I recently came across a mug, which had on it the caption, saying, ‘I only do housework when there’s a y in the month.’ (Go on then, it’s all right, take a pause here to do the arithmetic!) No doubt this principle, if acted on, would appal those who can’t abide uncleanliness but relieve of guilt those who loathe housework! January is obviously one of the (how many?) months with a y in it. Perhaps that’s just as well for those who will see in the New Year in style, leaving the house looking as though a bomb’s hit it!

Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard in so many ways to ensure that our worship and other events from Advent through to Christmas would be memorable. Special thanks to Tim Ingold and the choir for some wonderful music and for their magnificent contribution (along with a team of acolytes and readers, and Simon Ritter and Peter Sparkhall attending to the dramatic use of electric light) to the Advent Procession on the evening of Advent Sunday; to John Walden and his team of servers for doing everything so willingly and well; to Jim and Helga Hann and members of the Maintenance and Cleaning Guild for cleaning the church; to Jim Hann and those who helped him to erect and decorate the Christmas tree; to John Walden and Jim Hann for erecting the crib; to Marilyn Browning and members of the Flower Guilds for wonderful floral displays in both our churches; to Simon Ritter for making sure that the candles were in place and lit at the right times; to Paddy Jennings and the team of sacristans who deal with all matters relating to the sacristy so professionally; to Nich Rutherford and members of the Hospitality Committee for providing refreshments on numerous occasions; to all those who work behind the scenes to make sure that the services all run smoothly; to Colin Brookes and the sidespeople for all that they do in preparing the church and welcoming people to a large number of services during December; and to the bellringers for joyfully ringing us in to church.