.. Before you can say come and go!

The last two days have flown by, but I think the show has has gone up successfully and we can build from here.

Friday ended up being a bitty day as students were juggling their call at Ham with lectures back at College and access to the Hall was shared with the army of volunteers who'd been brought in to dress the Christmas tree and garland the balconies.

Still we got through and even managed a tired dress towards the end of the evening.

Today was wonderful. A beautiful crisp Winter's morning, plenty of business at the House's Christmas market, the punters quickly snapping up the few remaining tickets for the show, ensuring a full house.

We lost two children early on as the loud bangs for The Tempest took them by surprise and their parents had to take them out. It's a tricky one - how do create a calming storm? We've agreed tomorrow to try and limit the noise, by moving Fahad on drums to the upstairs balcony and having Jade, one of the ever skillful puppeters, do a pre-show practice so all the children have a warning of the loud noises to come.

Apart from that it was a great success and the feedback was excellent. The company cleared and we were out by 3pm.

This was an unexpected bonus - (in my mind I'd cleared the day for The Tempest and had, for the first time in a while, time to kill) - so, as it's round the corner, I ended up walking through Richmond park with Carolina, who's been assistant director on the show. For a while we followed a herd of red deer, keeping pace and distance, they're amazing animals. It's the first time off for a few weeks - and a huge weight seemed to lift from my shoulders, escaping to the park for an hour or so was great.

Got back to Twickenham in time to catch the end of the Italian market in Church Street and the open artists' studios on Eel Pie Island. For the first time this Winter I saw the end of term approaching.