Kia Orana!

It’s amazing what can be fitted into a morning before 10am. I got up a bit earlier than normal for the new boiler and sundry other bits and pieces of plumbing kit to be delivered. I’m pleased to say that it arrived just after 8.30am, and included various 30m long pipes which are now a potential trip hazard on the hall floor.

After the delivery chap had left, I did a quick time calculation and put some things in the washing machine. While the laundry was going round, I did my make-up, then set up the rotary washing line in readiness. During the final spin cycle, I donned scarf and coat and put my handbag by the front door. As soon as the washing machine stopped, I pegged everything on the line in double quick time, locked the back door, picked up my handbag and raced out of the front door into the car at 9.53am. I reached the Roman Catholic church in Tiptree at 9.56am, just in time to take part in the ecumenical World Day of Prayer. This year it was put together by women living on the Cook Islands, and we learnt that Kia orana, a Māori phrase used as a greeting by Cook Islanders, means “May you live long and may you live well. May you shine like the sun. May you dance with the waves “. We heard about the lives of three different women from the Cook Islands, and sang a theme song that had been specially written for this service of prayer, which has been held today all around the world. In these troubling times, when the old world order is being upended by powerful political figures, praying - if you have a faith - is really all that ordinary people like us can do, who otherwise feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of it all.

Having had tea, coffee and cake at the RC church, we set off for home. I spent the afternoon catching up on admin. I’ve taken over organising the brass memorial plaques which go on the wall in the churchyard where ashes are interred, and at the moment there are four applications at different stages of the checking, ordering and engraving process. As I’m doing this for people who’ve recently lost loved ones it needs a sensitive and empathetic touch, and I feel privileged to be able to help our local community in this small way.

I’ve now had what I hope will be the last shower at my friends’ house and eaten supper. Let’s hope that by this time tomorrow I will have a lovely warm home and hot water on tap for the first time in a fortnight.