Today, myself and the whole family went over to visit Fiona's mum at Dalton in the Southern Lake District. We stopped off at Whitbarrow Hill a huge chunk of limestone about 700 feet at its highest point and about 3 miles square in area. It stands up from the coastal plain and from the top you can pretty much see most of the peaks of the Lake District. We walked up by the disused quarry where there is a lot of limestone to be seen and because Fiona and I are trying to get even fitter we jogged up some of the slopes to the top. There was a breeze and the leaves were fluttering brown and golden as we went to the woods to come out of them at the top and on to the fairly desolate landscape. There is a lot of limestone pavement and we overturned a few rocks to see some fossils which we saw but they were only fragments. Alongside one of the limestone pavements we saw where the glacier had gouged out a notch from the pavement and the remains of the rocks were splayed out in a drift pattern downstream so to speak. I find these landscapes are very exciting. Just before we got to the top I noticed some sort of owl pellet but in this case it was full of the hard outer shells of orange and yellow berries and there was a beetle mixed in with it as well. We know it wasn't an owl pellet because there were no bones so we are surmising at the moment that it was a crossbill dropping. I'll have to further investigate it may not be either of these but it was fascinating to see such a wet and sticky and well formed orange pellet a bit like a fat sausage perfectly formed on the path. I saw another one on the way back but it had been trodden over by hikers. The views from the top were magnificent and we could easily see the Langdale's and up to the Sca Fell Pike's. Looking north-east we could see right over the Howgills. It was a good walk and right at the start of it we saw a buzzard which is always very exciting. I also saw what I thought was a peregrine falcon but when I finally located the bird it was actually a kestrel about 200 feet up in the cliffs and very hard to find. One day I hope to see one of the peregrines that nest on the cliffs. Coming back down from the top Fiona and I did some more mini jogging up the slopes and when we got to the moderately steep descent going back to the car I jogged down the path which was great fun because it was a bit slippy and I sort of slipped down some of it.

When we got to Fiona's mother's rest home Veronica was really well and pleased to see us. The time we spent there was a mixture of good conversation, quiet moments of thoughtfulness, reading the Sunday Times whilst Fiona and Veronica looked at photos on the net book and some laughter. Miles and Clifford have got very good talking with her which is a bit difficult because she has vascular dementia which means her attention span is quite limited but her capacity to think is as good as ever. I was proud of the lads today because it is an indication of how they will be with Fiona and I and any other older citizens when we all get really old. The clocks were put back today and it was a very dark ride back over the tops of the Pennines which as always I find a bit disconcerting at first but the next time we do the journey it will be as easy as pie. It was also chucking it down with rain which didn't help but I always take pride in getting everybody back quickly and safely. I am hoping the next time we go over to see Veronica that Miles will be able to drive some of the journey. An excellent day and a great end to the holiday. Everybody is fully primed for the coming half term's work!