The organist librarian

Woke early. Mass. Kelsey Park and sketching birds. To Bromley PC to hear William Fox from St Paul's cathedral play Whitlock, Ad Wammes, Elgar, Mozart, Byrd and Bach. An interesting recital.Dennis brought Henry down and train to Shepherd's Bush. Nice tea and waffle at Le Pain and great to see Bruce, Emma and one daughter and boyfriend. The boys liked the Chester Zoo guidebook and soon started drawing! Home to watch Professional bakers and Walks of life featuring Quakers and Iron bridge. 

Woke early. Bruce left at 5 a.m. It was lovely to see him. 2 dilemmas have been resolved. At church Margaret spoke about the incident last Sunday evening. She was the one who commented that we did not want people like A in our church! I pointed out that the doors were wide open and we had to welcome everybody whatever their views. Also that I could not control the behaviour of people joining the choir. I agree that A did have a go at Jerry but I don't think she was rude. Annoyed at the cleaner's behaviour and the lack of publicity for evensong but not rude. Her timing was not great! Any way I complimented Jerry on his sermon on the vineyard and welcome and he commented on Facebook about it too. I played well too after the boost from Belmont. I now have a speaker for Oct 18th to replace Sheikh Ramzy.  Qaisra Khan has kindly agreed to come and speak on  mental health and spirtuality/faith. "How our faith can contribute to our wellbeing" This will be on  Wednesday Octo...

To Natural History museum for lunch with Bruce and Emma. She has 3 children and is nice. Liz to Acton. I went to Swanley for PEG and Tony had a lot to say. Watched Fake or Fortune on Tom Roberts and Gauguin.

Interesting webinar about Africa and the internet, Joined kabissa.org. Watched Masterchef and programme on cakes. Notes for Christmas letter. Bruce and EJ arrived from funeral in Manchester. 

Swam 20. To the Goughs and Lawrence gave me some oils which belinged to his father - probably poisonous. Practised Faure for the funeral and went through psalm with Liz. To Clapham Picturehouse to see Mr Turner -  a lovely film but not riotous entertainment as The Times critic claimed. Beautiful scenery and some touching moments. To Acton and watched Masterchef professionals. Wednesday Sean enjoyed running about at Tamar's but he did join in with some things. Picked up Liz and watched Come dine with me. To Landsdowne club for debate "The poor are getting poorer". 59% at start supported the motion which dropped to 51% while 16% against became 30% so some people were persuaded by statistics and anecdotes from 2 very out of touch men, I spoke about child poverty and a teacher supported me. Bruce arrived while we were catching up on "The Apprentice". Josie at Louise and Tom's wedding.

Took Liz to King's A & E and sat there for 3 hours. I drove home and she came back later on the bus having been told to take imodium. Woke in time to get to St John's for 10 a.m. The West Indian funeral was supposed to start at 10.30 and finally kicked off after 11. There were numerous eulogies and songs some of them very tearful. We sang Wood, Thou knowest Lord and the Kontakion and finally got home at 12.45 but we did get paid! Hoovered and cleaned - Bruce and EJ have arrived and gone to the theatre so not seen them yet. Watched Mastermind, Question of Sport. Saturday miserable day. EJ and Bruce went for a run. I went up early to do shopping. Fr Michael Q at Mass so we lit 4th candle on wreath. Drove home. 

Wednesday swam 20. To Balham library to return scores and pick up 2 more Britten scores. Posted invites to widows for clergy supper.  Met family at Watermans and Ciaran went to the later session. To Kew to shop. Ciaran went to swimming and Bruce arrived looking well. We had a lovely Thai curry and Beaujolais and seriously chocolate tart. Liz and Bruce came home and I stayed the night so I could babysit Sean while Louise took Ciaran for his first session at St Vincent's which went very well. To Heythrop for conference on ecumenism and interfaith and the Eastern churches - interesting. Donations to library and book returned to Michael, Good to see Rocco and Andrew and met some people. To meditiatio and sat in the garden and did crossword. Br Patrick Moore spoke on Rolle, Hilton and Julian - very good. 

Went to visit Josie after lunch and she is well and remembering better. Then to Dennis's and they walked home. Liz went to the Prom and Ann, Paul and Dennis went to Spamalot. I went to an excellent lecture on Meister Eckhart by Anthony Finnerty at Meditatio - there were more there and he clearly liked my question about No thing and God. Friday swam 20 despite the pool being busy. Took Ann shopping and got mdf piece for mosaics. Took Paul to get map copied and laminated in West Norwood and had a drink and carrot cake. Louise arrived with the boys so we had lunch and Ciarán had stories and played in the garden. Claire came and took family photos. Bruce arrived from Jersey in the morning and looks well. Good to see him. We all went to Dennis's as Louise was staying the night there with the boys. Fish and chips, ginger beer and champagne! Home to Baileys on ice. Dennis off to Ireland in the morning - good to see him smile after the disappointment of not getting the transfer South....

Bruce before and at work!

Woke at 4.30 feeling thirsty and a bit  of a headache probably from the wine last night. Got up and did emails and posted Face book pictures. Finished draft of dialogue essay and sent it to Michael Barnes - not happy with the ending at all. I seem to have run out of steam with it. Back to bed and sorted magazines. Here is Bruce making wooden beds for the back garden!

Wednesday to Westminster central hall for CAFOD IF campaign about nutrition and transparency.Timothy Radcliffe addressed the 200 plus religious. we sang a tricky Farrell Jubilee song accompanied by Martin Poulson. Sat next to Bishop Pat and Fr Joe Brown from Battersea. Rosemary was there and met sisters from Battersea, Cheam and Richmond. David Standley and I met Matthew Steve Reed's assistant and we was very supportive. Ed Milliband spoke in Westminster Hall and was most impressive. Visited the central lobby and looked at the plaques on the floor of the hall - nothing for the Pope's visit as yet! Cream tea at the cafe there and then to Interfaith group. Only 3 came as the newsletter had date wrong (again!) and we went through cathedral works manager Neil Fairbairn's responses to our questions. Liz was upset over Heythrop saying her work went in late which it didn't -it was the Power point again. She helped Bruce bring his stuff down here. I watched Come dine with me a...

Louise, Liz and Ciaran set off for Gatwick. Dennis took me to St Michael's where there was a congregation of 85 it being the anniversary of death and a lunch and annual meeting after service. Bruce and EmmaJane EJ from Jersey arrived safely and we had a lovely lunch of pork and cheesecake. They went off sightseeing in London and Dennis set off for Rochdale. He agreed to them staying at Glyn Close for a short time. The skis are heavy and are being stored here for the moment! Watched Come dine with me, Antiques roadshow and The village.

Friday had a really nice time with Louise picking up Bruce and his packing so he could stay overnight. Ciarán had his track set up and wanted it to stay up and could he stay the night? Seán rolled over and is very strong. The lounge already looked odd with the carpet rolled up! Claire came down in the evening and brought biscuits and sweets - lovely to see her. Woke a few times in the night and up at 515 a.m. Miserable cold wet day. Got to airport in good time 6.44 and he went through with Air Transat no problem. I was home by 8 and Liz had met a couple at Giraffe whose sone had been to Fernie and they had stayed there - said it's fantastic and their second son has just gone. We will miss Bruce. He is back in April and goes to Sydney in May and then Queenstown hopefully until October.

Saturday woke in the night and went back to sleep after breakfast! Finished reading Music and liturgy - good article on Crucifixions by Helen. Listened to Debussy cello sonata and Brahms trio 3 from the proms with scores. Chat to Bruce who is moving to Glyn Close next week.

At Coulsdon we sang O taste and see by Vaughan Williams an exquisite miniature written for the Queen's coronation in 1953. Hymns included "O thou who at thy Eucharist didst pray" "I come with joy" and "The God of Abram praise" and I played "Von himmel hoch" by Pachelbel. Home for a quick lunch and to British Museum for the community preview of Hajj exhibition - fascinating and 5 of the group came. Met Louise and Bruce for tea which was a nice surprise. Lovely dinner at Rosemary and Lynn's/

Swam 30. The mosaic of the Maltese cross needed more grout and is complete - looks great. Started on next project. |Full class at tai chi! Cannot find hearing aids - definitely put them in my pocket this morning! Bruce came and put up the new IKEA storage unit in the back bedroom with sliding doors - looks great and the chest of drawers has been smashed up as nobody claimed it on freecycle.

Lots of nice cards and a lovely book from Liz of icons of Jesus introduced by Wendy Beckett. To Crystal Palace park to meet Calix and Boyan. Ciarán enjoyed the scooter and the helter skelter slide in glorious sunshine. Had coffee and cake and then back up to the zoo (it was not open earlier). Not much to see but saw ponies, alpacas, goats, rabbits and guinea pig. Had an ice cream. Home for a short rest. New nursery rhyme book came and I was playing them when Bruce arrived which was a lovely surprise. Ciarán unusually not keen to keen to be bathed after water play. He watched Night garden and eventually went off to sleep. Bruce took me to choir and got chocolate cake and Ferrero rocher. 14 came to White Hart Chipstead and it was delightful. More funny cards incuding hilarious one from Vickie. Bob and Jenny brought Liz. Home at 11.30 and David babysat. A great birthday!

Bruce announced that he was resigning from Evans cycles and travelling round the world for 3 years. Great concern but we will see him on Wednesday. Sounds like a good idea but in the present climate who knows what will happen. Swam 22 back better for it.

Saturday had a lie-in as I was awake in the night again. Dennis came late last night and we went up to Glyn Close. The big surprise was that Susan Parsons dropped in up from Somerset so we had news of all the family. She used to direct the Addiscombe choirs. Then to see Louise. Turned out she had gone to Jo's not knowing Bruce was coming! We had a nice pub lunch at the Cricketers Richmond Green (cricket being played). I had Abbot ale pie and ale. Dennis bought a garden fork. We met Bruce, Louise and Ciarán briefly at Westfield and then went to Mass. Fr Alexander was on. Watched Salisbury cathedral Easter Day broadcast - excellent sermon by the Dean Revd June Osborne and Mozart Coronation Mass. Sunday I played Alan Gray on Parry's "O may we soon renew that song" Douglas Guest on "St Fulbert" and Crown Imperial which was much appreciated. Folk liked the reading and sermon at the wedding and the cartwheeling verger! Watched some of beatification of John Paul I...

Bruce got away OK and we enjoyed Rolf Harris painting the Dream (MND) and the Goodies! Alos a superb programme on polar bears. Finished watching Liverpool Christmas. House seems very quiet. Great news from Cllr Bashford - looks like free swimming for pensioners may stay!