Fog

We woke up this morning to find the whole of Tenby enveloped in fog with an air temperature of 16C. Visibility about 200 yards. It's about ten years since I last recall being in this kind of weather, and that was in Nerja, where it was possible from a mile inland on higher ground to watch fog banks roll in over the sea, and then recede, emulating the movement of the waves breaking onshore. There's no wind here today, just intermittent showers of light rain. 

After breakfast I went with Clare to the pool for her daily dip. Then, after coffee I had a phone call from sister in law Ann to say she's received a notification in the post about the death of John Muir, a cousin of Clare and Eddie's. Since the death of Dorothy his wife in 2017, he's been living in an alms house in Halifax, slowly declining with Alzheimer's. The last time we saw him was in 2019 when he visited us for a weekend and we went to the opera together. In their youth they were missionaries in Zambia, and John was a Presbyterian Minister, but when he returned to the UK, he became an Anglican priest and served in rural parishes in Wakefield diocese. The death notification is probably waiting at home for us when we return. The funeral is on Tuesday next. There's not enough time to plan the 200 mile journey. Whether by car or train with several changes, it would involve an overnight stay, and be very taxing on us. We have commitments in the week as well, so attending the service, except for on-line is all that we can manage.

We walked into town for the midday Eucharist at St Mary's. It gave us an opportunity to remember John in prayer, and entrust him to God. There were about eighteen in the congregation, double the size of St Catherine's midweek service, as may be expected with a congregation of double the size on a Sunday. Fr Steve the Vicar told me that the Old Chapel ministry team was pastored by a husband and wife couple. The enterprise has gone down well in the community and he said he was impressed by what had been achieved, starting as they did from scratch.

We had lunch at the Harbwr Inn not far from the church, proudly promoting its own range of home brewed ales. I had a superior sort of hot dog and chips dish, with lamb sausages which really were spicy hot with a caramelised onion chutney, salad and a big bread roll made using strong white flour. Very tasty. Clare had red mullet fillets with new potatoes. The food on offer in Tenby is high quality, the restaurants and pubs are well maintained and interesting to look at, each in their own ways, evidence that two and a half million visitors a year earns enough in revenue to keep them looking good.

Then we had a few items of grocery shopping to buy from Tesco's and hunted streets nearby for a bakery Clare remembered seeing but couldn't remember where. I found it on Upper Frog Street, and bought a small wholemeal sourdough loaf to last the rest of our stay. Mist still swirled in the streets, lifting very little, so we walked back to Bryn y Mor, by which time we could just see the spire of St Mary's emerging out of the cloud covering the town. Beautifully atmospheric.

I needed a snooze when I got back, then I walked back to town to find Sainsbury's on the east side of town beyond the town walls, near the bus station, to buy a bottle of wine. Fog still clung to the streets and the bay, only slowly emerging as there's little or no wind to blow it away. Further east there's been torrential rain, I heard this afternoon. At least we've been spared that, and have been able to get out and walk.

For supper, I cooked canelli beans, with garlic, onions and mushrooms, with chorizo and tomato puree added to my portion, a flavoursome lift on a dank foggy day. I had a go at making a sketch based on a foggy photo taken of the harbour while I was out. It was incredibly difficult. I'd have done better to make a simple pencil sketch rather than use colours, but never mind. Finally, another episode of 'The Chateau Murders' from last Friday, then bed.