Yesterday I had a wonderful day out with my family. We went up to the Ullswater area in the Lake District and the boys did a up and down Helvellyn to eventually end up at Thirlmere Lake where we were to pick them up 4 1/2 hours later. Clifford looked a bit peaky and I was hoping that he would not want to go up and down Helvellyn and I could go with Miles instead. But even though I asked him several times if he was all right he was totally fine and raring to get going.

So us oldies left the youngies and we drove further up to BrothersWater a small roughly 1 km² lake at the bottom of the Kirkstone Pass and then walked to the head of the lake in a beautiful late morning light and we saw a Goosander all on its own but absolutely nothing else. I knew there would be more birds in the reeds at the head of the lake but I did not know whether they would come out. Well they did! After looking at the Goosander we did not stop again until we reached the head of the lake and looked back across it and saw several Goosander's and joy of joys two of them were roosting on a small pebble spit sticking out into the lake and then they got out and walked over to the small stream that fed the lake. Never in all the years I have been looking at Goosander's have I ever seen them walk on land and I was amazed at how big and ungainly they were with the breast very round and sticking out. On the water, under the water and in the air they are the essence of gracefulness and beauty but man they look so waddling and fat outside of the water. They only waddled for a few minutes and then they were back in the water and just disappeared from view and we were pretty sure that they had a nest in a hole in the bank which we could not see. As the Goosander's disappeared a couple of Great Crested Grebes had turned up in full summer plumage and were diving and rising as they fished for food. Totally knockout!

As we looked back at the pebble spit sticking out into the lake we saw a large Heron glide gracefully down to do some fishing as well. "Join in there is plenty of food!" I thought. As we walked back to the car park we saw another Heron on the far side of the lake and then it flew away having been chased off by a couple of Greylag Geese and it flew low across the lake, wingtips just a few centimetres above the water. And just to round off the birdwatching as we got to the car and stared up into the sky a buzzard started to circle around attempting to catch a thermal eyes pinned to the ground to see if lunch had tripped over and died and was ready to be gobbled up. Truly amazing!

Onwards to Grasmere Village and a pot of coffee and muffin were beckoning but just before we got to the Cafe we looked at the river to see if there were any birds there and joy of joys there were two Goosander's a male and a female 4 m away down in the stream completely relaxed about us and a lot of other people being there. The village road through Grasmere was only about 10 m away from the bank of the River which was about 2 m down from as. I have never been so close to Goosander's in my life and it was interesting to note that the female had splayed out her feet to give more resistance to the water so she could float down the river at the same speed as the male which being bigger and and heavier and having having more of its body in the water would glide down slower if she never did that. That was a very interesting behaviour but Fiona and I could just not get over just how close we were to these very fine animals. I may put a little bit more thought into that duck resistance to water idea. Miles was sniffy about it yesterday when we were discussing it but he couldn't be bothered to really get into it. We will tomorrow when I take him to the skate park ,that is a good time to pick his brains!

We went to the Riverside Cafe and had our coffee and muffins there and they have an outside terrace which looks over the River and it was very beautiful and peaceful. After this we walked down to the lake but there were so many people boating on it which was good that there was no chance to see any birds. So, we headed up to the Youth Hostel Butharlyp Howe and talked about the summer of 1992 where we stayed there with our newborn son Miles Saunders Priem who we left alone in our family room for the first time ever and had a nice time talking to the people in the Common Room. Miles was such a good sleeper that we knew we could leave him there and he would be very peaceful and not bother anybody. I also thought a lot about staying there for a couple of days in the mid-80s with the learning disabled men from Juniper Communities and having a very wacky time particularly in the pub where the men did not drink but me Joe James and a couple of the other helpers certainly did. Not much cognizance of health and safety in those days because one guy nearly slipped over a small cliff and the other one after struggling up this hill got so out of breath that he coughed up his false teeth in a massive pool of yellow stained saliva because he was a chain smoker. Heavy. But an amazing good laugh. I do believe Mr Joe James himself retrieved those teeth because I would not touch them although I think I went to grab another guy when he was sliding down a snowy slope towards a medium-sized drop. Fun times!

Whilst we were walking up to the footpath that goes to Easedale Tarn I met a friend of mine called Mary with her mother who was up in the lakes for a few days walking. The last time I saw Mary was in the mid-1980s and she was and really is still a very fine lady. I remember mentioning to her in the 80s that she was a very nice lady and if there was any chance we could get to know each other better. Well there was no chance because she said she wasn't interested in men at that time! I was mildly shocked and very disappointed and to be quite honest a little tiny bit of that came back yesterday even though I had the finest hiking lady on the planet holding my hand, my Good Wife Fiona. Still, it is strange what comes out of your mnemonic past and grabs you for a few seconds. Mary did weaving with the men at Juniper Communities and looked absolutely lovely as she cycled around York often clad in dungarees and occasionally in a big ballooning skirt. It used to drive me crazy!

As usual, my timing was impeccable and I knew the boys would only take four hours to go up and over Helvellyn so as we were pulling into Thirlmere car park lo and behold they were just getting off the path and onto the road. My daddy skills are still there! They had had a good walk and what really pleased me was that Miles had done a bit of networking on top of Helvellyn talking to some Australian young people and he seemed to have a particular interest in the young lady in the group. Good stuff and he gave them his e-mail address. Then it was back to a cloudy Darlington through a few showers which had been predicted by the Meteorological Office and then we tucked into a supermarket bought Indian meal and Star Trek. A perfect day made especially nice by seeing so many amazing birds as well as the lovely Mary and her mum. God bless them and my family!

Yesterday: pottering round the Lake District with Fiona looking at birds, very nice. Today: back to the usual routine of a very fresh and pleasant walk around the Durham Woods with Fiona and Clifford, Miles stayed back at home because he has got another cold. I asked him whether the effects of legging it over 3000 foot Helvellyn yesterday had bothered him but he said "No Dad it is just the cold". Today he also got great marks for his latest mathematics mechanics assignment and the tutor is really good because he is not so much addressing the mathematics that Miles does, that is a given (after a ton of hard work I might add) but more the way he presents it which is really good. University academics are just brilliant people. For the most part!

Anyway, there was so little to say about the walk other than the weather was pretty chilly, fresh and there were some nice little mini downpours which only occurred driving there and stopped completely on our walk. Barely a bird to be seen around the River Wear area and the highlight of the centre of Durham was the German Sausage Stall and the tantalising temptations of the smells wafting over us. We had a good laugh today because there was not much else to think about. Fiona is a lot fitter and actually jogged for 100 m which is really good because a month ago she barely made it back sometimes.

Well, I sit here talking away to my netbook, passing the time until I go into "Daddy cook" mode and meatballs, tomato sauce, pasta and garlic bread are rustled up and yet again I buy my passage to another day of acceptance with my family. If it wasn't for my jokes and my cooking they would have got rid of me years ago!