Saturday night I packed so all would be ready in the morning for a quick breakfast and the 45 minute drive to Llanrug, and my first bilingual sermon, because the congregation includes both English speakers (the majority) and Welsh speakers. I arrived in good time for the 9:30 service, but the Vicar, Robert Townsend, was late because he had had an 8 o'clock service (without sermon) in another small village, Cwm-y-Glo. Then, right after the 9:30 service off to St. Padarn's in Llanberis for the 11 o'clock service, for which we were 10 minutes late, such are the distances between those two churches. Another bilingual sermon, this time with the Welsh-speakers in the majority. Then a wonderful dinner at the Rheithordy (Rectory; literally, Rector's House [Rheithor + tŷ]) with Robert, his wife Cath, daughter Charis and son-in-law Marc, and daughter Gwen, who makes pottery seals that can whistle!
(Many if not most Church in Wales and Church of England clergy have at least three or four churches, and sometimes several others beside, spread out over long distances in rural areas with narrow, sometimes single lane, roads.)
Then to a Cash Point in Llanberis so I could pay the B&B; I'd forgotten from past stays that they require cash. That was on its way to my next stop anyway, but it put me behind a bit more to reach Ian and Frankie Marsh's house, over 3 hours away, in the Cotswolds of England. By the time I crawled through some bad congestion, I arrived well after 7 pm. But it was great to see them again, and each of them had had evening meetings, so we were all hungry for Frankie's delicious dinner, and a good glass of wine to relax us.
But it was too long a day even to comtemplate unloading my gliniadur (laptop; the Welsh word combines the word for knee [glin] and the word for computer [cyfrifiadur]).
This morning I left just after 9 am, after taking a picture (yet to come!) of Franke and Ian. Then I drove into the heart of London (Westminster) to St. Matthew's, which is a five minute walk to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and, of interest to Altar Guild members, J. Wippell & Company Limited. (For a history of this liturgical vestment firm, click here.)
I dropped off my luggage (which entailed paying an £8 congestion fee for driving in the heart of London), and drove to Heathrow to turn in my rental car after 25 days of teamwork. Then an express train to Paddington, and a long long walk back to St. Matthew's House.
(The GPS doesn't function quite so well when programmed for walking, so add another mile to what the map indicates.)
The first thing I did after being shown to my little third floor room (with two bathrooms and a shower room across the hall; and a kitchen, dining room, and living room on the second floor; and a Lady Chapel on the first floor, all to serve retreatants), was to ask for the wireless code so I could resume a daily post, of which this is the downpayment (as I write this, Big Ben is tolling 11 o'clock, just blocks away).
So tomorrow, back to picture posts, which have now supplanted picture postcards, and back to my evening photographic stroll in Carmarthen on Thursday, June 11!
Dw i wedi blino! (I am tired!)
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