It’s one of those Charlotte Mason things: get outdoors every day, even if it’s raining. The rain won’t actually hurt you! So I thought we’d try it and see what it’s like (well OK, I used to do a paper round and walk a dog, come hell or high water). So – here we are at the freezing point, in sleet actually. Antonia has been dancing around trying to see how much water she can catch in a plastic cup and refusing to use an umbrella. For some reason she then decided to tip freezing water all over her jeans. She wasn’t soooo happy, until she got distracted by muddy puddles, mud, shiny pebbles with mud on and footprints in the mud. I was the only one who seemed to notice or care that all the mosses and lichens were twice as big and green as usual. Mike crouched under his umbrella, shivering. It was all pretty good fun, though three-quarters of an hour is probably enough.

I’m sure the other two will agree that it made it extra nice to come home, stoke up the fire, make hot chocolates, and snuggle up under the covers with Swan Lake on dvd for Antonia and a book for me.