It's eerily quiet in Newton tonight. We waved a fond farewell to our charges at 7.30 tonight and they all disappeared into the distance. Mrs C and I eventually put our Kleenex in the bin, dried our eyes and wet our whistles. And very nice it was, too. As for the gin rummy, well, I think that 'Have I Got News For You' and 'Outnumbered' may act as appropriate subsitutes.

I was amazed - although, of course, I shouldn't have been - by the conscientiousness of two Newtonian families in getting their boys back in time for the French leave: I never usually incorporate any names into this blog, but I cannot refrain from mentioning la famille Breteau and the Davies family on this occasion. Both efforts were truly remarkable, and I congratulate both families most sincerely.

So there we are, really. Other than to tell you that Diana was less than amused by my little telephonic prank, which involved ringing the Newton number from my mobile while pretending to text our daughter, picking up the kitchen phone and telling her that Mr/Mrs/Ms X wanted to seek her advice about the right kind of pants for his/her son, it's been a very quiet evening. Not a flake of volcanic ash in sight.