Today Bert was Stunt Bert. He didn’t want to sit in his pram, he wanted to stand in it, untethered. He didn’t want to watch Peppa Pig on the sofa, he wanted to stand on the coffee table with his arms outstretched. He didn’t want to quietly eat cake with our friends, he wanted to ride in a plastic car, fast, grinning ear to ear, while we all watched through the glass patio doors and ate Rocky Road.

So this picture is a bit blurred. It wasn’t a sitting still kind of day.

Serves 3

4 boneless chicken thighs

1 dessert spoon butter

1 small onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

300ml chicken stock

1 can butter beans, drained

Zest of a lemon, grated

Salt and pepper, to taste

Green veg, chopped – we had two courgettes and some kale but green beans and peas would be nice

Fresh parsley, chopped

Fry the chicken thighs, skin down, in half of the butter until the skin is crisp. Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in the rest of the butter then add the beans, lemon zest, seasoning and stock and season. Pop the chicken thighs skin side up on top, bring to a good simmer, put the lid on and cook at 180 for 45 minutes, or in a low oven for a couple of hours (always my choice since this is what the Aga does well). Add the veg in the last ten minutes. Stir through the chopped parsley (lots of it) before serving.

We had ours with home made bread and butter.

For pudding we had an orange and almond cake that Bert made from scratch himself. He took it very seriously. He made it sitting on the edge of a high worktop.