Am I the only person who thought that 'Royal Mail tracked 48' meant it would be delivered within 48 hours (ie 2 days)? I mean, I expect to make allowances for weekends and bank holidays, but what exactly does the 48 mean if it doesn't mean delivery within 2 days?

Connections Puzzle #1060 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 This was fun today.

Today the Beloved actively helped me cook the dinner, successfully trimming & cutting a pile of green beans. Hallelujah.

Church Choir for busy children! Wheatley, Oxford: Family Choral Evensong term-time Sundays, no weekday rehearsal. From 3.30pm: rehearsal, RSCM Voice for Life training, games & refreshments, service 5.30, end 6.15 Taster Day Sun 3rd May. Book a place for your child now! www.stmaryswheatley.org/music

Very excited that our cello & piano recital is less than a month away. Fantastic programme, brilliant cellist, cake. What more could you want? Mendelssohn's 2nd cello sonata is worth travelling some distance for (rarely performed). 9th May, 4pm, Wheatley, Oxford.

Finally went to look at wheelchairs: ordered one which is about *half* the weight of the current (already lighter than the standard NHS issue). Quite expensive, but nothing like running a 2nd car, which of course we no longer do. Looking forward to not risking putting my back out when we go out. 1/2

The Beloved poured his own tea and paid using his own card. 'I'm all grown up'! Seriously though, this is all progress. And he walked all the way from the car to the restaurant.

OK #cofepeeps. The vicar is ill. We probably won't have clergy for the 6am Vigil Service. How do I, as LLM, manage this? What do I do after the 4 OT readings and psalms? Can I as a lay person do all the Paschal Candle stuff? It appears that we are doing 'pattern A' Vigil... Help!

squareword.org 1522: 5 guesses 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 <6:🟩 <11:🟨 <16:🟧 16+:🟥 #squareword #squareword1522 Only the second time I've done this.

I think 3 constitutes a charm of goldfinches in the garden?

Village life: playing accordion for the revival of the Morris Dancing Side.

Sunday's anthem completed: a setting of George Herbert's 'Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life'. For SAT as that is what we will have: there's a shortage of Basses in Wheatley. Perhaps one day I'll manage to write without leaving it quite so close to the deadline.

Come and sing some fantastic Passiontide music on Palm Sunday. Music includes Ireland 'Many waters' and Chilcott 'There is a green hill'. Full music list is on the website here: www.stmaryswheatley.org/music Please let me know if you'd like to sing - basses especially welcome!

Tomorrow evening's all-age talk finally committed to paper. It's the Armour of God, so I shall get a chorister dressing up, with the focus being on remembering the 6 items & what they represent. A certain amount of improvisation involving a frying pan lid & a cycle helmet: still looking for a sword.

We have the builders in. 3rd week of a 2 week job. No kitchen. The trouble with eating out is that I can't get on with my knitting while waiting for the Beloved to finish eating. (He's *very* slow, but then again, I am grateful that eating out is an option again.)

@chilternrailway.bsky.social why have I been issued with an £85 fine for parking at Haddenham & Thame Parkway when I paid for my parking when I purchased my ticket? Registration on the purchased parking ticket is the same as on the charge notice, so it's not an error on my part. 11th Feb.

The Beloved has just demolished his share of a Chinese takeaway. Yes, slower than me - but *nowhere near as slow as last time we had one* (probably Valentine's Day 2025). Small steps. 😍

squareword.org 1472: 5 guesses 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 <6:🟩 <11:🟨 <16:🟧 16+:🟥 #squareword #squareword1472

Just turned over February on the calendar. This was not set up deliberately.

Co-leading a professional development day for maths teachers yesterday. Fantastic as always to be working on fun maths with lovely people. Did *not* expect deep conversation about Mendelssohn's 1st organ sonata over lunch!

Here's hoping the rain is not as heavy as it sounds on the conservatory roof. There is never enough parking at the care home so I'm still planning to cycle.

Well done past me for learning my Christmas voluntaries properly at some point: the muscle memory is mostly still there. Phew!

Making pastry for mince pies, which we eat by the score. The Beloved used to do most of it. ☹️ But I rejoice that he will be able to eat and enjoy them. 🕯️ Merry Christmas

My Christmas-mad ADoM has just gone in to wrap the Beloved's presents for him with the greeting 'your elf is here'. 😂 He's not quite Scrooge but he's never been wild about Christmas & present wrapping was never his strong point even before his illness. So I think they are both happy.

It's time! Advent means Malcolm Archer's glorious voluntary on the hymn tune 'Merton' (Hark a thrilling voice).

The Beloved trying to tell me something funny is hilarious in its own right. He hasn't even started yet and I'm in stitches. Now I have to wait until he's composed himself.

Well, it's a good job we've established that our Choral Evensong is a Family Service, with an appropriately *short* all-age talk. My Assistant DoM has caught the lurgy that is going round, and they were supposed to be preaching today...

Fantastic choir practice tonight for Sunday's Advent Carol Service: St Mary's Wheatley, 5.30pm, Sunday 30th November. Chilcott's 'Nova! nova!' going especially well - fun to conduct with all the time signature changes! Looking forward to playing Bach and Flor Peeters on the organ too. Do join us!

It's beginning to sound a lot like Advent. Halfway through today's long practice: Advent Carol Service done. A wee taster of my final voluntary attached (Flor Peeters). Now to practise for the morning service and Saturday's wedding.

Wow! The Beloved walked all the way from the car park to the cafe: twice as far as usual. Yay!!

The choristers *literally* squealed with joy when they found that we were doing my canticles setting this evening. I am gobsmacked. If anyone wants a lively unison setting that choristers will really enjoy, let me know! Happy to send pdf in return for small donation to our church.

Any basses near Oxford available for an Advent Carol Service evening of 30th November? St Mary's Wheatley. I have tenors, but no basses! 4 unaccompanied choir items planned... Other voices also most welcome.

I've fixed up a piano lesson and it feels a tad nerve-wracking. Haven't had one for about 20 years, and that was a one-off with a friend who refused to let me pay for it. Before that it must have been 30 years ago when I last had vaguely regular lessons. It feels a life-time ago.

Got stuck behind car travelling 10mph or more below speed limit all the way to the station so had to run and didn't have time to get coffee. ☹️ Good job I wasn't relying on getting breakfast there as I usually do.

Oxford Diocese annual Lay Ministers Service today. On my way to direct the choir: we've challenged ourselves to sing Beati Quorum Via as it's All Saints Day. Praying no more sopranos go down with colds!

Muscle memory is a funny thing. Playing a Bach Trio Sonata on organ relies on it entirely: way too much to think about o/w. The odd thing is, if my hands go wrong it's almost always because of an earlier foot error I probably barely noticed. I have to go back & find the hiccup which set off the mess

Soooo much fun with The Cellist this afternoon. Lots of progress made on the Mendelssohn 2nd Sonata. Still struggling to find anyone to give us a lesson on it though. Can't understand why it isn't more widely played. Ok, the piano part is fiendish, but it's so rewarding to play.

Words you don't expect to hear your Assistant DoM say: 'Don't take the butternut squash into the vestry'.

I've got my 4 best mezzos (+me) this morning, and no men. The temptation to switch the anthem to 'Lift Thine Eyes', for no reason other than that we *can*, is too strong. I'm playing Mendelssohn's 2nd sonata for voluntaries too... Yay Mendelssohn. 🥰

The Cellist is coming round next Thursday. That's 5 more days of practice. It's certainly improved with around 30 hours work since he was last here a month ago. *He'd better notice*.

Phew! That was an exercise in how fast I can talk for an hour! Anyone listening to the recording of the Problem Solving Matters final online session for the TMUA might want to listen on half speed!! 🤣 The attendees seemed to find it helpful though.

Is your school ready to become champions? Ritangle 2025/6 is coming and will be open for registrations from 8 October! Keep your eye on our website, BlueSky and X for more information. #Ritangle #MathsChallenge

Muscle memory is an amazing thing: sometimes I wonder how on earth I'm playing a fast and/or complex passage as my fingers seem to be operating independently of my brain but completely accurately. It is immensely satisfying, but only happens after lengthy disciplined practice. 1/2

Grrr. Phone just did update and my stats for Byrdle and Square word are gone.

The Cellist is busy for the next month, so I'm going to ease up* on practising the Mendelssohn sonata and learn some solo piano music. Played through the Holberg Suite earlier and feeling it's doable: watch this space. *mustn't let it slip totally - I need to get that 1st mvt nailed by 9th October.

Good news all round today. The Beloved's scan is clear: the next one will be beyond the 3-year mark. And we've found an exciting holiday for our silver wedding anniversary next year: we've booked a cruise! Really not our sort of holiday, but needs must & we're so excited to be able do something. 1/2

So proud of our Junior Choristers today - first Sunday back after the summer, and they remembered so much and sang with real confidence. Bairstow canticles (which they knew), a simple anthem & a challenging introit (both new). Now we just need to find some more youngsters to join them...

Looking for cello teacher who knows Mendelssohn's 2nd sonata. Hardly anyone seems to play it which is odd, as it's brilliant. Also their pianist as I could use a lesson or two too. Does anyone have contacts? We're Oxfordshire but prepared to travel. Both very good amateurs, looking to perform this.

It's time for Mendelssohn 3 (that's organ sonata not symphony). Hoping I've left myself enough time to get it back up to scratch before our Patronal Festival on 7 Sep. I usually roll it out once a year but this is the first time since the reordering so it's probably 3 years since I last played it.

Holiday task is learning Mendelssohn's 2nd Cello sonata (piano part). Very pleased that I played the last mvt at current target speed (110 by end of August, aiming for concert speed of 120) with only 2 small sections falling apart. 🥳