Another walk in the early morning quiet with Charlotte before returning home for breakfast in a small patch of sun that slowly faded as I ate. Rowan and Murron baked a lemon poppy seed cake for Nick and I made a huge chicken pie for lunch. We ate late and then headed off to the beach, dropping Rowan in Gifford to hang out with her new (and first) boyfriend on the way. He calls her babe. It took all my self control not to get my zoom lens out and follow them...

The beach was surprisingly warm and we wandered slowly along. Murron walked barefoot in the sea and Brammle raced about enjoying the freedom. We collected bits of driftwood and sea glass and decided that our trip was best rounded off with a bag of chips. So we did. We drove home licking our fingers, retrieved Rowan from the arms of her beau (my daughter - a boyfriend - did I mention he calls her babe..?) and indulged in some welcome mugs of tea and slices of the aforementioned cake :)