As a family we all in our various ways get affected by the shorter days, particularly when it’s also cold and foggy and dank. Like this last week has been. It’s a drain on energy, motivation and mood.

So the prospect of friends coming today, an arrangement made some weeks ago, brought with it a degree of trepidation at the effort required to get the house in some order, cook and so on.

We needn’t have worried, of course. In fact, it was just what was needed.

Sometimes it’s difficult to relax and change down a gear, so a having commitment to do something enjoyable, like seeing friends, forces you to step off the treadmill.

Having plenty of cake helped as well.