The organist librarian

To mosaic and Linda is back after her op. At St Michael Cornhill I was delighted that Benjamin Newlove played a British programme. We were confused that the Harwood and Stanford were reversed! To eye test and current glasses are good for 2 years. Watching Judy Dench in Borneo. Liz went to maths and I went to Bromley circle meeting.

Up early for Van Gogh and Britain at the Tate. Some lovely paintings they are all about himself and discoveries like Christopher Wood. Members special opening 8 to 10 Saturdays a wonderful idea! Some rooms I had to myself! The queue outside Tate Britain at 10 horrendous. So glad I was there at 8. Abandoned Cadogan square garden idea as wet. To St John East Dulwich for Andrew Chadney's recital. Some out of tune stops. Buxtehude and Percy Fletcher. Nice chat to John Webber. Bridge adagio too slow and no flow. Sitting in the hospice with John East and listening to radio 3, I spoke to John about that superb passage at the beginning of part 2 of Gerontius illustrating the sleep of the soul. "I went to sleep and now I am awake. It is the voices who say the Profiscere hither the echoes come. Go forth upon thy journey Christian soul." As Alan Rees said "This is a loving God welcoming us home". Who can imagine the music in heaven? John Bell said all the strange harmonie...

To Mass then took Henry to Kelsey Park. He loved it! Pub lunch with Beckenham Catenians. Quiet time at St John's. Liz went to servers council. To Peter Sanders at Petts Wood for an evening of recordings made by Chris Town. An interesting mix including carols by Norman and Christian Strover, Bromley orchestras and 2 of my pet hates harpsichord and Messiaen! Good audience. I took popcorn. 

To Mass at Our Lady of the Annunciation Addiscombe and what a pleasure to have Fr Dennis celebrating! Coffee with Tom Tannion and he is taking the public speaking trophy to Provincial Council meeting tomorrow. To Southwark cathedral to hear part of Graham Thorpe's recital (Chuckerbutty played at the cathedral in the 20s!) and then to SPIDIR committee at Trinity House. I avoided becoming secretary and am to organise a course of refresher days in autumn, winter 2019. Watched Apprentice and Great British bake off also Simon Reeve on the Med. 

Swam,  Mass Fr Sunith did it all and read writhe as rith! Penge library for 3 scores from Bromley and bought new washing up bowl at Poundland. To art and progress on holocaust painting. Lunch and then to Balham to return scores, recycle batteries and pick up ordered buttons at Waitrose. A good hour with Clare. Still hot and no rain. Everyone very excited about Clare and Mick getting married and Louise and family going to Sydney for Christmas. A delightful programme by Richard Hills at St John Upper Norwood with light and serious well-mixed.

Sick at breakfast but recovered to do packing. My plan of putting one carryon case into the big one worked well and we were not overwight. Francisco took us to the airport and helped with checkin. Saw doctor when we left hotel and he reminded us to email. On planes Boychoir, Habemus Papam, Max, Required to be normal, Soile Isokoski singing Mozart, Bridge and Franz Reisenstein piano sonatas. Coco before Chanel. 11 hours Quito to Madrid 2 to London 1 hour Guayaqonquil to Quito Wheelchairs throughout - there was farce at Madrid when we went in a lift vehicle but all had to walk to the building to get chairs where there was discussion about who was going where! It was a very long trek to the London plane. At Heathrow 5 we went in the buggy and then were dumped in the luggage hall. After 20 minutes we walked the last bit, met the cab driver and commandeered a chair for the bit to the car park. Cost £60 because of the delay and the parking fee. Home at 8.45. Thursday took Liz to see Dr Ojo...

Swam 21. To art and only 4 there - did blue on picture and need to buy cerulean and lemon yellow which Norma lent me. Our pictures come down at the library tomorrow. To the tip and pait into landfill but at least lamp will be recycled. To B and Q and bought wood. 5 assistants all said try this aisle or that only one actually went to look and none tried their computers for clearseal. I ordered it from Amazon. Pizza for lunch. Preprom was 3 Peter Maxwell Davies chamber works and he was interviewed. Everyone likes him but find the music odd. Saw Michael Barnes briefly - rain coming on. BBC Phil Finlandia, Maxwell Davies Symphony no. 5 (shades of Shostakovich?) Bridge Oration and Sibelius 2. Cello encore Hindemith sonata. Spoilt by man next to me eating a roll and coughing without any attempt at muffling it. He followed the score on laptop - furious with him. Home by 11 and Liz watching Bake off.

Took Sean to music and he definitely said Bells and Shaker. Picked up the Alexanders and we had lunch at Acton park café which was nice. I took them back to the 72 bus to go to Roehampton and went to Hisley room. 13 came to hear Imam Hasim Afiz the first Imam to HM armed forces. He was excellent. My phone was left in Louise's car and Liz did not bring it home. To Robert Quinney's recital which was exhausting and I slept twice. McCabe and Giles Swayne was interesting but the Bridge was a relief. Fr Aidan Rossiter was there.

Good recital at Holy Trinity Sloane Square by Mylene Shoreman who is a GP. Bridge, Bach, Vierne - the organ sounds great and there were 40 there. Chatted to tenor and organist from Acton member of SSG and I cannot remember his name! Came home for a meal. Went to an extraordinary event at Initiatives for change on mindfulness and its implications for mental health in business and education. Got 2 buses to Acton because of tube strike. Wednesday Liz set off for Hexham on first class train with wine! I took Seán to Acton Parish church playgroup - not many there. Had a look in the church and there is a large Walker organ. Picked up Ciaran and we went to Gunnersbury. Lovely and sunny and we had lunch and ice creams. Helen and Yap came along with the girls so I was able to have a look round Gunnersbury museum which is interesting. Boys fell asleep in the car. Evensong from St John's Cambridge. To Philippe Lefevre from Notre Dame Paris playing at the cathedral - Franck and Vierne 2 with...

Saturday watched the consistory ceremony direct from St Peter's. Great to see our choir singing with the Sistine choir and they sang Stanford Beati on their own quite beautifully. Cardinal Vincent got his red hat put on the wrong way round! The  Pope seemed rather low key and quiet. The English commentary was unimpressive but there was some good brass. To Hampton Court on bus, tram and train for visit to the organ which has been well done by Harrisons. Carl played some Haydn and Bridge and I was third on and played Walton Richard III. Dorio played badly. I went looking for tea and enjoyed the exhibition on Henry VIII's early life. Got tea at the station. Fr Michael Q at vespers and Mass - half the clergy are in Rome! Watched programme on Israel and One born every minute. Liz was furious about Rebecca and Jess serving in Rome at the Mass at Sopra Minerva but I say it's up to Paul.

Long chat to Ann - have not spoken for some time! To Bromley Parish church. Gary still not well - he has been in hospital but is home. Thomas Corns played a delightful programme - Mendelssohn, Bach, Byrd, Bridge, Whitlock and Durufle. Ken, Michael, Brian and Christopher were there. Dropped into Aldi to buy tulips, chocolate muffins and eggs. Bach marathon on radio 3 from Royal Albert Hall and TV programme about JSB. Reading Buddhist Christianity and Eckhart. Good April Fool's jokes about Pope, SSPX and King's to wear green! A very British wedding featuring Sikh and Ukranian ceremonies.

Monday to mosaic and border now done. Ta'i chi until 1 p.m. only 2 of us there! I missed the train to Strawberry Hill as they changed the platform and I was on my Blackberry. Result I was late as I went on the other line via Teddington. The seminar was most interesting and we learnt about Elizabeth of the Trinity and Eckhart - no wonder Buddhists like him so much! Gemma Simmonds did a good intro covering the territory although she seems a bit formidable. Chatted to several people. Sadly the St Mary's chapel appeared to be closed. Home by 7.30 and watched University challenge and Masterchef . Liz went with Bruce to Birmingham to paint the flat prior to selling. Tuesday slept OK and swam 28 then straight to Currys and changed Humax - waited 25 minutes as only one person on customer services and a queue! No more lines on the screen. To Bromley PC for James Orford's excellent recital. The Wedge again, Vierne, Bridge Adagio (very nice) Durufle. Could have done without Les Berg...

Wednesday to Acton Park with Ciarán playing with ball and on his trike. Later he got his new scooter and he now has super wooden track and accessories. I went to spirituality day with Sarah Richards on gentleness. She spoke of a 80 year old nun greeting here at Eden Hall near Edenbridge with gentle firmness and warmth and it reminded me of the greeting received at monasteries and how that initial greeting makes the retreat. She also gave us lovely pictures of the Virgin Mary. I had prawn salad and fruit for lunch and got calendars at Church House bookshop for Ann and a funny one for us. Gentle rain! To meeting with Roger Wright about the Proms - they rather fobbed off the issue of the 20 minute rule whereby season ticket holders arriving late end up at the end of the day queue and sometimes do not get in. Charles raised it and Eugenie commented on restlessness durign modern works. Comments on staff and lack of fountain were made. More training is clearly needed! BBC orchestra brass we...

Rained a bit. To Alresford station Watercress Line and on train to Ropley at 9.50. Ciarán at first startled by steam and whistles but gradually got happier. He loved the miniature railway and Sam arrived and we went on a diesel service to Alton where we had tea - we had had an enormous breakfast! Back to Ropley to go on Thomas's train, Duck and Diesel and have candy floss and the shop. At Alresford toys to play with and another nice shop. A great day out and everything had been thought of including the Fat controller! Easy drive home and cleaned and assembled the Fisher Price garden house for Ciarán - rood fits in middle bout not onto the side walls so will see how it goes! Listened to Prom on radio - Bridge overture Rebus, Brahms violin concerto arranged for piano - some of it worked well.

Tuesday swam 24 and back home as arial man supposed to be coming. That was postponed because of the problems from the civil unrest. A picture is emerging of trouble all over the capital and the country. Cleaned shelves in lounge and dining room and completed ironing. Liz's wrist healing well. Decided to go to the Prom any way as loads of police now on our streets. Where were they when Reeves corner burnt down? Protecting the Whitgift centre. Frank Bridge Enter Spring with score, Blow out, you bugles with Ben Johnson tenor. The Simon Holt new work was awful. Thomas Trotter played Dupre Cortege and Litanie and Saint-Saens 3 superbly (score for latter). The pre-Prom talk with Anthony Payne and Kate Kennedy about Bridge was fascinating. I asked a question about the power of publishers pre-war to prevent music being published - they were interested in sales then not now. Christopher Town, Martin Ball and John East there. Saw Francis Herbert the previous night. Eleanor also there. A love...

A glorious day and back to Coulsdon after a 2 week gap. I was delighted that the congregation sang the Inwood settings so well. I played "It is enough" and "Lift thine eyes" from Mendelssohn's Elijah as that fitted the first reading. I also played "Communion on the tune "Irish" by Basil Harwood marking his centenary and 2 Adagios by Frank Bridge, Britten's teacher. Joan Bakewell was on Desert Island discs.

To Vaughan House for a meeting organised by Westminster diocese. Fr Michael Heher, the vicar general of Orange county California reflected on the priesthood and how the laity can help. He was over to lead a retreat at Allen Hall. There was much to think about and he gave us a useful handout. It is a lonely and hard life - he said it is not a sprint to the next event but a marathon. There were lots of comments including a request for deacons. I chatted to a lady from Harrow. It seems to me that priests need to hand over the plant to the laity and meetings need to include the gospel. We need to address the desire for spirituality. As Fr Michael said we are to follow Christ, love God and love people. What the priest needs to hear is that we are doing that. The meeting finished early so I got my pasta chicken salad and carrot cake from Marks (I forgot to take a picnic!)and went to Tate Britain where I watched a 1984 film by Derek Jarman "Imagining October" which was rather intere...