Dispelling the gloom

I'm aware I have overtones of an Advent hymn in this title, but today I'm referring to the candle among the flowers beside the altar in church today - one of our talented flower people's creation echoing Candlemas and providing me with a beautiful subject for today's only photo. As the rain bashed down outside, we sang some great hymns - including new and very powerful words to the Londonderry Air ("Oh Danny boy ..."). That was our final hymn - it's quite a range, from the low start to the climax in the penultimate line. (Go on - sing it through and remind yourself). Himself and I duetted in a wee Taize piece in French and English during communion, and for once I got to read, because it was Di's turn and she was in Edinburgh. The first reading, from Isaiah, seemed terribly apt in its dismissal of the powerful rulers of the earth: I got quite carried away!

We stayed for quite a while talking - I think it's great the way people gather at the back of the church for coffee and talk nineteen to the dozen as the rain batters down outside, even if it meant Himself having to perform intricate manoeuvres to disentangle our car from the car park when we did eventually leave because the owner of the car parked behind us was still blethering ...

And that was it - our sole outing for a day that grew steadily more horrid as the wind began to howl in the chimney and threatened to blow the back door off when I cautiously opened it to dispel the smoke from the grill as I cooked dinner. I hesitate to say this, but I spent quite some time chopping the rest of the marmalade oranges and putting them to soak in an extremely déjà vu moment (or more than an hour). I chopped and tidied up and put a  loaf in the machine in a great burst of domesticity, helped by the music of Leonard Cohen's penultimate album streamed over our big speakers while I sang along (Himself being safely in the sitting room with the piano).

Before dinner we had a phone call from #1 son, who had had a day of physio and post-op exertion, and afterwards an unexpected FaceTime from #2 son in New York, where he took us exploring into a spectacular church and then felt guilty because he couldn't really engage in conversation with someone who addressed him and could have been the priest ... I only hope he found his hotel again; he told us he had to stop chatting so's to look at Google Maps.

And that was that. I did a little Pilates before dinner to make up for not having a walk - I'm up to a count of 50 on an elbow plank now. I hope I've still got some oomph for class tomorrow!