Unhelpful help

Rain overnight. Clouds and sunshine again 22C with quite a heavy downpour early afternoon. I'm still remembering snippets of information I need for my tax return, in this case gift aided donations. I kept digital receipts for all but donations to the church. My on-line bank account would not provide me with a means to list direct payments. I tried asking the AI help line but it simply didn't understand what I was asking for and kept asking me to rephrase the question. In the end I gave up went through a collection of bank statement to identify church donations. I'll have to go into the bank branch in town and ask someone about this. If the bank software doesn't provide this service, it would be good to know rather than wasting time in future trying to engage with a less than intelligent bot. 

I went out to clear my head with a brief walk to Thompson's Park. The big pond water level is a foot lower than usual, exposing all kinds of foreign objects sticking out of the water. I wonder what impact it has on the resident moorhens? The mallards seem happy enough to spend much of their time on the grass verge. Moorhens will do likewise but less frequently. They prefer to pass their time close to undergrowth along the circumference of the pond. I went straight from there to the Coop and Tesco's to buy groceries before cooking lunch. I bought chicken pieces to roast and I made use of the oven to roast potatoes and carrots as well as sausages, but underestimated how much longer the carrots took, so they were hard compared to the perfectly baked spuds.

It was still raining when we finished lunch, so I wrote another Morning Prayer reflection while waiting for it to stop. After an hour and a half, the clouds cleared and the sun shone brightly, perfect for another hour's walk through Llandaff Fields. I noticed that transparent panelling delivered to the Padel Court construction site has now been attached to the external framework of the building. Tennis courts are totally exposed to the elements and matches take place only in fair weather. The Padel courts are enclosed, though not sealed against the elements and games can be played in all but the most extreme weather conditions, floodlit as well on dark evenings. Spectators can stand outside and watch games at close quarters. 

I crossed over to Thompson's Park through the back streets by Howells School and did a circuit there on my way home to complete my daily distance. After supper, I watched the second pair of episodes of series two Scrublands. One scene I found interesting was of a mourning ritual devised in place of a traditional funeral ceremony by a group of people who knew the deceased. These crop up every now and then in dramas involving a death, reflecting the widespread move away from traditional religious services in an unbelieving secular society, and they can say something important about what people care about and value most in life, and in the person they've lost. One way or another, seeking a meaning to life arising from our achievements and purpose is what we long to uncover at different times, especially towards the end.