Took the dogs out after marking and ended up having a decent run with them, which wasn't the plan in my school clothes. The little one stole the strap I use for my knee and made a proper game of returning it. I could feel the ground through the soles of my shoes, hard where the stock have been and softer along the fence, so I slowed there rather than watching the dog. Came home hot down my back and thirsty enough to drink at the kitchen sink. Damo asked if we'd gone far. Not particularly, but there was rather more chasing than walking. My knee behaved better than the dog.

I had a child in my class ask whether the same rain can fall on us twice. I started the water cycle answer and then realised he meant the actual water he'd had on his face yesterday, not whether rain comes back generally. It's been following me around since. I can explain evaporation perfectly well on a whiteboard, but trying to imagine one particular drop going through a creek and a cloud is another business. Mum would say the useful question is whether it'll fall where it's needed. Fair enough. I still liked that the boy wanted to know where his own bit of rain might go next.

Our daughter rang from boarding school to ask whether she could go home with another girl for the weekend. I'd been quietly sorting out what to cook when she came here, so I sounded less pleased than I meant to. She's found someone she likes and that's exactly what I wanted when she left, knowing how miserable boarding can be when you don't. Still felt a bit left behind when she started describing this other family's plans. I said yes, of course. Then her brother asked if that meant he got to choose dinner, looking far too hopeful for a boy who supposedly misses his sister.