Big smiles

Grandson and his dad have gone down south to visit the other grandparents while Daughter 1 has stayed behind with Granddaughter to tend to their elderly guinea pig. Today we looked after Granddaughter by herself for a while, which was a treat. Grandson is so chatty and entertaining that it's easy to pay less attention to his little sister. (I write this with feeling, being myself a second child - though actually less attention is sometimes a good thing.)

She is very jolly indeed.

She's standing though not yet walking.

She had fun playing with Grandson's toys. He is not very keen on this but, crucially, he wasn't there.

We went out for a walk. I put my hat on her, since we didn't have hers with us.

Later, I went out for a meal with some ex-colleagues. We talked about cancer and arthritis and living on a pension and how we felt about dying. "I almost didn't come tonight," said one friend as we parted, "because I'd had such a rotten week. But I feel better now."

Cheerful chat with chums. You can't beat it. Or it might have been the wine.