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Good morning, Elle!
Heavy rain here!
It's a thought whether to venture out in it, or not.
Hope you have a nice time, out!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, thank you, I had a great time!
It was good to have a catch up with my friend...and we had a delicious lunch.
I have only been home for a short while.
I was just in time to receive the tail end of my daughter's phone call ...she was chatting to her dad when I arrived!
All is well with her family....and we have been invited to attend BB's church parade with them on Remembrance Sunday!
He is a Beaver Scout, and they parade in uniform!
Your son should be with you soon? if not already ?
You will be pleased to see him after his holiday!

Good evening, Elle!
Glad you enjoyed your day.
Very windy here, but rain has stopped!
Yes, my son was here. Good to see him.
They liked Venice, plenty to see, some beautiful buildings, but they both said Florida is far better for food.
I thought that would be the case!

Good evening, Rusty!
That is good that you and your son had a good evening!
Did he have many photos to show you?
Now......I have started my crossword very late in the day, as I couldn't access my emails earlier to print out the puzzle.
Apparently, Outlook has a world -wide problem today with both the website and logging in!
But I eventually I have managed to open my Inbox on a different browser....
I'm not sure how many "friends" the Setter is going to make with 1a!
I appreciate my bus pass ( read Freedom Pass here) but do not like being tagged as "old folk"!!!
28a also raises a query.....obviously here, "pray" is meant to be synonymous with "hope"....but in that case why is there an expression ".... hope and pray...."?
If the two word are interchangeable, this would be tantamount to saying " hope and hope", or "pray and pray," which is surely a nonsense?
I am only half way though the puzzle ...I shall press on!

Hello, Elle!
I did not see any photos.
I am perfectly happy with today's clues.
I would class most bus pass users, including me, as "old folk".
I have a lot more yesterdays than tomorrows, so it seems fine to me.
Good luck with the rest of it.

Hi, Rusty!
I hope I am not too late in coming back with this.......but I am stuck!
I need help with the following, please.....
14d: Gun manufacturer said to be an honest broker (10)
?E?C?M?K??
20d: Amends article skewering coppers (7)
P?N????
And I also cannot parse 2d: Put thus St Mary is a very clever person (6,5)
I have "smarty pants " = a very clever person (def)
but cannot see how this is arrived at?

Btw, I liked 21d: A don is.

Hello, Elle!
From memory I have,
14d in slang a gun can be a "piece", sounds like "peace".
"Peacemaker" is the broker, sounds like "piece maker" or gun manufacturer.
20, is "pen an ce" for amends.
2d, is something like this!
"St Mary" is anagrammed, using "pants" as the anagram indicator, to "smarty".
I do not understand "put thus".
"Smarty" pants, is St Mary.
Hope that makes a wee bit of sense!

A Very Good morning to you, Rusty!
It is a lovely bright, sunny, very frosty, day here, with a temperature of 2C!
I was very snug, though, in my down coat!
Thank you very much for your help with those errant clues!
Yes, I do understand "penance" and peacemaker"......
But I am afraid that that "smarty pants" has me completely beat!
Yes, I can see that "smarty" is an anagram of "St Mary's"......but where does "pants" come from?
How is it an anagram indicator when it isn't even there?
I am completely baffled........
And it is only recently that I learned that "pants" in Crossword Land is considered to mean "rubbish"?
Obviously, my brain cannot cope!
Are you up to having another go at getting this into my head?!

Good morning, Elle!
Your weather is identical to mine!
Had to scrape the windscreen earlier.
Hopefully the weekend's weather will be the same!
Now, this clue, which I no longer have!
St Mary, pants, is smarty.
Chambers definition of "pants" is "nonsense", which is a good indicator of an anagram.
In this clue the answer gives the indicator, I think.
If you get "smarty", the only word that I can think of, that goes with it, is "pants".
I thought it a fairly easy clue, but can understand you being less than content with it.
I think that is the best I can do, as I no longer have the clue to disassemble.
You arrived at the correct answer, which suggests the clue works, and is fair?

Smart'ypants and smarty-boots are in my Chambers plus a few derogatory others !