Country view

I had a lovely night's sleep and enjoyed playing in bed with Teddy and Tilly in the morning, which was a real joy. They're both so happy and giggly, it's infectious.

S made me a welcome breakfast of poached eggs on toast. Yum, yum. Then I played with the kiddies and S took me home for a swift unpack before I headed back to theirs later on for the family meal to say goodbye to P, who is off to a village nr Brest in Brittany to be an au pair for nine months on Friday. She brought her new boyfriend, L, who is a trainee policeman so he and S had a lot to talk about. He seemed very nice and it's almost a shame she's going away.

Everyone was most complimentary on how well I looked and were keen to hear about the retreat.