Yesterday with the family I went to visit Fiona's Mum Veronica at Dalton in the South Lakes . We stopped off at Ulverston to walk up to Hoads Monument and stroll around the town. The views from the top are amazing and you can see the Howgills , Ingleborough Hill and way up to the Skiddaw range but binoculars are needed for that , or a very clear day! Veronica was in good fettle and was very happy to see us and the lads were great with her as usual. We spoke about Victor her husband who died in 1989 and it was lovely to listen to her reminisce as much as she could due to the memory problems she has because of vascular dementia. Beautiful moments . Its strange how she looks very frail and incredibly resilient at the same time and the very human ability to keep going with life no matter what has always impressed me right from when I spent a lot of time on hospital getting my gammy hand fixed from when I was six . I was surprised at how many questions she asked the boys about what they were doing and how well they think they are progressing . Good stuff and very moving . She has been one of my inspirations to keep my act together as a Dad and a husband and keep improving as well. A beautiful afternoon.

Last Saturday I had a corker of a walk with the family around the Durham City Woods. Starting out going over the Shincliffe Bridge because of the large amount of rain the River Wear was light muddy brown whereas during the summer months from the downpours then when the river rose it was a very dark muddy brown . Why . Ho ho reading geology books comes in useful although I've never seen this explanation in any of them : in the summer Upper Weardale is very dry so the peat dries out and becomes more compact and like a dry veggie cube when you put water on it a lot of the peat gets washed away . But as the peat gets soggy when there has been lots of downpours as there has been recently the peat is very waterlogged and does not wash out as much so the amount of the peat in the water is less and the River Wear is consequently a lighter brown color . Could do an experiment with this but don't want to use up my veggie cubes . Any way with the ground being super wet and it was a warm day the smells from the river bank were tremendous . A lot of aniseed and earthy smells . As we walked into the woods this changed to a strong mushroom smell and there were a lot of fungi out . The trees in Houghhall Wood are over 200 years old and the whole wood was clear cut in 1799 and some of them are beginning to die but these 150 foot monsters are just wonderful to walk through , still very green but some orange yellow is coming through . Should be a good Autumn. Love walking with the family! There are still not many birds to be seen but we heard a lot of them high up in the canopy of the trees where all the insects are . A smashing walk out and we are going to do this walk a lot through into the winter!

A totally gorgeous 2 hour walk was had with the family wandering around the slightly brown and golden tinged Durham Woods. A Gymkhana was in progress when we went past Houghhall Farm and we discussed about how much a working class sport this activity is in fact because all of the jobs that are created with the shodding of horse hooves , veterinary services , hay feed from the farmers fields rented out by farmers for horses to go on , the various saddles and riding gear and not only that I noticed they had a burger bar selling all sorts . More people are involved with supporting a Gymkhana than actually participate in it we think. The rural economy very interesting , important and adds to the glory of nature as well. Oh yes and I must mention horse box manufacture and repair, I've noticed two of those businesses on my travels in North Yorkshire . But back to the walk : We now use umbrellas when it is really warm and it was 21C today and when the rain shower comes an umbrella keeps me cool and dry! Not so sure how it will work in the hills when it is windy but its great for towns . We stopped and stared hopefully at the weir beneath Framwellgate Bridge looking out for salmon but I think they've all gone upstream now to the streams and gills where they breed . Amazing, the River is such an expression of natural process and the Cormorants and Gulls looked saggy in the warmth today as if to say " Take it easy " We did ! Biscuit break on the new Durham Town Marketplace was spiced up by us plonking ourselves down next to a cartoonist and I was surprised to see how much trade he got . Little did he know that he was stood next to the Saunders-Priem family which is a living cartoon. After a great drive back looking at the huge showers dropping there rain over Upper Weardale Teesdale and beyond over the Northern Pennines it was a crash and a cuddle with Fiona listening to Handels Messiah . The Alto recitative was very moving, and I didn't realise I was so cultured, oh well can always wear my flat cap to get back to my proletarian roots but I'll pass on the clogs, ! Smashing afternoon and the meatballs and spaghetti are cooking to be accompanied by Star Trek . Family life is bliss ! Thank you God, thank you.

Yesterday with the family I went to the York Peace Festival at Rowntrees Park York. After wandering around the stalls I went to the Arena area and met Sybil Wood a nice friend from the 80's , Jon Wood her hubby and David and Nicky Young . Later after doing a 2 hour steward session I met Jons Mum June who is a very fine lady . What can I say: in the early afternoon it rained very lightly but lifted to sunshine towards the end of Festival at 7pm and Stewarding on the Terry Avenue gate with a woman called Laura was very interesting and not without its problems . Surprising how many people have a reason not to pay in a public car park only to find that indeed you have to pay in a public car park . Witnessed 2 serious near misses with extremely careless I should say criminal drivers just reversing out into Terry Avenue without looking to much behind them when there were two lads on scooters in one case and a cyclist on the other . Believe it or not there is more to that stewarding business than I thought. It was great asking people if they wanted a Festival brochure and would they "please make a donation up to £1.50." Best of all was that towards the end of my shift a great friend from the '80s who I last saw in 1996 and he came to my wedding in 1988 the one and only Neil Grant strolled by and we had a nice ten minutes chatting and Fiona turned up as well and it was a very nice little time . He's given me his phone number so I can catch up some more sometime later . Neil gave me some good advice in the '80s and I took it . I was a bit wild then which he and others found entertaining but some of them were a bit concerned at times hence the good advice forwarded to mee hee several times. A quarter of a century later still married happy and looking forward to the future some of those Yorkie friends pointed me in the right direction and I still keep walking it. I sincerely hope all of them have been as fortunate as me. When I got back to the the Arena area Jons Mum June had turned up and offered me the nicest cup of coffee I've tasted in a while not least because I hadn't drunk anything since the morning . I then crashed out with the family listening to the last two bands for about 90 minutes and had the delight of watching my wife and Sybil dancing the only slight blot on my view being Fiona was not in that nice short dress she wore last time her and Sybil were boogieing together . My youngest Clifford had a good 8 mile walk on his own throughout the afternoon but surprise surprise Miles just crashed out and sat and laid around enjoying the music which was great because I didn't think he'd do that and he'd be off for a walk with his brother . A smashing day , brilliant to see old friends particularly Neil who I've always really liked and I think he was surprised at how much I had and hadn't changed! A beautiful day .