Happy new year to everyone! A busy Christmas here in the workshop. I should be used to it by now, but musicians like to take a break too, and the time while they’re away with friends and families is obviously a good opportunity to get that buzz sorted or the fingerboard shot or that major restoration their dear cello has always needed. So we’re packed out with all sorts of jobs, major and minor. New work that I’m looking forward to starting and finishing is on hold, and several texts I’m supposed to be writing are sort of hovering in the back of my head rather than part of my computer memory where they should be. So apologies to anyone who is waiting, but I’m doing my best… Not complaining, you understand. My own family has been whizzing off around the world, and traditional celebrations were on the quiet side. The workshop is always a welcoming refuge, with a nice crowd of Italian friends for company; Gaspar, Matteo, Paolo, Giovanni Battista. All rather quiet at the moment, but they’ll be singing again soon, I hope.