Monday 10 September

Blink. And that was the summer gone.

Every year as the summer holidays loom, I wonder how I'm going to manage work and having two children home for 6 weeks. And every year before I know it the holidays have been and gone and the alarm gets set to its more normal time and we stand shivering at the bus stop in the early mornings again, and trying to fit in 8 hours of work whilst keeping the children amused seems a long and distance memory.

We are only in our second week of school which is the first full week. And the house still feels strangely empty and quiet, and I long for 4 o'clock every afternoon and school bags dropped on the floor as soon as we come in and the 'what's for supper?' question and biscuit crumbs everywhere. As the children grow up they become better company all the time and I find I miss them more too.

And now it's September. My favourite month of the year. A mixture of gloriously sunny days followed by a sudden chilly evening, tractors ploughing and drilling, countless berries in the hedges, the odd grey and blustery day, the promise of woollen socks, mugs of steaming hot chocolate.

13 year old has started at a new school and we're all finding our feet. A new morning routine, a new afternoon routine. It takes some getting used to. I think getting used to the silence during the day at home is going to take the longest.