After a somewhat stormy start to the new school term, life has calmed down a little. That’s not to say that the days aren’t without their explosive moments, but generally everyone is a little less fraught (apart from my relationship with Sybil and her relationship with the garden, that is) and we have established a rhythm to the week. Martha has moved up to the juniors, and I feel we have passed a major milestone now that we no longer have a child in the infants.

On Sunday we celebrated Bea’s tenth birthday and another milestone was reached – two children whose ages are in double figures*. As ever there was a cake, the last birthday cake of the year for my immediate family. It was the usual buttermilk number from Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess, but with 25g of cocoa powder replacing the same weight in flour. The middle is Nutella mixed with whipping cream, which blends more easily than the extra thick double cream. Bea and Matilda decorated it, Sybil caught the crumbs.

It didn’t last very long.

* I had an odd moment when I typed that phrase, and wondered whether it should be double digits instead. Naturally enough I googled “double figures vs double digits” and came across a lovely book on British English, which I can’t seem to link to, though I will try later – must go now, as I am already late for the school run. Ooops.