Half term continues....

Another good walk yesterday - up in the hills where there are still deep snow drifts in some sheltered parts. Snowy picnics are particularly memorable, and as it was a longish walk (5 hours or so) there was plenty of time for everyone to talk to everyone... I find that walking as a family does provide a great opportunity to spend time together in conversation, and even in silence. Bernie and I spent some time talking about her A Level options and how she might choose between them, in a very relaxed, no-pressure kind of way that was simply different from trying to have that kind of conversation at home when one or other of us would have something else that needed doing at any moment.

Today, I got the whole lot of them gardening: digging stones out of anew bed and importing topsoil from the lane behind the house where the rain has washed it over the winter. Again, there is something about working together that is very satisfying: as is getting a visible result from just a few hours' work.

Off to c aconcert tonight, and friends coming tomorrow. Life is just one social whirl...