Inside the kitchen, there were piles of pancakes for breakfast. There were hot cups of tea, and BBC 6 Music on the radio.  There was a bowl of flour, sugar, and butter, of dried fruit soaked in brandy : a Christmas cake to be stirred and baked.

Outside in the woods, there was a damp blanket of mist over the trees. There were spiders webs beaded with dew and bushes of bright rose hips. There were muddy wellies and the obligatory flask of hot chocolate.

There were fossils amongst the fallen leaves: searched out, picked up and carried home. Trophies, souvenirs of the walk, brought back: from outside in the woods to inside the kitchen.