Repair Cafe

It's slightly warmer today, but overcast. A heat wave is approaching from southern Europe and the threat of extreme heat is being talked about in the news. I noticed the air temperature gradually rise during the afternoon as the cloud lifted and dispersed.

I had a good night's sleep with fewer disturbances than I'm used to, and felt the benefit from that with a clear head and sharper senses until the clot dispersal meds took effect and robbed me of the improvement. How come the medicine that's meant to reduce the risk of something really serious happening actually makes you feel worse?

After breakfast we went to Chapter Arts centre with three pairs of garden shears for sharpening at a busy session of the Repair Cafe Wales in the foyer. A team of volunteers register people sort out their requests and direct them to other volunteers with expertise at diagnosing and fixing things which no longer work, whether mechanical, electrical or a combination of both. Some items can be fixed by soldering a broken connection or replacing a readily available component. Others are unfixable, fit only for recycling. It's a great public service, run by skilled enthusiasts and people concerned about the environmental impact of waste generated by industrial society. 

A taciturn guy called Dave took our sets of shears outdoors to where an electric grinding wheel was set up for sharpening. The secateurs he sharpened by hand with a suitably tool. It reminded me of watching my father sharpening his garden shears when I was a boy. He had tools to use for maintaining his own equipment and the skills to use them. A few of these are still there in our domestic tool kit, a small family legacy. To my shame, I doubt I have the skill or experience to use them properly, let alone the confidence.

Clare cooked lunch while I was out. I walked for an hour  afterwards. I was charmed by a little girl as she rode ahead of her mother singing to herself "I'm riding in the park!" It reminded me of moments like that with our children at the same age. 

Since I last walked down to the end of the camp site nearest the cricket stadium, a large Holm Oak has been brought down by the wind, blocking the path. Alongside the Pontcanna Fields boundary wall is an avenue of these trees. A few others have shed large branches in recent years, probably weakened by spells of drought. They are heavy limbed evergreen trees, that flourish around the Mediterranean. They produce acorns and are quick to colonise any place where they are transported, making them an invasive species.

We had a long chat with Rachel on WhatsApp after supper. She's recently started doing gigs as a wedding singer recently, an interesting musical challenge. We're looking forward to her coming over to celebrate our diamond wedding and Clare's 81st birthday.

Ships passed through the Straight of Hormuz again today. Then Iran declared its closure in response to Israel bombing Southern Lebanon despite the cease-fire declared between Israel and Hezbollah. Contradictory messages are coming from America and Iran about what's happening on the ground. Trump meddles in a situation over which he has no control, declaring America will charge a 'guardian angel' toll to escort ships through the Straight. America hasn't delivered the change his warmongering promised, only stiffened Iranian resolve to resist. Peace talks continue in Switzerland, but can progress be possible while the situation in Lebanon is volatile and so violent as to cause outrage and non-cooperation from Iran?

The Israeli government is hostile to deal making going on, as it's considered to make concessions to Iran. Netanyahu is uncompromising in his determination to defeat Iran and destroy its power, contemptuous of diplomacy to end the war. Strikes by Iran and Hezbollah on Israel feed a national sense of insecurity. Netanyahu's resistance to appeals by Trump asserts that America doesn't call the tune in Israel's war. His extreme aggressive stance towards Iran and Hezbollah promotes himself as Israel's defender. As long as he's considered electable he avoids prosecution for corruption. He is motivated to be awkward in dealing with those he entered into an alliance with.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham Mayor of Manchester, has been elected as MP for Makerfield with a majority big enough to see off all the right wing contenders. He's had a lot of political exposure in this past few months as a potential Prime Minister. Media criticism of Sir Keir Starmer has moved parliamentary Labour party colleagues to call for his resignation and effectively promote Burnham instead. He is popular and charismatic as a regional leader, though nobody knows how well he is likely to perform given the complexities of national leadership. The public, however, are unlikely to forget how these MPs deal with each other and switch loyalties pragmatically if not cynically. 

Just in time - with Cardiff bus

Up and breakfasted in time to drive to St Peter's Fairwater to celebrate the Eucharist at ten fifteen with twenty two others. During the coffee morning after the service, Fr Colin the former Vicar came around to get some plants from the community garden, looking well and relaxed, enjoying his retirement. He'd come over from celebrating Mass at St Augustine's in Llanrumney. It's what we do, use retired clergy, fill in the gaps, when incumbent clerics are overloaded with demands.

I drove home again, to collect the empty veggie bag and then went to exchange it for a full one at the new veggie bag depot in the courtyard of Chapter Arts, as it used to be before covid. For the past three years the pickup place was in the front garden of a house in Eton Place, but the woman who hosted it there is now moving elsewhere, and Chapter has agreed to host the depot once more. Clare was already in the throes of cooking prawns with veggies and rice for lunch when I returned, nice and early, as I needed to go to 'The Res' in Ely to celebrate their midweek Mass at two fifteen.

I decided not to go by car, for fear of losing our street parking place. This often happens when there's a big event in town, as people driving in from elsewhere for major sporting events, tend to park away from the immediate city centre and hi-jack neighbourhood parking spaces and walk into town. Beyonce was starting her latest world concert tour in Cardiff this evening at the stadium. Clare feared our parking space might be nabbed, so I resolved to take to 18 bus up to Grand Avenue where the church is instead.

I walked to the nearest Cowbridge Road East bus stop for an eighteen bus and was there by just after one thirty. A succession of four westbound buses passed me, none of which was an eighteen, the only one to go the length of Grand Avenue, past the church. In town, because of the concert, there was traffic chaos, with people from all over Europe, let alone Britain arriving for the concert, and the buses having to make their ways through heavier than usual traffic.

Last in the procession of westbound buses, nearly twenty minutes after I reached to bus stop, came two number 18s, nose to tail! I had no clear idea of how long the journey would take so I found the email address of Carol, one of the steadfast long standing members of the congregation, and sent a message to warn her I might be delayed. We had an eccentric bus driver who sang silly songs and made lame jokes all the way there. It certainly cheered up an otherwise tense journey! Carol was looking out for me at the gate when I arrived. I actually ran a hundred yards from the bus stop down to the church, the first time I have been able to do that since I sprained my ankle last December, with no ill effect. By leg behaved itself surprisingly well today, and I arrived with couple of minutes to spare.

I joined the congregation of nine for coffee and a chat afterwards, and we had a great laugh together recalling the days of our young. Almost all were in their late seventies or eighties, and talked about the places they frequented in their youth in Cardiff. We talked about first experiences of foreign imported food, and a man and his wife told the story of how he turned up the collect his wife for their first date in a red London bus whose brakes he'd just serviced. He'd gone to collect her from home driving the bus to pick her up and take her to town. Unfortunately her parents weren't impressed, but there they were some sixty years later, anyway.

Back home on the 18 bus to Canton once more, realising on the way that I'd taken off my specs in the sacristy and left them there. Carol will bring them to the Ascension Day Mass at St Luke's which I will be celebrating tomorrow night. Our Basque neighbour Miriam was on the bus. We walked home talking in a mixture of Spanish and English. She works in a special needs school with severely disable kids the other side of Ely Vale from 'The Res'. That was a nice surprise.

After arriving home, I did some shopping, then went for a walk around the park, getting back just in time for the Archers. Afterwards, I spent the evening writing a sermon for tomorrow evening. All in all, a busy but enjoyable day.