Hooray for local concerts: on Tuesday we all walked from our assorted homes to rehearsal for probably the first time ever. On Tuesday Alison played three viols (or was it four?) in the same gig, and then the following day Rachel and Alfonso came and joined in. Here we are in an uncharacteristically solemn moment playing a Locke fantasia: most of the rehearsal was accompanied by a stream of dodgy puns and silly gags.

L-R: Rachel Podger, Aaron McGregor, Alison McGillivray, Alfonso Leal

Quite apart from it being local, the Cottier Chamber Project put together and run by the tireless Andy Saunders (when not also playing the horn) is quite something: 30-odd hour-long concerts where the tickets are only 7 quid (or a fiver) in a venue that’s becoming more and more spectacular as it gradually gets done up. The 1860s stained glass is looking great now, and the Father Willis organ only needs its final voicing (not for nearly a year yet) to be back in action. Daniel Cottier’s original wall decoration scheme is beginning to appear in all its OTT glory too. The summery weather has helped of course: being able to sit outside the venue with great food and good beer is always a bonus. And I finally got to introduce Rachel to Mairi Campbell: I wonder what that might lead to …

The festival is running for the rest of this week, so go along if you can. As if playing two concerts wasn’t enough, Aaron was game to play in Friday morning’s masterclass too.

Since Friday lunchtime, I now have no urgent deadlines for at least a few weeks, so instead of always frantically preparing for the next deadline, I can now make a list of things to be accomplished in the next three months. There will still be many more things on it than will fit in the time, but at least I can attempt some prioritising and time management rather than only thinking a day or two ahead.

I’ve finally delivered the music for Skins Pure: I was sitting in the garden at 9pm on Monday night with headphones on tweaking music mixes on Pro Tools, and by 9.45 in London the mix for the first episode was done. Dropbox has been enormously useful (as ever) throughout the process, keeping two computers running the same PT sessions in sync, and making delivery very straightforward too. But special thanks go to the member of the Skins team who tweeted this yesterday – I’m still laughing:

David. It's awkward. We took all your music out and replaced it with Vangelis. I'm sorry. [name redacted] xxxxx

The trails are finally out: the episodes with my tunes in will be on E4 on 15 and 22 July, and then on 4oD. It looks amazing and I think you will like it.