The weather was kind enough to allow singing to resume, with a few teases on the forecasts. Rehearsals are such that we don’t have a break and so concerts and social events are our main times for getting to know each other and when new people join… this is a long winded way of saying that not all the choir members know each others’

Names (inevitable but also somewhat embarrassing after over a year of waving armpits in each others direction, another warm-up favourite) and it’s even worse for the new members, so we have resorted to name tags! Aargh!

It’s like admitting some sort of failure, but none of us are getting younger and memories are not what they used to be. Anyway, they are very colourful so if someone is staring at your chest, it may not be for reasons of attraction to your secondary sexual characteristics, but to read your name OR to see if your tag is prettier than theirs (or you may also have a magnificent chest but at least they have a cover story now) Anyway, see how it goes, and if people hate them, at least they’ll know the name of the person they’re having a good moan with.

PS. The backgrounds are courtesy of the patchwork scraps stashes of two frantic fabricaholics and the card-making supplies of one of the above (some of the things we do when we’re not singing, and manufactory of the green sequin sparkly jobs modelled at the Grove gig). Recycling, found objects and money saving principles used at all times, hints and tips on making available on request.

HONEY - Hope you are all enjoying this terms songs, Verity has some real honeys up her sleeve for us all to throttle and then to love in the upcoming weeks so practise, practise, practise. Honey and lemon, and also chopped root ginger and honey very good for sore thoats produced by all this practise, highly recommended (use one of those little cages you can get to put tea leaves in, peel and chop enough root ginger to very loosely fill, steep in boiling water for about a minute or two, honey to taste, warming and soothing)...... ... (back to home)

Kings Langley Community Choir joined the festivities at the Kings Langley Lights festival along with Kings Langley School Band, The Kings Langley Bell Ringers and Kings Langley Services Club Choir to help kick off the Lights On Evening - all great fun as always. This was our first time at the Festival and we were well received by the huge crowds who turned out to make the evening go really well - here's to next year!

After a couple of appearances at King's Langley school itself, we have branched out to Music on the Moor (that was so exciting, a proper festival venue on a lovely day and an enormous crowd, amongst some very prestigious local performers), our own concert at the Clarendon Muse (alias Watford School of Music at its new venue in front of Watford Boy's Grammar) which was a bit more knee knocking as it was just us, folks, on that night. And our last outing was at the Berkhamsted Collegiate School with the very polished Knights of Harmony and the ladies Amersham Acappella, who really made us up our game. we like to think we added our own little bit of sparkle to the evening.

Photo of the handing over of the cheque for £2,700 raised on October 10 for the Songs for Life Concert for The Hospice of St Francis - picture shows from right to left: Fiona Lines, Pippa Brush, Dick May, Sue Meehan