The organist librarian

Swam 20 and Liz came as well. At mosaic painted two more tiles as kiln not working. We did Qi'gong and Wild goose Qi'gong. Did some shopping and emails. Not happy with Jerry changing muisc list, wanting me to pay deputy and not keeping me properly informed, Resolved in the end but if things go on like this.... To Beckenham for vigil Mass of All Saints - Ashley Beck very trad. 

Clocks went back an hour. Woke too early and dozed off. Up in good time left home 7.35 a.m. but on way to station in the car had to reverse up Dixon Road for a white van. Result missed train to Purley from where there was a bus replacement service. To Selhurst from Norwood Junction and to East Croydon. No trains to Purley so got bus 407. On organ at 9 a.m. Lourdes Gloria and Gathering not on sheet so did Murray. For all the saints cut to 5 verses and no procession. We sang "Holy is the true light" fairly well. I then started the communion hymn in D instead of F and realised on the second line so changed to F. I have never done that before. I think the travel disturbed my concentration. I played Howells Sine nomine and Flor Peeters well. Rehearsed for next 2 weeks. Never spoke to Jerry who had postponed meeting about Christmas because Anne Marie had a fall and broke her shoulder bone. Strangely Gisela had a fall off her bicycle and hurt her arm. Julie took posters and had don...

Watched Poldark and Victoria. Practised Faure and Rachmaninov. To Bloomsbury Baptist which is being repaired. Sarah Kim played Bach, Danse macabre, Durufle and Krebs. Pity I had to leave. Fr John at Mass and the choir of Holy Redeemer, Billericay sang well. Good to see Andrew Wright's assistant again - Archer , Kerll, Nardone and Haydn.

Friday  wrote tribute to Ron Archer for Judy and sent it to Simon and Francis. Great loss of Revd Andrew Wakefield in Wimbledon - mentioned at last night's meeting prayers by William and Anne Marie put it on Facebook. Saw him at interfaith gatherings. Watched Secret of Beethoven's 5th symphony. Ian Hislop and Gardiner trying to prove it is about revolution - not proven. To Paul Nash at Tate Britain. Not a fan of surrealism but he can paint and create atmosphere by leaving people out. To oil painting and good progress on mixing colours. Liz at practice. Watched Jo Brand on Bake off. 

I set the alarm off as I forgot to put my hearing aid in. To 6 provinces committee meeting which was held at the Bishops conference offices. Some honest discussion about falling membership. Urgent appeal for the lunch after the Mass. To the park to eat sandwiches and I went to Marks to get boxed drinks and fruit bars. The concert started late as there was a problem with water in the Albert Hall and loos only available on the ground floor! Ciarán and Seán loved it and we had good seats at the front of the circle. The best bit was "Going on a bear hunt".  Tom Redmond  compère Timothy Redmond  conductor Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra London Youth Choir The youth choir did well in the Mozart Requiem section. The brothers were great conducting and compering. We walked down to South ken and saw the tree lights come on at the ice rink. Met Louise. Home to watch the final of Bake off and Poldark episodes. Thursday to art and an important day - first time I used my oil pai...

Discussed holidays for 2017. Emailed about Okavango. 6 at quiet time. Liz to Acton. Provincial council was quite lively with some clear decisions. 

 After lunch to St John's for London Mozart players inaugural concert there. 600 including loads of kids who mostly behaved well - lots of Dulwich mums showing off. Mozart, Grainger, Vivaldi 2 trumpets, Handel and Copland encore. Bought a calendar. Liz helped with teas. Chatted to a violinist, Janet Marshall and Wayne now Mayor with his consort - says he is a Catholic boy. Watched Poldark and Antiques roadshow. Liz watched Aberfan cantata. Trip Advisor comments. Monday mosaic and painted tiles to be fired, qi'gong 7 there. Tate Modern Wiferdo Lam all the same very heavy Picasso influence. BSO and much better - good tutor manipulated my knee well. Daniel Moult on Big sing from Songs of Praise. To Beckenham official visit Thomas More well received and  they liked the bagpiper joke very much,

Saturday played for a wedding at 3. Bridesmaids and half the congregation 40 minutes late but Jerry started at 3.10. Long time since I played the Wagner and the Mendelssohn! Fr Andrew at Mass. Watched 3 episodes of "Victoria" which isvery good. Sunday played Andrew Moore and we sang Ogden's "Christ has no body". We rehearsed for next week and some discussion about Christmas! 

A quiet day at home blog and Face Book photos now up to date, emails done, boards for mosaics painted, study tidied. Watched Apprentice and Bake off. My 9 entries to Wimbledon photographic competition got through. 

Claire and Mick's baby is born - a boy. Spoke to Ann about half an  hour before the birth. Later named Owen.

30/9 70th birthday. Up at 7 for breakfast and wave the coach off. 4 of us left. Spoke to Dennis and Florence. Swam and jacuzzi. Out of room at 12 and Uber to JFK museum at Hyannis - good photos and videos, baseball bit not of interest. The real kennedy museum is in Boston. Taxi back to Blue Water - a deep voiced woman with no time for the Kennedys. At least it passed the time! Waited in the hotel foyer from 2.15 to 4.15 and then driver came to take us to Boston airport rain and traffic. Checked in at 6.30 - no internet. Ladies flight before ours. Read "Music and liturgy" BA flight left 30 minutes late - full gave us champagne. Watched A bigger splash and My big fat greek wedding 2 which was funny. Landed 10.30 a.m. Lou and the boys there to welcome us with big cards and hugs and took us home which was great! 

Last day of the trip and woke 3 times. Our checkout is now 12. Sat with David and his wife, he grew up in Brighton and was an aeronautical engineer and has a reed organ. North to Provincetown visitng Nauset light  via Dennis, Brewster and Eastham. Saw the 3 sisters and oldest windmill on Cape Cod. Ptown gay and unusual. A ship in the library! Coffee nearby. Dunes tour aquifers support the plants and animals. Weather not good enough for whale watching - we are ahead of the big storm. Overcast all day. This is an unusual trip in a  large car with specially inflated tyres. To Pilgrims memorial musuem with fine displays on the Mayflower, scrimshaw and local artists incl Hawthorne's fine portrait of a boy with a fish. Back at 5 so swim and jacuzzi. Lobster dinner - had to crack them open. Lovely big birthday cake 70 tomorrow! Watched channel 57 Ryan and Emilia - told that they filmed this in Williamsburg but did not see anything familiar! Not great!

We did not have to picl up the kids on Tuesday after all so I went to oil painting. Wed to Tamar and lunch at Watermans. Sean joined in a bit. To Hinsley room for talk by Farhana Mayar from Quilliam foundation. Eugenie and Alison came and said a lot. Rita wasn't able to come so only 7 but 3 new people. We saw quotes from the Qu'ran and agreed this might be published by the Vatican. Worth a try. I went to Pret for tea and reading Tablet and Tagore short stories. Martin Baker's recital at the cathedral was Bach and Reger - a heavy programme. Adrian from the Proms and Martin Ball came to chat which was nice. Thursday to art and finished the drawing and decided to use oils so ordered spike primrose oil. To South London visit by Vice National president Peter and Joan Rogers to present 40 year scroll to David - he was very amusing. It was my official visit and Thomas More was well received. Friday no swim and kept waking up. Boiler serviced. Sent off emails and tidied study. 

28/9 left at 8.15. 3 Ohio ladies at breakfast all support Trump as they are business people. they had a beach day although overcast. We seem to be ahead of the coming storm. To the Kennedy memorial next to the Kennedy compound. This appears to be all that there is to see! On high speed ferry to Nantucket. To. Whaling museum where we saw film and exc talk on whale hunt. Exc scrimshaw, sperm whale oil, very well presented, windy observation deck, display on the. Essex which was attacked by a whale and very few survived the journey in small boats. Exc talk on it too. Bus tour of the island with Wendy was was funny and sang. We sang too! Exc meal on mainland at Lobster. Boat baked trio,  Liz has lobster pricey but good. Connecticut ale. Sat with Gerry from San Francisco. 

27/9 very wet. Cheese omelette for breakfast. To Barnstaple to get ferry to Martha's Vineyard. Drove round Hyannis to find Marilyn the guide! Eventually on ferry at 11. It was dry when we got to the island and Edgartown. Buildings all white,  St Andrew's church has Tiffany glass and embroidery. Picnic on the observation deck at the harbour. Saw old pagoda tree and various houses and churches. To Oak. Cliffs with its brightly painted gingerbread houses, huge open roofed tabernacle, Methodist camping association, Trinity Methodist church and museum. A highlight of the trip. Ferry back at 5 did some sketches. Amused at flooring company employee uniform "remodelling your dreams"  we give you what we want? A very nice meal at Alberto's with couples from Alabama clams, cod called scrod as in catch of the day, sorbet. Local red draft beer. Back at 9.25 and watched fascinating programme on the backgrounds of Hillary and Trump -  he was on the Apprentice for 12 years and ...

Monday to doctor to get ears cleared which was a waste of time. But did get flu jab. Late at mosaic, Hendrika came. To Guys and got replacement hearing aid and no cost but no fitting either. To Tate Modern turbine hall loud sounds. To BHO and some good treatment. To dinner at Tredwells St Martin's Lane my starter cod cheeks not great but meal was good if overpriced. Tuesday a good session with Sr Catherine and walked to Royal  Academy only to find it closed as the Queen was coming. self portraits at Npg. To Bridget Jones baby at Watermans on free tickets and we had Indian dinner. to oil,painting and Liz to council. Wed took S to Tamar and London wetland centre. met Prommer Judith at lunch. to East Dulwich picturehouse for RSC Lear with Sher leading a great cast in good production. Beale was more moving and echoes of Falstaff. Had time to do tyres and petrol - earlier Liz had to get a new battery Fred. Packed and watched Bakeoff.

Slept in. Emails, washing. To West Norwood to get another mosaic board. After lunch to St John's for quiet hour. 8 there. I have not been for months. Took Liz to hairdresser and I went to oil painting.  Tom cooked a nice meal. Louise in Berlin. Took Liz and Ciaran to school. Read about St Philip Howard who was very badly treated by. Elizabeth I.

Swim before breakfast and set off at 10 having paid our bill which was much lower than expected! Smooth crossing and straight to the historic dockyard. Rather a long walk from the car park and to the new Mary Rose building. Fascinating and well presented. Particular interest in the musical instruments and the surgeon and pilot. To Portsmouth cathedral and Steven a lay clerk came to open up the loft. A superb Nicholson organ. Drove home via tea at Guildford cathedral. Unpacked and then to Bromley meeting as Andrew Hannan became a joint member. 15 there and rave reviews for the weekend. Harry Mellor was there. 

Swim before breakfast and set off at 10 having paid our bill which was much lower than expected! Smooth crossing and straight to the historic dockyard. Rather a long walk from the car park and to the new Mary Rose building. Fascinating and well presented. Particular interest in the musical instruments and the surgeon and pilot. To Portsmouth cathedral and Steven a lay clerk came to open up the loft. A superb Nicholson organ. Drove home via tea at Guildford cathedral. Unpacked and then to Bromley meeting as Andrew Hannan became a joint member. 15 there and rave reviews for the weekend. Harry Mellor was there. 

Swim before breakfast and set off at 10 having paid our bill which was much lower than expected! Smooth crossing and straight to the historic dockyard. Rather a long walk from the car park and to the new Mary Rose building. Fascinating and well presented. Particular interest in the musical instruments and the surgeon and pilot. To Portsmouth cathedral and Steven a lay clerk came to open up the loft. A superb Nicholson organ. Drove home via tea at Guildford cathedral. Unpacked and then to Bromley meeting as Andrew Hannan became a joint member. 15 there and rave reviews for the weekend. Harry Mellor was there. 

The provincial weekend came to its conclusion in triumph. Saturday to Osborne House on a  lovely morning sea very calm. toured the house which is hardly cosy then bus to beach where ai sketched yachts then walk to Swiss Cottage and bus back several Catenians went. Swam twice. The dinner dance was excellent. Michael and Janice Douse were great company and the Grumiitts came. Excellent band and dancing. Bed at midnight. Sunday no swm pancakes for breakfast. Quarr and saw Fr Gregiry  70 hosts. Played organ and all went well although Fr disappeared before the psalm to put the sound system on. Hard to hear him. To Albert Cottage exc roast beef lunch and people leaving to get ferrires. To Ventnor tropical garden hottest garden in Britain. Giant water lily in bloom. Champagne with Denise as we reunited her with her bag. Dinner and chat, bit of Poldark. 

We jump ahead to the present. We travelled to Portsmouth yesterday leaving at 8.40. Following the satnav was not great as we ended up via Colliers Wood and our usual Martin Way would probably have been quicker. When we got to Portsmouth RC cathedral time was wasted as we parked some short distance away,then had to find the parish office which is not properly signposted then could not work out how to get the organ on.We got separated at the loos which wasn't good either.Anyway I did play the fine Wells organ for about 10 minutes and we got the noon ferry and met Brian Daley on board. To Quarr for midday prayer the monks not on the same note and practised organ and psalm.Got beer from shop and guidebooks at a reduced rate also chatted to the portrait artist displaying her wares.Shopped for cakes and got to Channel View in time for a swim. Several have come early.Nice dinner and to our room which has stunning views both sides.Watched The Apprentice. Friday after breakfast blew up bal...

Quite a busy week since we got back. Monday to mosaic but spent time looking through photos. Hendrika did not come for tai chi - 5 there so went to Imperial war museum for excellent Reel to reel about war films with original costumes. To BSO and Xray confirmed wear and tear on right knee. Tutor syas it needs 6 sessions. Clare was there! Dennis became a Catenian - at last. Not many there and I had to show them the procedure even so Colin was like Ed Balls! Nice photos. I joined 3 Oct 1994, he joined 3 Oct 2016! Tuesday changed hearing aid appointment so ears can be clear first. To St Mellitus Gloucester Rd for St George's college Jerusalem update and lecture on Nazareth which was good - the new Dean from Brisbane. Told Bishop Richard and him about Barbara and New York. Only one of our group came but 4 from 2016 and 2 from 2014 sharing perspectives so nice to compare notes and met quite a few clergy. Nice lunch. To Acton and then to Chiswick Park for first session with Nelson oil p...

26/9 cases out at 6.30 woke at 1.30 bed not as wide as ours at home. Have been sleeping with right leg raised but not sure it really helps. Left at 8. Cranberry bog farm turned out to be interesting especially when the helicopter came to move the crates! We were lucky to see that. Bought jelly and honey in shop. To Plimouth plantation. Native American settlement, craft centre and shop where we bought pepper mints and fresh baked brown bread. English 17th century village with fort very primitive. Ate like a pilgrim turkey, nice pumpkin, not so keen on Indian pudding with grits and molasses. To Mayflower II replica 3 guides very good, Plymouth Rock unimpressive. Ice cream for a dollar, one stop grocery and bought wine and beer and lunch stuff. Blue water lovely room with sea view, beach right nearby, pool downstairs with jacuzzi. Watched debate between Trump and Clinton for 2 hours and Antiques roadshow. 

25/9 Sunday early breakfast and left at 7.45 to Boston. 1 hour. Local guide Kikee in coat and hat. Toured centre and visited Old North St church and Copps. Hill burial ground. Clam chowder at Quincy market. 20 minute talk by ranger at Fanteuil hall. Urged all to vote.Cradle of liberty incl blacks and women. Busts of Douglass and Lilian Stone. Holocaust memorial simple and effective. To USS Constitution which has an exc museum. Great for kids. back by 5 and walked to Catholic cathedral of SS Peter and. Paul. Met Douglas the organist and the cantor both large men and he invited me to play so I played Toccata in D minor on the large Cassavant. The priest from New Orleans was too political. Urged all to vote but antiObama administration which has accused religious bodies of discrimination, sexism, homophobia. There is no question in my kind that the RC church discriminates against women and gays. At this. Mass there was one woman reader and one woman special minister but the priest went t...

24/9 breakfast early. Brenda is our guide, lots on coach. Local guide Meredith to Providence, John Brown university, Roger Williams statue, 1st Baptist church in US. she was very good and amusing. to Newport over fantastic bridge. Lobster roll and chowder at Lobster shack on quay side. Did some sketches of harbour views. Only in Rhode Island shop and watched baseball game. To Fort Adams lovely views of bridge and schooner, Dell's lemonade, passed Kennedy and Eisenhower summer houses. Visited the Breakers Vanderbilt's summer mansion, 70 rooms, self guided audio tour good but no taste - platinum walls! Back over the bridge. All of us to Zorro's excellent food and so Many courses Italian pizza, chicken, delicious genoli and ice cream. Actually left some ice cream as had eaten so much! Chatted to Diana from Oklahoma. To Waterfire unique, wood fires are lit on stands in the river basin, boats taking people round and others feeding wood into the flames. Lots of people there and ...

23/9 left at 8.40 Uber sharing with lady coming from airport. Brennon took cases down for us - he is nearly 40 and very nice. Ann at Durban airport after a great SA trip. Lovely day again. traffic over Manhattan bridge bad . Amtrak train at 11 was 25 minutes late. Comfortable ride of 3 hours. 12 dollars for taxi to Hilton hotel. Uber would have been cheaper but phone very slow. 2 beds in our room, shower got fixed. Ate at Angelo's Federal Hill lasagne, chicken, choc brownies, burgundy from  California. 

I tripped on the pavement last night but broke my fall. I was OK and somebody immediately came to help. People are mostly very willing to give us a seat on he subway. I was tired and my knee still not right although walking seems to help. 22/9 lovely day to Bronx Zoo on subways - a long journey. Lovely woods but very spread out. Snow leopard, Amur tiger, Malgas an Indonesian bird, Guira cuckoo, tinamou birds. Reptiles including python on the move. bison, cranes, polar bear, brown bear, Asia monorail great, Indian rhino, tiger, elephant, deer. jungle world leopard, langurs, birds, bat, tortoises, turtles. Shuttle not running so a lot of walking. Lions, nyala, baboons and ibex from Ethiopia. Madagascar lemurs and fossa! bug carousel. Missed African wild dogs, aardvark, okapi and gorillas. Saw tree kangaroo, Komodo dragon. Great day out but tired. Express bus back to manhattan and subways. 

21/9 lie-in fine day, saw Brennon and TV now works. Michael on jury duty so no St Patrick's cathedral organ for me. Bus to Brooklyn and got tickets for "Something rotten". Ticket seller suggested we walked over Brooklyn Bridge - fantastic views, lots of people. Discovered Metrocard had run out so put 10 dollars on mine and used that. Natural History museum New York pass had also run out but it was pay what you wish day so 10 dollars.  Quick replan of the day so no Madam Tussauds or New York historical society instead the dinosaurs sketches and Liz went to special exhibition on birds as living dinosaurs. Back on our balcony and finished reading "The good life" excellent book which Ann gave me. Things not done - Morgan library, Madam Tussauds, MOMAS 1, museum of moving image, Holy Trinity, Asia society, Staten Island and Tibetan museum, UN. but we have done an awful lot. To St James theatre to see musical "Something rotten" about Shakespeare - very w...

20/9 to Brooklyn centre on bus 62 to get show tickets -no waiting! To Eldridge St museum which is an 1887 Orthodox synagogue videos and Sandy gave us an excellent tour. beautifully restored. Recommended Tenement museum in Orchard St .Good videos. Coffee and cake at Irving Farm. Excellent tour with Laureen about Irish immigrants. bought a calendar. Very good Austrian meal at Cafe Katja 79 Orchard Street. To "Waitress" at Brooks Atkinson theatre just off Broadway an excellent musical fast moving good songs well sung. well deserved standing ovation. Bases on a film. Back at 11.15.