Production line

To get sausages and scrambled egg dished up to feed the forces, there was much frenetic activity. Bob and Clare's kitchen would suit a celebrity chef. Bob shares an Essex accent with Jamie Oliver and I wouldn't put it past him to coin some quirky phrases. Clare is brunette like Nigella Lawson and also finds some foodstuffs orgasmic.

Children require a lot of attention around feeding, dressing, tidying up toys and dealing with bodily processes. Joe forced a very smelly nappy change after we'd played a very energetic game of Superman. Mya had a tantrum because she didn't want to wear the skirt she has worn countless times before. My exposure to kids' TV has increased tenfold this weekend.

We stole moments when children were quiet or distracted to catch up. I always admire Lu, who is a physio in Birmingham, for her frank views on the NHS. She's willing to fight against issues that sound disastrous such as privatising the wheelchair provision service in Walsall that leaves patients stuck in their home for endless months. Lu is an excellent gauge of the state of the NHS, and should probably go into healthcare policy at some point in her career.

Trains were screwy to get home to Cambridge, so it was the slow Liverpool Street line and the not unpleasant but very lengthy chug through the commuter belt stretching north of London.