved doing throughout his adult life. After that, I finished watching French crimmie 'Inside' set in a mental hospital - the ultimate in complex psychological drama!

Museum showcased

I went to St Catherine's this morning and celebrated the Eucharist with a congregation of four. Responded to an appeal by Emma to cover the Sunday Mass at St Peter's Fairwater the Sunday after next while she's on sick leave after the same minor surgery as I had. 

There was house cleaning to do, which didn't get done on Monday, and the veggie bag to be collected before cooking lunch.  Then, another walk to the shops to collect our grocery order from Beanfreaks. Non stop domesticity today.

A belated birthday card arrived from Rachel and Jasmine, plus an unusual fridge magnet with a colourful design on it designed by Jasmine. A nice little surprise.

This evening on telly, another marvellous insight into the work of the V&A museum's conservators, this week showing preparations for a special exhibition of 20th century African fashion and design, featuring a Ghanaian woman's Kente cloth, bought to wear at the Christening of her first child in 1960. It also showed photographs taken by James Borner a Ghanaian man who worked in Accra and London, pioneering the use of colour photography with African fashionistas as his subjects. Aged 92, he was interviewed at an exhibition preview, expressing satisfaction at having his work recognised at last, albeit thirty years later than he'd have liked to have this happen! 

The programme also highlighted a unique collection of Rodin bronze sculptures loaned to the museum, when they couldn't be returned to Paris at the outbreak of World War One. It was controversial at that time for a major collection of work by a living artist to be shown in a museum. Rodin was so pleased at the way his work was displayed, he decided to give the priceless collection to the V&A. What a rewarding hour's viewing.  

The Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter sermon condemnation of the government policy of exporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda to deter people smuggling seems to have met with much public approval, but not from the Prime Minister whose ill judged, poorly informed backlash remarks about Anglican church leaders will doubtless contribute further to a decrease in his popularity and authority. He is helping to make his party un-electable by clinging on to power since his lies and deceit have been unmasked. There's none so blind as those who refuse to see the truth.

Monday closures

We all got up late after the the intensity of yesterday's musical experiences. The weather promised to be a mixture of sunshine and showers. Before going for a walk and lunch in Porthkerry Country Park, I made a bereavement call about the funeral I've been asked to take a week Tuesday

We intended to eat there at Mrs Marco's café, but found it was closed on a Monday. We walked for an hour in Cwm Ciddy woods and found the remnants of the ancient grain mill on the banks of the stream that runs down the valley, then drove to Cold Knap in Barry, where the Romilly's Coffee shop was open. We had a snack there in a pleasant eaterie, next to Mr Villa's fish restaurant which we thought might be open, but wasn't. Fortunately it didn't start to rain until we started out for home. We drove to the Bay Barrage at the Cardiff Marina end, to book a table for tomorrow's birthday lunch for Clare at la Marina. The receptionist said all booking was now done on-line, but helpfully produced his laptop and made a booking in situ. 

When we got home, I slept for half an hour, then went to Tesco's for a birthday card for Clare and some ingredients needed for the paella I cooked for supper. While cooking I also worked on next Sunday's Patronal Festival sermon for St German's, before settling down for a couple of hours in front of the telly with 'Secrets of the Museum' and this week's new episode of NCIS.

Driving around today, it took me a while to realise that some of the petrol stations I noticed had their fuel price displays set to zero, a sign they had no fuel to sell, even if they were open for other reasons. Fortunately I filled up last week before the new media began to report on the occasional fuel station that had to close for lack of delivery. This reportage sparked a round of panic fuel buying. exacerbating the recent fuel delivery problem prompted by delivery driver shortages. 

This crisis, in my opinion, has been stoked up by media reports, and pushed the government into doing what it should have done several weeks ago, to recognise the urgent need for temporary visas for drivers resident in the EU to return and work here until new ones can be trained, having been de-motivated by brexit to stay here and work as they have done for decades. A populist government, driven by mostly right wing media moguls. And this is modern democracy?

Blessing true commitment

A lovely hot and sunny start to the week, good for washing bed linen as well as the regular house cleaning tasks. Before cooking lunch I completed this week's Morning Prayer video and uploaded it to YouTube ready for Thursday. In the afternoon we went foraging for blackberries in Pontcanna Fields. It looks as if a lot of picking went on over the weekend, as there were fewer large ripe blackberries to be found, but we came home with nearly a kilo between us.

It was good to hear that the Governing Body of the Church in Wales has approved a proposal by a large and healthy majority of clergy and laity to add a service of blessing the civil partnerships of gay couples to the church's liturgical library. About time too. Next step, the full wedding service for gay couples. If any couple, regardless of gender want to dedicate their lives to each other in lifelong union before God, I see no reason why it can't be seen as marriage. 

The traditionalist view of marriage as the unique hallowed context for procreation doesn't oblige couples to have children. Some exercise the freedom to choose not to. This is also the same for gay couples who may choose to have children or not to have children. Every couple has to think about their role in family and community life, and this is rooted in the loving commitment they make to each other. Faithfulness in all its manifestations is something to give thanks for, and that is the purpose of a blessing service. It celebrates the grace that God has already given the couple. As is true for all of us - by their fruit they shall be known.

I was surprised and not a little troubled to learn that the electoral college came away from their three days of meeting to elect a new Bishop for Swansea and Brecon diocese without a consensus on any candidate. Heaven only knows what's going on here. Will the Welsh Bishops now select and present a candidate for the electoral college to approve? If they choose another from the Church of England, what will that say about their confidence in the Church in Wales to raise its own next generation leadership?

Another fascinating programme this evening about the work of conservators at the Victoria and Albert museum in London. It not only reveals the secrets of restoring worn and broken objects, but also the kind of detective work that sometimes goes into establishing the provenance of particular objects. In the first of the first series, shown again tonight on BBC Four, a seventeenth century snuff box with a lid containing an enamel portrait of a noble lady was examined, to try and identify who she was. 

It contained no inscription, so one of the team set about looking through catalogues of portraits of noble ladies of the period - none of this information was in a digital database - and eventually found a match to a portrait in a stately home. The portrait painter or someone of their workshop was most likely responsible for the enamel, which was remarkably similar in likeness. It was not uncommon for gentlemen obliged to travel away from home for long periods to take a miniature portrait of their beloved on their travels with them, just as we may do with a photo on the home screen of the mobile phone.