A day without children

With older son away at school and younger son off on scout camp, Fiona and I are enjoying a weekend alone. We don't get many of these, and so it feels like Christmas and birthday all rolled into one - a real treat.

The danger is, however, that you feel the time is so precious that you have to do something really, really special or else you are just wasting it away. One one level, the feeling that time is valuable is a good thing. But on another, it means you aren't able to simply enjoy just hanging around, which is sometimes the most rewarding and fulfilling thing to do.

We didn't do anything spectacular today, but it was still a very enjoyable day. A long walk in Windsor Great Park with RTL, lunch out, another walk on Hounslow Heath, and a dinner of tapas and Portuguese (Alentejo) cheeses watching a film. But it's a day I'll remember for a long time. And we still have until 5 pm tomorrow to enjoy!