The children, 96 of whom participated this year for some or all days, had a great time and they worked so well together, listened brilliantly when they needed to listen, and got involved in the discussions, games and activities with enthusiasm. It was a pleasure to spend the week with them, though I confess I am rather glad to see the back of my tails at top hat... rather unflattering attire, it has to be said.

One of the many highlights of the week for me was our Saturday morning at Duthie Park when we all got together at the bandstand with families and children. It was great to see everyone sharing in the fun, getting their faces painted (thank you Alison and Linda), bouncing around on the castle (cheers, Nigel), getting their fancy balloons from Puffer (Cecilia Young) and Nicola (from Asda), admiring the skills of Chris Van der Wal in both juggling and the diabolos. It was cool and breezy with clouds threatening above, but the rain stayed off and it was great to see everyone mixing and chatting away in the park.

I am hoping that during the course of the year this year we can build on what we do during this week in the summer to create a monthly opportunity for families to come together to spend time as a family talking and sharing, creating and thinking. We are wanting to start a monthly Messy Church at Ferryhill to create that opportunity. Some folks have offered their help, but we need a few more to get it off the ground. I'll write about that more later.

For now... I think time for the sofa and a nice cool drink, perhaps fermented...