I began the weekend with pain in the place where a front tooth once glistened for all the world to see. I now appreciate that teeth do more than just assist eating. The absence of one tooth has caused me a dilemma in my choice of hymns. After the first hymn on the weekend I realise how unthinking I had been. the consonant ‘f’ is particularly tricky as the air just rushes through the gap and you sound a but like Jonathan Woss. The first hymn at all seven Masses was FForty days and FForty nights (he was FFasting in the wild, FForty days and FForty nights …. and undefiled) Hmmm!!!

I’d got into work early on Saturday morning partly to take my mind of the pain and also to get some preparation for my absence in UK done. Further there was a funeral to consider in Higgins Hall.

All went well on Saturday and pretty soon I was back in church for the Sunday marathon. In fact I had to leave the 4th Mass towards the end as I was passing out through pain and hunger. I dashed back for a sandwich and went to the beach for a couple of hours before returning for the last Mass of the day. Fr Rock was presiding and he had a special gift for the young violinist Elizabeth. As a Franciscan he had found a picture of the saint with two sticks imitating a violinist … apparently the origin of the phrase ‘fiddlesticks’.

Monday was a day off and I intended to take it! I had done the necessary domestic stuff by 11am and since it had turned out to be sunny I headed for the beach again. The water was so calm today and the herons put on a great display.

Today I was back in work and grateful for the fact that the work on the air-conditioning in the church had been completed and we were able to move the sound equipment back to the church in time for the afternoon’s school rehearsal for Mass tomorrow. I spent most of the day preparing materials for the substitute musicians who would cover for me over the weekend. It was great to receive a call from one of the choir offering to take me to the airport on Thursday. So very thoughtful. I also cooked Inderjit Bhogal’s recipe for daal much to the delight of a couple of colleagues!

Tomorrow will be a full on day starting with school mass and ending with a 3-hour Lenten gathering prior to choir practice.