We were very flattered to have Mary, Joseph and the donkey staying with us after 10 years! They seemed taken aback by this reminder of the cyclical nature of their journey but soon cheered up (after a somewhat troubling time yesterday) in front of the fire.  We gave them time to recuperate whilst we went to school, but soon enough, we were back at home. The donkey looked quite confused when it came for a driving lesson ; since there wasn’t any form of horse, donkey or – perish the thought MULE – to accompany the odd black cart which arrived 10 minutes late, but we understand Mary and Joseph to be very street-wise and capable of educating their dear donkey on the delights of driving theory, lessons, tests and more over the next couple of weeks.

We concluded the evening by watching a Christmas film, a concept which even we couldn’t (or rather didn’t dare to) explain to our guests. Mary couldn’t quite understand why we kept wishing her such luck. Our best wishes go with them on their journey onwards – it’s still a long way to Bethlehem!