To describe today is very difficult. We've been at Mum and Rod's as we've done many times before, then suddenly it hits us. Here's Heathrow Airport. Mum's going to cry and we're off on an adventure into the unknown. Richard's Mum and Dad had also been moist-eyed and apprehensive as we'd left Chelmsford for the foreseeable future. Kate had to return to uni. in Leeds a few days ago with exams on her mind - plus one or two other things! We're taking some hospi...

We have this family tradition - and now Paddington is involved! It's a tradition that's been caught from Richard's brother Neil's wife's family; if you can catch a tradition. Presents are out for Christmas. Instead all the sibling grown-ups and their partners, (if any) meet for a meal at a place near where one of them lives. As we're leaving the country for a while we'll kill two birds with one stone and have a combined Christmas and leaving do. The Plough in...