Market Microcosm

St David's Day is the first day of 'meteorological' spring, three weeks before the spring equinox, and what a lovely start! Bright blue sky and sunshine all day with the temperature rising from zero to eight degrees. I slept a good eight hours and found Clare was up before me, making breakfast pancakes. 

After a late start, the morning slid by while I was occupied with making the video slideshow to go with Ash Wednesday's Morning Prayer. Clare made soup for lunch as we're booked to visit The Conway for a pub supper with Kath this evening. Then we went into town by bus for a walk around to see if there were any special activities other than the St David's Day Procession, which we missed as it started while we were still at home. Apart from a few people in variants of the national costume, or wearing dragon hats or daffodil headbands, there was nothing of special interest going on. 

The Market was very crowded and buzzing with activity and a riot of colour. There were people queuing to buy Welsh cakes on all four sides of the stall, about three dozen I reckon. It reminds me of markets in Spain, except there's more variety on top of bread, meat, fish and veg stalls. In addition to the established snack bar, there are fresh fast food takeaway stalls, both British and Asian. It's the non food stalls that are of interest however. A traditional gents drapers, a haberdashery, an ironmongery, a watch repairer's, a jeweller's, an electrical goods stall and second hand stalls for records and books. 

All under one roof, which has seen the city's department stores come and go over the past 130 years, it's a microcosm of an entire city centre or high street retail offering, as varied as it was of fifty years ago. It has had its ups and downs over the years, but has changed with the times and kept its character, a cultural treasure which really is a practical amenity. It pleased me to think that my great grandmother Annie John was a stall holder there at the turn of the 20th century. It was good to recall this in telling my grandfather's story. I love the place. After a drink in John Lewis', a visit to Beanfreaks for flour, then we took the bus home, went to the Coop for fruit and veg on our way home. Then I had a short walk in Llandaff Fields as the sun was setting, and by the time I got back Kath had arrived to spend the night with us.

Our pub supper was good. I tried alcohol free Guinness for the first time and was impressed. It went down well with bacon, faggots, peas, gravy and mashed potatoes. It was very noisy at 'The Conway', packed with drinkers and diners, but with a pleasant friendly atmosphere, much the same as it was before it closed eighteen months ago. It's not been given a huge makeover in appearance, but it has improved kitchen and storage facilities. Pleased to see that it's regaining popularity as a local hostelry. 

We were back home by half past eight. Clare and Kath went to bed early. I stayed up and watched the last episode of 'The One that Got Away' before calling it a day. By the way, I didn't guess the perpetrator correctly, there was another sinister hidden layer to the plot.

Good News about The Conway

Sunshine returns again today. It's a few degrees colder, but the air feels fresh and clean, stimulating. As I was having breakfast Lindsey, who manages Pontcanna Pharmacy, called to ask if I could come a quarter of an hour earlier for my annual 'flu jab, booked at ten. I said yes and made an effort to leave and get there on time. By five to I was standing outside St Catherine's locked gates waiting for the church to open, writing an email on my phone to pass the time. Clive and Hilary who usually open up early are away this week, so it was a question of waiting for Fr Sion to arrive. 

I helped him with opening up and preparing for the service. This week, we joined him for the service sitting in the choir stalls. There were five of us, plus baby Sebastian, who's now sitting up almost on his own, and taking notice. His mum parked him on the table after we'd drunk our coffee following the Eucharist, and I sang him Ba Ba Black Sheep, made eye contact, smiled and talked to him - and got a few smiles back, plus some early efforts to imitate the sounds of speech. Sheer indulgence on my part. I'd love to be a grandpa all over again.

When I went to retrieve this week's veggie bag from Chapter, I discovered a stray carrot in last week's bag, in the bottom. Don't know how that got overlooked. When I got back, Clare was cooking sausages and veg in the oven for lunch. It tasted good, but I don't enjoy washing up oily roasting pans afterwards. Then I sat down to read the news on my phone and fell soundly asleep for an hour. My average daily sleep time has risen to eight hours now, even if that means a siesta after I've fallen short at night. I must need it. Now that I have far fewer ministry assignments, I'm somewhat more relaxed, not having to meet deadlines or plan ahead. I think I've subsisted on less sleep than I really need for a long time, and my metabolism is slowly adjusting to a different pattern of activity.

I went out for my afternoon walk taking my Olympus PEN camera with me, but discovered it had run out of charge. After a complete circuit of Llandaff Fields, I went home and picked up my Panasonic TZ95 and went to Thompson's Park in time to take a couple of sunset photos. The high cirrus cloud formation was too extensive and mostly behind houses to get a photo, but the tiny pattern of purple and pale grey clouds tinged with orange was a wonder to behold. Both cameras needed charging this evening.

Weeks ago there was a rumour that The Conway pub, which closed a year ago, was going to re-open, but nothing in the news. Last weekend, I was passing by and there were lights inside. A man inside saw me peeping through the whitewashed window and came out as I was passing the front door. It was Matt, the landlord to be. We chatted for a while. He said that as a Llandaff publican he'd come to The Conway on his night off, to enjoy the food and company. He said that news of reopening had been warmly welcomed in the neighbourhood, and he proposes continuing to offer hospitality in the same spirit. Whether the preliminary work can be done in time for Christmas, he's not sure, we'll see.

After supper I watched the final, rather tragic episodes of 'Those who kill.', and the second of 'Shetland', ninth series, before winding down for the day.