Growing up, climber and outside.

1. Some of the ladybird larvae are pupating. They look as if they have held their noses and puffed themselves up as hard as they could, until their orange shiny parts have stretched and bulged and their prickly black parts have fallen away. "Imagine if you went to bed spiky and black and woke up smooth and orange," I tell Alec as I help him settle down for sleep.

2. Bettany climbs up on to the nursing chair. The look of fat satisfaction on her face.

3. Now we have a table and two chairs in the garden and a bit of warm weather and a bottle of fizzy wine we can sit outside for a while.