Mild January

After two and a half weeks, the boys finally went back to school today. Rowan had his shorts on, which is part testament to his preference for short trousers for school but also an indication of how mild the weather has been for the last week. It was ten degrees when I dropped the boys off this morning.

It's warmer than that in Florida. Sharon is in Miami for the PC Executive Directors' Conference, having eventually arrived on Sunday after leaving here on Friday. She stayed with Nina on Friday night but their flight from Heathrow on Saturday was delayed for hours and eventually cancelled, after they had already boarded it. Between that and the barking cough she finally caught from the rest of us (Angus started the cycle the week before Christmas), she was feeling pretty grotty by the time she arrived but had a walk on the beach yesterday morning and face-timed the boys later in the day.

Marie and Michael arrived on Thursday to help out with the logistics of minding the boys this week. It was Marie's birthday on Friday and Michael's on Sunday. Nana was presented with a cake baked and decorated by Sean. Papa had to make do with some gingerbread offcuts decorated in abstract style by Angus. We had a very muddy walk around the Cammo estate on Saturday morning. Both Angus and Rowan had to be lifted out of their boots at different points in the walk, having literally become bogged down.

The Christmas decorations came down on Sunday, with the tree dumped at the Klondyke Garden Centre. As in the Julia Donaldson book, the house feels less of a squash and a squeeze once the extra clutter is removed.