Defiant in grief

Another hot sunny day with a clear sky. I  slept fairly well despite being woken up several times by gut pains, possibly from eating too much acidic sauerkraut. Shoulder pain is not so strong now. I remembered to use anti inflammatory gel before getting into bed. The clot busting meds continue to make me feel unwell, drowsy, slow reacting and stiff. I don't think the heat improves matters. I make an effort to stay active mentally and try not to push myself too hard physically.

After breakfast, I started recording audio for next week's Morning Prayer while Clare was out shopping. It's rarely quiet by day in our neighbourhood as the background sound of power tools or hammering from building or maintenance projects plus vehicle noises is annoyingly pervasive. it would be better to record at night, but I'm too tired late in the day. Anyway I was able to record and edit out most background sound while Clare cooked lunch, and then made the video slideshow for uploading to YouTube after we'd eaten.

I went out for a long slow walk in the shade of the trees in Llandaff Fields The temperature was 31C and there was almost no breeze. After an early supper I went to St Catherine's, as choir practice was taking place at seven, giving me an opportunity to go into church and hunt for my missing spec's. A thorough search of the chancel, choir and side aisle where I may have dropped them yielded nothing. So where else might I have dropped them? I retraced my steps home, feeling drained by the heat, no sight of the spec's anywhere. Then when I stepped through the door I thought - what if they fell out of my pocket when I put the jacket on when I left for church? And that led me to find them, lodged out of sight in one of Clare's ankle boots in the shoe rack! What a relief!

Millions attended the burial of Ayatollah Khamenei at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad in Iran. Meanwhile Iranian missiles have hit Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian targets following Iran's assertion of control over the Straight of Hormuz. Determined defiance regardless of the cost.

The air cooled a little as the sun neared the horizon, so I went out and walked around the block to get a breath of fresh air before getting ready for bed.