Since August, we have been working sporadically on ringing a full course of plain bob major. Sporadically, because we have four ringers sporadically. Genine, Karen, Maggie, and Randy are together only about once per month. We often have three ringers, and have bob minor down fairly well. But have struggled to ring bob major without interruption.

That finally changed on our first gathering of the new year (2017). After a few attempts, we were able to ring bob major with Genine on the trebles, Randy on 3,4, Karen on 5,6, and Maggie on 7,8. We rang it all the way through without interruption, and so now we know we can do it! It was a very satisfying feeling.

Of course, we tried again immediately, but were not able to repeat the accomplishment that evening. We will keep trying. As we have been telling ourselves lately, “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong!”

We have also been working on practicing bobs when we have three ringers. We are getting comfortable with them, but still need more work. Especially Randy, who needs to learn how to call bobs consistently and well, and continue ringing correctly!

In other news, we have a new ringer in our group! Jessica contacted us and wants to learn how to ring. She is a new hand bell ringer, having rung in a tower (Trinity in NYC) a few times. She has attended one practice so far, and, with some help, actually rang the trebles in a plain course of bob minor on her first night! We are hoping to see her more often.

And finally, we are looking forward to the return of the woman who started us all down this path. Jane is returning to San Diego this month, and will start ringing with us again in February. As a very experienced ringer and conductor, we are anxiously anticipating her return.