Op delayed

If left early for St Catherine's this morning as I had to open up the church and prepare to celebrate the Eucharist without the support of Clive whose away this week in St David's. There were only three of us today. Two thirds of the regulars were also away as well. I was glad there were a couple of people there, as the feast of St Matthew the Evangelist is special to me, as I was ordained Deacon and Priest in the two days beforehand in different years. No coffee and chat this morning, so I came home, has a coffee and then went collect this week's veggie bag.

After lunch I worked for a couple of hours on next week's Morning Prayer and Reflection for Michaelmas Day, then went to the Co-op for this week's grocery shopping. Then I had a phone call from St Joseph's hospital to say that tomorrow's cataract op is postponed as surgeon Andrew is off sick. Clare heard at the meditation group last night that he was absent because he was unwell, so I wasn't surprised at the news, only disappointed that I have to wait another month. 

The new date I've been given is 20th October, right in the middle of our Gower holiday with Ann. I have to drive back the evening before as the appointment is at 7.00 on Thursday morning. I'm not sure I'll be recovered enough to return and drive them home on Saturday, so unfortunately they'll have to return to Cardiff by train. I called Martin. He and Chris will give me a bed on Wednesday and Thursday nights and ferry me to and from the hospital. It's fortunate they only live a few miles from St Joseph's.

Clare went to a Pilates class at six and returned in time for supper and 'The Archers'. Afterwards I watched a Physics programme about the part played by temperature in making the universe, called 'Ice and Fire'. A lot of information, perhaps a bit too much was packed into an hour on the physics of low temperature. It was presented Dr Helen Czerski. Her enthusiastic style reminded me of Brian Cox. Then there was a programme about the history of the Second World War and how interpretation of its events has changed over decades in the light new historical research. Also interesting to watch. Altogether an educational rather than entertaining evening.

Viewing promise and pleasure

Today we were advised to stay indoors, and although it was pretty windy in the morning, it was no worse than it had been for days. There was also sunshine and clouds constantly changing shape moving at speed, driven by westerly gale force winds, and after lunch I ventured out for a walk to see what damage had been done. I'm sure that down on the coast it would indeed have been dangerous to go out, but the Cardiff coastal flood plain sits beneath a 70 metre ridge on the west side, enough to deflect the full force of any wind from the west.

I started writing and recording uninterruptedly next week's Morning Prayer video after breakfast, and had uploaded it to YouTube before we had lunch. It was pleasing to achieve that in a spell of down-time with nothing else to do. 

I walked over to Tesco's to look for a replacement steam mop, but they didn't stock one. B&M, the bargain supermarket did however. I bought one, and then went to Aldi's supermarket for some wine, lugging the box with the mop in it. With a bit more planning I would have gone to Aldi first and not B&M. How silly of me. While I was in the store there was a shower of hailstones and then rain, the wind blowing cold and hot in turn. It didn't last long. The setting sun poked through dark storm clouds. It was quite spectacular and in five minutes I was walking home again, with the wind dying down and no more rain or hail. I felt quite exhilarated.

I've had confirmation today from eye surgeon Andrew that the forthcoming cataract operation he plans to organise for me will be pro bono. How amazing is that! It's strange that the visual impairment I have is hardly noticeable in bright sunny weather, only in some low light conditions and when using a camera viewfinder. When the sun is low in the sky, no matter how bright, it tends to trigger a migraine aura, and that's a real worry. Night driving isn't too bad, although I get double vision in the worst eye. Funnily enough with a phone or computer screen, although I'm aware of slightly misty vision, it doesn't hinder reading, as long as I wear reading specs'. It's low light that really makes me aware of the problem that now seems within reach of being resolved. I'm amazed and thanking God.

This evening, I finished watching 'La Promesse' with its unusual denouement and family reconciliation as a happy ending. Interesting - this is the second serialised French crime drama in a row I've watched in which there's a happy family ending in the face of an embedded tragedy. The last one - 'Beyond Appearances' also featured a female led storyline, but was about a TV show presenter and her twin.

Job done, I spent and hour writing and then watched another Rocco Schiavone episode, weaving his back story with that of an investigation into a double patricide. Rocco is a rough cut version of Salvo Montalbano. Working out which sibling was the perpetrator was a long unexpected journey, with more moments of ribald Italian humour. And the views of the Val d'Aosta are so gorgeous!