Today Fiona was feeling well up to it so we got out to the Durham Woods's this afternoon with the lads. From the outset we had a good ongoing discussion about the role of the death penalty in our society and how death as an option is used in many walks of life for example the health service because society can just not afford to keep somebody going so will not provide the drugs to prolong life. Interesting discussion! In part, the discussion kept going because there were no birds to look at for about the first mile. We saw a couple of Goosanders keeping well away from our bank and they were well shadowed by the very low sun hanging over a faintly misty Weardale Saturday afternoon. I was amazed how low the River Wear had become as well as how clear it was.

We made our way up to the Centre of Durham to the marketplace where we go to a spot called the Perch which is where we have our biscuit break and this was a very nice stop with all the freshly faced students back and a general feeling of getting on in the low winter sunlight. On the way back crossing the Elvet Bridge we listened to an excellent busker we had heard before but his low gravelly voice is very compelling and totally authentic. His low funky blues are the real thing The Blues. Amen. Miles gave him a pound and it looked like he was doing very well which is nice because he is the real thing.

We were in very good humour today I think in part because my spirits were very buoyant from a good day yesterday and I must relate this weird experience I had yesterday on my Teaching Observation Placement because every time I was working with a female student I kept on saying "good boy", "Goodlad" even though it was a girl I was commenting on! I definitely have spent too much time with my lads and homeschooling them! The other great thing about yesterday was my youngest son Clifford, did his first Core 1 AS Mathematics exam and he went in beaming with optimism and when he got home yesterday he was still shining and he thinks he has done all right. Which he probably has going on the amount of work that he has done. Sticking with the school theme an interesting observation I made yesterday was that I knew anecdotally that the amount of work done by a homeschooled child taught in the formal way that I did it versus a State School child was about 3 to 1 and I definitely confirmed that yesterday which means that my lads when they were home educated were doing three times the amount of work per hour versus a state school child. That is quite interesting and whilst there is some justified criticism about private education it must never be taken away from the private sector that outside of the small class sizes and well resourced schools those kids do a lot more work both at school and with the homework. Doing plenty of work, as always, always pays off. Interesting stuff!

Well, when we bounced home, Fiona and I went and crashed out listening to Leonard Cohen Live in London which was absolutely amazing and I am now sat here waiting for the Pasta to soften, the meatballs to cook and the sauce is well on its way totally encouraged by the amazing Mr Joe James' fresh Rosemary picked from the gardens of South Yorkshire last summer, Joes garden in other words. This is the last of Joes Rosemary and I will be really sorry to see it go because it has totally enhanced our tomato sauce as well as Persian Rice over the last few months: thank you Joe. A very nice and beautiful day and I thank God for my wonderful family and friends. Bless you all!