It's hard to believe that summer is giving way to autumn when we haven't really had any summer weather. I haven't put a toe in the sea this year although one of my favourite things is to swim early in the morning when there is no-one else on the beach- I am talking about Sussex shingle, rather than Mediterranean sand, by the way.

I've much enjoyed singing in three recitals in Summer Festivals with Sir Thomas Allen and Eugene Asti- thank you to our lovely audiences in Hampstead Garden Suburb, Deal and Cambridge! It was a treat to go to sing in Cannes with Isabelle Moretti at the end of July. August is a mass of rehearsals for various concerts on the horizon, and I am looking forward to working with the young singers on the Britten Pears Programme in Snape, and to singing Lady Billows in Albert Herring.

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are- glorious in London as I write this. Why am I not on the shingly beach? FL