I was filling out a questionnaire recently and one of the questions was, what do I dream of achieving? I don’t actually dream of anything or have any major goals. Of course, to stick around and see my little guys grow up into fine men. Not opening the Christmas pudding before it’s actually Christmas, haha. For singing, it would be to set foot on the stage at The Royal Albert Hall (or London Palladium…). I’d love to see the ladies faces and for them to get some recognition for being such a kind, compassionate, lovely and hardworking bunch. Who knows!

Sat next to Louis Theroux at my (dream) dinner party, would be Stanley Tucci. I’m thinking to invite Sam Ryder as he’s bursting with human sunshine and has the worlds biggest smile. Stanley just loves his food and has a nice way about him. I need a couple of ladies too – definitely Judy Dench who has always interested me – she is so down to earth and genuinely believes in living your life to its fullest. I’m not inviting any vegans as I may find the Wagyu beef on offer again in Waitrose. I have non-vegan Christmas puddings in the cupboard ready and waiting too, as surely they will need to be on my dream dinner menu. If I can invite dead people, I will invite Nanny Ada and Ernie. I hope if this is possible, they can also be fairly young – before the deafness kicked in.

The SEN room was packed for the last day of the Christmas market. The Rockits elves did a wonderful job being jolly and totally traditional. I so want kids to have lovely Christmases, just as we did, with visits to Santa, believing they must be good (no chance for Rex) as elves are watching, eating too much chocolate, watching the Grinch, seeing all their cousins, making paper chains and Christmas cards…worrying about sprouts. I was stood in Waitrose dressed as Mrs Claus and a man complained to me that it was much too early for Christmas stuff. He said he hated everything about Christmas, including having to buy presents and he had to eat beef on Christmas Day, because he loathed dry turkey. I said, “bah humbug! I love it – nothing better than seeing the little ones faces and us all being together.” I also gave him tips on cooking turkey. Despite this, I came home and recorded, A Thousand Miles, by Vanessa Carlton, for the Rockits (I was intending to record 2000 Miles, but got sidetracked). Beth loved this song and I always think of her as a young teen playing it on the piano. I bet she can still play the riff today. We sang it at Rockits tonight and it WILL be lovely, but the Mid 2 part was a bit low. I came home and immediately rejigged it so it’s ready for next week.

A Thousand Years – Arr. Max Wilson