Except of course that ones Christmas puddings should have been made weeks ago, to allow time to mature. (So I understand - my Mum makes enough for the whole family, so I don't make my own.)

I have an ancient pair of sheepskin mittens which are perfect for cycling (easy to slip on and off when needed). I must have had them nearly 40 years as I'm sure I was still at school when I got them. And yes, I dug them out this morning.

I really like your phrase 'if you are hoping for an out-of-the-ordinary result, you will need to give it some 'out-of-the-ordinary effort'. It's a great reality check without closing the door on possibility.

Good for you. We need more people like you.

I feel that it's a continuum, and different students will switch to substitution at different points. They all need both methods for the extremes, but then practice and discussion will allow each student to find where *they* need to draw the line.

And of those who do, how many employees are paid by the hour? (The organist won't be.) How many actually have the time to complete the accreditation procedure? How many think this is meaningful & therefore good use of time when they have 1 or maybe 2 very part-time employees?

I feel invested in this! I doubt I had enough time with him to make much difference but here's hoping.

We took our tiny choir to Waterperry for Evensong with Remembrance. Doubled their congregation. They really appreciated our visit, which was lovely. The girls did brilliantly too, and the vicar noted the progress since we last sang there.

In any case, if it does happen, it almost certainly won't affect almost everyone. These tax raids never do.

Ha ha! Just wait till @quiresandplaces.com starts posting even more Cursed Carols. My Assistant DoM & I have been giggling helplessly at the memory of some of them all year. (Having sung several while they were helping me decorate my Christmas tree.)

SAGA's standard insurance is so cheap you'd be daft not to pay. And if you're not eligible for it, your chances of needing insurance will, by definition, be much higher. So bite the bullet and pay the extra.

We had to pay a *lot* to get cover for the Beloved for our cruise next year but it would have been daft not to.

Our garage phones a good month before it runs out to book us in. I guess it's good for their business but it's also fantastic customer service!

We did All Saints this morning and All Souls late afternoon. I got to sing For All the Saints twice this year as I managed to get it into the LLM Service at the cathedral yesterday. (I don't make the decisions on the music but they do seem to like my carefully balanced suggestions!)

Me too, she I've literally just sung it in the cathedral.

Interesting balance: 6 ladies (including me conducting and singing) and 9 men. But they did brilliantly. Thank you to 4 friends + the organ scholar whose expert support helped us secure all 6 parts, but well done the LLMs.

The purple was all I had left. But I did them 'in order' today, and quickly for once.