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Showing posts from 2008

New Year's Eve

Honours announced and Pat Astley-Cooper has the OBE. It was a disgrace that all her work at Wandsworth Museum was mothballed and closed down. To St Edmund's Beckenham to play for wedding of Liadan Bond and Dan. The new Wyvern organ sounds very good but the conole has been turned round so I could not see when the bride had reached the altar! Mrs Carroll directed the Carroll singers and they sang well. It was very cold. Watched part 1 of Royal Opera Hansel and Gretel, Vasari, Howard Goodall on carols. Fireworks from London Eye were spectacular. Dishwasher is playing up again!So 2008 ends - a year of travel and great experiences. What will 2009 hold?

Christmas Day photos

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Dec 30th

The year is slipping away. The pool was late opening so only did 20 lengths. Good thing I left when I did as the 8.03 train was cancelled. I got the earlier one to Victoria and was in the library by 8.45. Watched programme on early career of Mrs Thatcher and fell asleep during Michael Palin programme.

Dec 29

I have gained 2 pounds. 38 lengths - only 3 at the pool at 7 a.m. The trains were up the creek and had to go to Victoria to get back to Battersea Park. Did a lot of weeding fiction and contacted the reading group about borrowing more books. Cold again outside. On return home at 7 watched Peterborough cathedral TVcasts which were very good, Morecambe and Wise with Andre Previn, Vasari. Gill's Mum died in Norfolk so that is sad. A young man came in to the library and was doing a survey about people's belief in God. Were men and women different in their belief? Why do people believe? All grey areas of course.

Holy Innocents

Baptism at Coulsdon so no Gloria. 7 in choir including Bob and Tony Trent (no choral services at Croydon Parish Church for 2 weeks!) We sang Coventry carol and I played Pachelbel "Von himmel hoch" and a rather attractive piece on Coventry Carol by Gordon Phillips. Tony was going on about a boys choir again so he spoke to Vicky. We met again and talked about the ethos of the church and choir discipline. Practised in a cold church and home for lunch. Liz had been to the sales and got Christmas cards. Watched Kings carols, Vasari, How to build a cathedral, Peterborough cathedral midnight Mass with excellent sermon by the Dean. Did Christmas Tablet crossword and quiz. Wrote to editor about Fr Aidan Rossiter's new word "Willcoxian" -should it be "Willcocksian"?

St John's day

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My feast day. The Anglicans have my favourite gospel which was always read at St John's College at school Masses about Peter asking if John will live to see the return of Jesus. Catholics read about Peter and John running to the tomb "he saw and believed". To St John's for Eucharist - attractive Mass of St Cedd by Peter Nardone, Philip Ledger's Christmas gloria and Eyre's O fragrant the lilies. Gave out carol CDs which were much appreciated. Jo Richards said he had seen me as crucifer at the cathedral. Josie, Clare and Grandma for lunch which was very nice. To vespers and Mass for feast of Holy Family - 4 priests at Mass. Told Fr Swavek Liz had opened Polish gherkins and had to be eaten in 48 hours! Here is John Keble's great hymn for today. 1. Word supreme, before creation Born of God eternally, Who didst will for our salvation To be born on earth, and die; Will thy Saints have kept their station, Watching till thine hour drew nigh. 2. Now

Christmas

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Church of the Nativity Bethlehem Going down into the cave and the star for the birthplace. Listened to Rachmaninov vespers on way to Coulsdon Christmas Eve - it was the Estonian philharmonic choir at the Proms - we will be singing this next year with Edward Caswell. Bruce went to St John's Upper Norwood for Midnight, Louise to St Michael's Bedford Park. Dennis and Louise to St Chad's South Norwood Christmas morning where they met Grainne and Clare and Sophia. So between us we have been at 6 churches! I drove to Coulsdon 3 times but it was worth coming home and having a short sleep before Midnight. I finally got to hear more of King's carols today! Many of them we had enjoyed at the Albert Hall - the soloists are particularly good this year especially the baritone. Bruce went cycling in Richmond Park on Christmas Day morning with friends and won the champagne. Boxing Day was relaxing. Waited until the football crowd had come before taking Dennis up to Grandma's - he

St Stephen

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St Stephen's Dominican church, Jerusalem. Icon of Stephen seen in Armenian shop window, Jerusalem. The church is thought to be on the place where Stephen was martyred. Christmas Day and listened to Bath Abbey broadcast. Not many at Coulsdon - clapping Gloria, I played lots of Noels. Vickie said how well everything had gone. To John the Baptist Purley for 12 noon Mass. Warmly greeted by Fr Jim Pannett who is looking old and limping again. Someone called Bill turned up at noon to play accompanied by his young daughters. Endured Peruvian Gloria and the girls sang carols round the organ - it looked as though they only had one copy between them. Their descant to O come all ye faithful was pretty feeble. Considering the church was full the people did not sing. Bill is a competent pianist I think but there is no variety of stops at all so it all becomes pretty dull. Canon Jim does his best to enthuse! I rather suspect that a lot of people like me would prefer a short quiet Mass after so m

Christmas is here!

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From the church at Shepherds Fields Bethlehem Christmas Eve hoovered the whole house! Set the table and put up the cards - not as many as last year I think. Some very interesting letters included! Watched Christmas QI and set off for Coulsdon for 2 crib services 4 and 5 p.m. This meant I only heard the start of King's carols. Liz went to Vespers and Vigil Mass at the cathedral. The services went well and we gave out lots of the Coulsdon CDs for free. People seemed pleased and I spoke to lady from Purley who was delighted. Also met the bride for the wedding blessing in May. I picked up Dennis and Ann Marie at Coulsdon South - they flew into Gatwick. Watched some of King's on TV and then had a short sleep on the bed. The Midnight Mass went well especially the Haydn Mass. I thought some of the carols beforehand went a little sharp. John brought Nicole to sing - she just stopped coming this year with no explanation! One person was late for the warm-up so I commented on the importa

Library and confession

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To the cathedral for penitential service - lovely organ playing and Fr Archer was great. Met Liz and came home. Tuesday a lot of clearing up and rearranging - took the car as had old decorations to take in and set up. Place looks much better and started making contacts encouraging people to borrow more. Sandria Cruise event went well. We were very green and turned plugs off. Electrical checks done but some how the heaters were missed. Watched more Christmas oratorio and enjoyed roast pork.

Nine lessons

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Icon from Bethlehem In the morning we sang "Hail blessed Virgin Mary" and the Wood Mass setting. The Russian Orthodox Kyries went particularly well. At the rehearsal after the first hymn there was much chatter so I just waited for silence before continuing. Spoke to a lady about the Jerusalem cathedral kneelers - she took one there in 1988 from Woodmansterne. Liz came for the Nine lessons at 5 p.m. The rehearsal went well and so did the service. We enjoyed nice eats and drink in the vicarage and everyone was most complimentary. Vickie clearly delighted that i had licked them into shape! The repertoire was straightforward with one lovely new carol "The marvellous birth" by Bib Chilcott. On TV BBC4 enjoyed Christmas Oratorio from Weimar.

Bearded tit

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Graham, Clare and Carice showing off the swan. Reading group enjoyed yule log chocolate and mince pies and mostly liked Rory McGrath's "Bearded tit" - there were some subtleties in the book which people had missed. We then went to Antipasta for lunch. I had cannelloni and white wine. Sang the O antiphon at vespers and had 6 servers at mass, The big surprise was Libera sang at Mass and very beautiful it was too - quite a few are RC. Bob Prizeman remembered me from RSCM southern cathedral singers with Martin How and mentioned Peter Myers and Howard. Came home for dinner and fell asleep during final of "Strictly come dancing"! Christmas letter from Ann and Paul and lots of cards.

Practising carols

Liz at Christmas celebration at the cathedral - did not like one MacMillan piece. Practice started on time with Edward's warm-up techniques. Mostly all there by 7.35 including John! Did nearly everything for next few weeks. Some comments were uncalled for I thought. Had a chat to John afterwards about the assessment.

Christmas concert

Wednesday rehearsal with Stephen Cleobury for Thursday concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Had staff meetings in the morning and they went well. Left at 2 and Liz brought car up. Between rehearsal at Holy Trinity (hopeless sightlines and acoustic very echoey) and concert we walked down to the ice rink in front of the Natural History museum and bought spiced candles and decorations. The concert was great. King's sang Bullard, Weir, Vaughan Williams - superb baritone and tenor soloists, not so keen on the boy. Part 1 of Creation was fun with good tenor and baritone soloists, soprano not so great. Overture to "St Paul" and dance of the tumblers by Rimsky-Korsakov. Tenor sang "Ave Maria" and soprano "Panis". Best of all Fantasia on Christmas carols by Vaughan Williams. 3 congregational carols and 2 encores from Kings - Walford Davies The holly and the ivy and Stephen's arrangement of "Infant holy". 452 bus and 44 bus and drive home by 11.15 p.m

Christmas is coming!

Just listening again to The Choir with Aled Jones discussing new carols. The decorations at work and home and now all up - it does take ages but looks good. I went back to see Dr Ojo and he gave my knee the all-clear. I got my spectacles fixed for £2 at Clapham Junction opticians on Monday - the lens had fallen out 3 times! Now going to work on the Holy Land blog and an article based on it.

Beckenham Catenians

Should have said I went to Beckenham Catenian meeting on Monday which cheered me up!

An interesting week

liz returned safely on Tuesday. Quality control had a lot ot say about how little had been done in her absence so got on with putting up tree lights and decorations which is after all a major task and best done together any way. One set of 100 tree lights took 2 hours to unravel! Little Dorrit came to a fine conclusion and a happy ending! The review meeting with Vickie proved to be quite critical but on Sunday she was keen to affirm my position which is good. Quite what happens in the New Year is uncertain so it's all systems go for Christmas and today Sunday I practised for over an hour. Wednesday to chorus with Edward. Thursday to Christian's for the organists supper - not many there, excellent food. Friday to Jane Allen's retirement party at Balham library hall. Chris Lally, Elaine and Victor there and a good turnout. Excellent eats and champagne! The speeches went on for ages and she ended up thanking everyone. I could not leave till the speeches were over which meant I

Holy Land blog

The new blog is http://belmontholyland.blogspot.com/s

Liz away

Liz has gone to Hexham for a few days. I have managed to sleep better this time but I still miss her. I am getting pretty fed up with carols in Advent. The Archbishop of Canterbury's Advent message stresses the need to wait so why does the Church pander to the secular world. Friday's practice went much better. Saturday to Coulsdon town centre to sing carols with Churches together at 1 p.m. There was a lot of noise from other attractions. No carol CDs were sold and my view is that next year we should give them away with a notice about our Christmas services. We have several boxes left and have neither the marketing skills or time to sell them. We have made some money for the hospice and the church. To Vespers and Mass. I went up by train and when I arrived saw 3 black wedding cars and a white stretch limo outside. The wedding had started 49 minutes late and Fr Michael did well to get through in time for Vespers. John was there and 5 of the kids. The new cantor started "Crat

Organ and Advent

Adrian Adams' recital on 23 Nov at St John's marked some anniversaries - Leighton, Blow, Parry, Leslie Betteridge and Messiaen and ended with Jacques Charpentier's L'ange a la trompette. It was an interesting programme despite the inevitable Messiaen! On Sat Nov 29 St Andrew's celebrated St Andrew's Day with Songs of Praise. this was informal with no robes and free accompaniments which seemed a pity. We started with Vaughan Williams' "O taste and see" and sang Martin Shaw's "With a voice of singing". The position of the choir behind the nave altar space meant that we were not in sync in places. My choice was "O worship the Lord". Other choices were "How great thou art" "Morning has broken" and "What a friend" but at least we did sing "Christ triumphant" and "Thine be the glory". Then there were fish and chips and apple pie and cream followed by a quiz. Our table came 2nd - ha

Finding happiness

The 15 day Holy Land pilgrimage was amazing and I will have much to write about it. We returned on the Friday and I went to choir practice as usual to find much consternation about the choir's fee for the wedding while I was away. Liz went to the servers dinner at Allen Hall. Saturday unpacked and I played for the wedding at 1 p.m. and Vickie was not best pleased that I arrived at 12.50 because the back tyre was down and had to be pumped up. The bride was 15 minutes late any way. To Vespers and Mass. Sunday all was sweetness and light again at Coulsdon. It seems the bride was not charged for the choir as we never had 6 people available to sing so the 4 who came were given £5 each from church funds! We sang Cleobury's arrangement of "Let all mortal flesh". To Adrian Adams' recital at St John's and long chat to Bev - we saw her in the Holy sepulchre church! Evensong - Howells Coll Reg and RVW O clap your hands. New guy called David played. Ironed all my long sle

Paul and "Be not afraid"

Woke at 4 a.m. so put on internet to see Barack Obama has been elected which is historic and amazing! Watched on Iplayer an excellent account of 100 years of Mills and Boon seen through 3 different stories. Spoke to Ann - they enjoyed the wedding in Tassie and Mark joined them there. He may come over here next year. To cathedral on buses for 5th session on Paul - we talked about Paul's positive view of death and keeping one's mind on heavenly things. 8 came. There were over 20 at the spirituality day to hear Canon Christopher on "Be not afraid". I was a little disappointed. He came late, did not stay for lunch, was with us for 30 minutes and then did not return for the interesting feedback session. Henrietta was late as usual and talked too much! Fr Christopher relied on personal testimony which was interesting. He listed 4 fears - physical, fear of not coming up to the mark, fear of being found out and fear of the future and death. There might be a parallel with the

Canon Christopher

Monday 40 lengths and tai chi. To Catenians and took CD player in pouring rain but never got to play CD of welcome song - good jokes. 40 lengths again - saw the ladies and told them about our pilgrimage. Car was checked by police at last and someone had smoked in it. To the health and safety course and we are halfway through although I have missed quite a bit. To vespers (cross bearer) and Mass. Matthew pointed out that the Corpus wasn't straight! Canon Christopher Tuckwell installed in chapter so lots of priests there including Fr Ed. Party in hall so saw lots of folk and met the new priest. Chat to David and Andrea, Victoria's parents.

All Saints and All Souls

Sang "Holy is the true light" by Harris at morning service and Nicholson in C - choir sounded a little strained I thought - coughs about. I played Howells "Sine nomine" and Francis Jackson on "Sine nomine". Chose music for December and watched video of Holy Land in 1972 - I am sure there will be many changes. To 5 p.m. All Souls service. Vickie was playing a Taize CD beforehand and asked us to rehearse downstairs. I think this a mistake as we were not used to the keyboard organ sound and the pitch in "Thou knowest Lord" took a while to settle. Psalm 121 to Barry Rose's chant. Candles lit on the altar and quite a good congregation. I played Vierne Epitaphe, Thalben-Ball Elegy and Elgar Angel's farewell at the end. On way home Peter Maxwell Davies 8 songs for a mad king was on radio 3 - I still object to the mangling of "Comfort ye" just as I did 34 years ago when I heard it live. Watched Antiques roadshow, Come dancing, Stephen F

All Saints

Saturday started out fine but turned very wet so last day of book sale pretty quiet despite half-price bargains! Ended up doing newspaper cuttings as have done all preparations for going away. Liz rang to say Ford Escot had been attacked and passenger door jemmied but unable to remove radio. As it is old it's probably not worth repairing but it's a nuisance as it's useful to have as a run around. To Vespers (smoke) and Mass - new server started and Philip and Victoria were there. Fr Tim preached well. To Pitcher and Piano Kingsway for Daniel Beach's 30th birthday. Louise and Bruce did not show. Lots of singers there so "Happy birthday" was very impressive! Jonathan and Lisa and Gill. Lisa very nice - has been to South Africa and Jon is getting a Birmingham accent! Had Lincolnshire sausages. The noise got to me so we left around 10 and I drove home. Reread my 1972 diary about Holy Land and marked up our schedule - have been to about half the places!

Liz back

40 lengths 3 times this week, also went to tai chi. Been up late missing Liz. Watched "Little Dorrit" and "Beautiful People" on Thursday evening - cold over night. Liz safely back after practice on Friday - the girls came and did some work on carols and music for November.

3 days alone

Liz off to Salisbury cathedral to sing services until Friday. Monday 40 lengths. Busy day. To Beckenham Catenian meeting - bitter and good jokes. Tuesday woke late so missed swim. All banking stuff finished. Book sale going well. Left at 4 and reached Rochester by car at 6.30 but Holiday Inn hotel not reachable form one side of dual carriageway so arrived late and had to change in to evening dress before meeting. Furious. 88 miles to say a few sentences about Norwood's 1000th meeting! Good dinner - roast beef. Sat with Duncan Aitkins. Nice photos from Saturday. Left at 10. Wed snow overnight so meeting at British school of osteopathy postponed although it was clear. Left at 12.30 to go to Shirley for lift from David and Sylvia to Tunbridge Wells. Visit to Salomons theatre organ - heard 3 rolls including Lemaire playing Bach very fast. Quite fascinating. Michael Cooke a know-all a pain! Enjoyed it and lovely sunny day. To cathedral for last of organ recital series. Stephen Cleobu

3 organ recitals in an afternoon - compare and contrast!

Only 3 in choir at Coulsdon so we sang the unison Rutter setting and "We love the place O God" from A & MR. Words are good! The girls seem to have assumed that if there was no Sunday school there was no choir too! There was a powerpoing presentation about planned giving - not good timing! The church needs another £267 a week! I have now done my tax returns showing my expenses for 3 years - I cannot claim for travel from home or for another pair of trousers! To Royal Hospital Chelsea. I was early so visited the excellent National Army museum - good art gallery with some famous pictures of the Boer War! Very well presented for kids especially about Waterloo. The chapel at the Hospital is very fine and Gabriele Damiani plays well. Denis Bedard's Suite Romantique is very like Suite gothique in structure and quite delightful and amusing. Corelli Concerto grosso OP 6 No 10 and John West to finish - not quite to my taste. Met a member of the library reading group. The dining

Mass in Rochester cathedral

Put a new hook on bedroom door and got the water feature working again. Did tax forms for church. To Kent House and left car there and got train to Rochester. Tea at Cathedral tearooms and to evensong sung very well by the voluntary choir. Sopers there and Dan was playing. Lovely setting by Grayston Ives and anthems by WHitlock and Parsons. Served at Catenian province 7 Mass. Liz was mitre and I was book. Both Bishop John Hine and Bishop Michael very friendly - latter knew Mum and Dad! Good music Dan played and voluntary choir sang Rutter "For the beauty of the earth". Dan played Thalben-Ball Elegy and Boellmann Suite Gothique. Train back.

Berlioz Te deum

40 lengths. Set up the book sale myself. To the Albert Hall for 4 p.m. rehearsal. Met Liz on the way! Back to Battersea to bring up car to the hall. First half was Goldsmiths choir singing Faure Requiem - often flat and dull, tenors feeble, English choral singing at its worst. Second half Berlioz Te Deum. John Birch on the mighty organ, RPO. Not a bad audience, Brian Wright did well despite changing tempi unexpectedly. Timothy Robinson the fine tenor soloist. Liz spotted the Cardinal in the audience and spoke to him.

Interfaith and mental health

40 lengths. To park at lunchtime - it was sunny but windy. Autumn is here! To Battersea Arts centre for Wandsworth interfaith forum meeting with Mental health trust staff. Rather too many speeches but impressed by the New testament Tooting pastor (black) and the Imam from Tooting. Workshops were good - I went to the one on young people. Asked about duality of those who are leading young people in the church or faith community but parents are unaware they are in a gang. The professional said some kids literally change dress at home. How can it be that kids have lost any sense of the value of life? Met Buddhist meditation leader and lady who lost her daughter to knife crime. Gave out books on prescription leaflets. Home for fish and watched films of railway trails and old British transport films and "Beautiful people"

Paul, Islam, Rothko, Meireles, Rawles

Spoke to Ann and reinvited her to the blog. To Hinsley Room for session on Paul - 9 came. One lady berated me about interfaith group - classic case of not listening to another point of view! To St Michael's West Croydon for recital by Martyn Rawles of Lichfield cathedral - the last of this year's series. He plays very well. Michael Berkeley sonata, Vierne, Widor, Walton and Elgar's Coronation march 1911. Met Sr Mary Clement on way out - she was delighted to see me and asked after Liz. Train to London Bridge and walked to Tate Modern. Preferred the Cildo Meireles installations to the Rothkos! Back to Hinsley Room adn 12 came for interfaith group. Ebrahim Rashid from Hyderi Islamic centre in Streatham spoke well. I had to collect him from Victoria. Next meeting is January. On buses to Holborn and Conway Hall home of humanism with a Bertrand Russell room for another Berlioz piano rehearsal with Brian Wright. Home and fell asleep watching Gryff Rhys Jones in Paris!

Derek Phillips

Monday was again a busy day. Caroline is off for the week. To tai chi for part of lunch hour. I only had 15 minutes lunch on Saturday because of doing 2 weeks money! I swam 36 lengths. Tuesday only managed 6 as we were late at the pool and I had to get to Putney for the course which was dull - looking at regulations. I met Liz at Clapham Junction and we got the train to Cheam. At the station we met Mike Cornford, sometime librarian at Northcote on his way to swimming! He looks well. I played for Derek's funeral at St Christopher's just as I played in February for Bunty. There were 9 Catenian brothers present. We went to the lovely Old Rectory for sherry, tea and eats. Surprised to receive 2 bottles of fine wine from the family. Derek was a dear and we will miss him. He sang at St John'S Upper Norwood and went to St Joseph's college in the 20s. He never spoke of how he won the Military Cross in the war! We got the train to Clapham Junction and 49 bus to South Kensington

Alex Wheatle(2)

The gang and knife culture: the way out Local author Alex Wheatle refuses to shy away from asking the difficult questions and his latest novel The Dirty South is a devastating indictment of society’s failures to offer an alternative to ghetto culture. 23 people including members of the library reading group joined in discussion at Battersea Park library as part of Black History month. Problems mentioned were children not knowing their parents, the lack of fear of being found out, resentment towards parents, parents not being honest, individualism, and uncontrolled access to internet, TV and computers. Kids feel abandoned and unsupported without clear guidelines. In society there is a lack of quietness, too much stimulation and kids do not interact with others. Marriage break-up can lead to an eldest son can become a surrogate parent, lack of self-worth. Respect for elders has gone. Black women can be portrayed in hip hop culture as loose. Some suggestions made by parents: take away

Alex Wheatle

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Spent Saturday morning banking up 2 weeks money as Caroline will be off for at least another week. Could not access computer records to do C and D sheets. Alex arrived early and over coffee mentioned he had been at Buckingham Palace to receive his M.B.E. 23 people came to the session on gang and knife crime and there were lots of useful comments so I will write more on this. To vespers and Mass - Fr Archer and Philip and Victoria were serving. Sunday we sang Bernadette Farrell's "Christ be our light" and Nicholson in C. At evensong we had 4 in choir but managed Rutter's "I will sing with the spirit" well. Congregation joined in chanted canticles. Psalm 142 to Blow chant - very penitential. Watched Antiques roadshow but dropped off and woke to see Stephen Fry in America.

Friday and Dulwich college

Caroline rang in some distress - she will be off for a week and her mother has gone into hospital. Gillian has been great. Thursday I missed train at Selhurst at 6.48 but still did 30 lengths. Staff meeting still held despite Leo and Ryan not turning up! I was furious that they did not contact me. I left at 4 and after dinner, Liz and I went to the Old Library at Dulwich college for an organ recital by Norman Harper in aid of the new organ at All Saints West Dulwich. He plays very well and we knew Betty, Chris, Christian, Marilyn Harper, etc. The organ was given by Dr Thwaites (it was made by Jennings) and the donor insists that Bach's Passacaglia be played. the weakest item was "The new commonwealth" by Vaughan Williams. The Messiaen did not work well and I don't like it any way. There was some Mozart and Bonnet and John Reading's manuscript. Moel Rawsthrorne's Hornpipe Humoresque is good fun. Had a glass of wine and met a friend of Tom Creagh-Fuller's, N

Facebook | Your Photos - Natal

Facebook | Your Photos - Natal

John and Yolande Fulton

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Spoke to Ann on Skype. I was up early so posted more South African photos on face book. To Hinsley Room. 9 came for 3rd group meeting on St Paul including Andrew and Hanna. Was asked about Opus Dei! To Grosvenor hotel foyer at Victoria to meet John and Yolande and escort them to Selhurst. Liz cooked a lovely lunch - mint and courgette soup, cauliflower cheese and Lancashire hotpot, autumn fruit pudding. We had a great chat including an interesting discussion about the killing of children by police in Soweto and the relationship with militant Islam. John tagged some reunion photos for me. It was lovely to see them both and they recommended a good place to stay in New York, Leo house and a couple of books to read. They will soon return to Vancouver. Watched Gryff Rhys Jones exploring London and recordings of Vaughan Williams (Symphony No 9 and Serenade to music with the scores) and Sibelius 2 at the proms, also Songs of Praise and Last choir standing.

School reunion photos

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The chapel, college tower, Rob Baillie, Graham Saunders, Ray Lecolle-Brown, Rob Stewart, Richard Peregrine

Monday the 13th

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40 lengths. Humphrey sent a message to say he and the kids would be catching an earlier train as he has to be in the office at 9a.m. I have discovered a quicker and easier way which is to take the car to park opposite Selhurst station and get the early train to Thornton Heath so I am at the pool early. On arrival at work set up as usual. I missed tai chi and was unable to go out at lunch time. Arrived home exhausted. Liz went to chorus AGM and Edward Caswell was there full of new ideas. We shall see! The council is much changed. Watched University challenge and Valentine Warner on cookery. I have finished the biography of Snowdon. An extraordinary man with a great care for the disabled and a lively sex drive. 2 mistresses at 70 and in a wheelchair! He and Princess Margaret were still sleeping together when the divorce was going through! Tuesday 40 lengths. Went into work to set up and headed to Putney for health and safety course. I chaired the meeting of the course and it went well.