The masks for my panto, The Rainbow Bird,  are finally finished and varnished and now it's time to give them to the actors so that they have plenty of time to get used to their avian personas.

The characters are, from left to right, Storm Bird (villainous through and through), Queen Crow (not as villainous as Storm Bird but definitely has her moments ... her favourite phrase is 'Peck their eyes out!'), King Swan (well-intentioned but basically a bit of a bumbling idiot) and Rainbow Bird (all-round good guy and pretty free with her crocks o' gold too).

I'll miss having them hanging about the place ... but it's definitely time for them to fly the nest!