Excellent and brilliant " Love your neighbour". Christians and Muslims praying and working together.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21953899

Today Fiona was fit for footing it for a few miles so we went off to Saltholme RSPB bird reserve to look at the ornithological attractions. It was slightly cold and we were deceived into thinking it was warm when walking with the wind and once we turned into it it got really cold. We saw Great Crested Grebes doing their courtship rituals as well as Red Breasted Mergansers rushing at each other furiously which I guess must be part of their courtship thing.

There were not a lot of birds but the skyscape more than made up for it with a very high patchy alto cumulus, sort of like fluffy pancakes in the sky with blue patches between them. Really nice. The whole wide open view of the Teesside industry with the Tontine hills part of the North Yorkshire Moors about 10 miles away is a wonder to behold. Smashing area we live in and Fiona was in good foot fettle and that was lovely.

When at the SaltHolme Hide the wind was blowing so furiously through the letter box shaped viewing panel that she protested very loudly that she was cold and we had to go back now. Poor lady. I have been getting her cold and wet ever since we met in 1987. At least I am consistent!

O boy I am having trouble with my mush again. Maybe I don't think about ferrets enough, or wind swept wastelands full of sheep or is it the dastardly experiences of hanging onto a fellside by my teeth in a howling wind dispelling my Yorkshireness , but my mushy peas are giving me the No Mush Til I'm Ready Two Step yet again. Has the quality of peas to be mushed gone down? Blame the government, Tony Blair, climate change, the farmers of peas who no doubt are flinging every pea they can get at the Southern market for Holier Than Thou Health food so they're eye is off the ball or even pea resulting in me having a beat my head with spoon moment trying to get the lowly pea mushed . Help : I'm having a crisis! I play my harmonica for inspiration but no luck!

As Fiona is getting fitter and healthier we got out yesterday for a nice 4 mile walk around the Easby woods at Richmond in Swaledale. There were a lot of bird sounds in the woods but we could see few of them and I reckon they are courting as well as nestbuilding.

Because it was the last day of the Baha'i Fast we said prayers at the small and very ancient church next to Easby Abbey. We could not get into the church so we sat in the porch amongst all of the lovely Easter Flowers and said our prayers there. It was a sort of Christian-Baha'i interfaith experience except there were no Christians just flowers and they had been put there by the fine Richmond Christians so I think that counts. Lovely  and I sang a prayer as well

We usually carry our own coffee and biscuit but as I was fasting I treated Fiona to coffee and cake at the Station Cafe. I once got a train from there way back in 1959 and they have restored and redeveloped the place very nicely. It was absolutely chock-full of Senior Citizens and we surely are a retirement nation in this part of the world.

Fiona woke up very fit this morning. Nice! So, it was off to the Durham woods to see which birds were out and about. Not many! We heard a few and saw hardly anything. But what we did see was brilliant. Three fine Goosander's on the River Wear as we walked up to the Houghall farm. Two more Goosander's just above the weir at Prebend Bridge and then on the way back 2 gorgeous Goosander's which looked in prime condition and were hovering around the riverbank which is very unusual for a Goosander, they normally spend a lot of the time in the middle of the river so we deduced that they may be looking for a nesting site. Good fun.

After all of this wandering and walking and seeing the council work that had been done clearing a landslide only for it to liquefy and a lot of very runny mud is streaming across the path, we trundled on back down the A1 and Fiona was fast asleep within 10 min. God bless her! She missed the fine cumulus clouds building up which is a sure indication that spring is in the air because it is getting warmer.

A good move if they do this. No one in this country would tolerate a wild lion roaming around the human population so why should they ? We killed our wolves and bears off long ago. Not only that Africa is slowly enclosing its wild areas , as we did centuries ago and this is a necessary condition for their continued economic growth. Ultimately it will boost tourism. The more Europeans see Africa as "wild" the less we see them as being just like us and wanting to and deserving the great social and economic development we have .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21687176

From when Miles was a toddler until we left York in 1996 Ian I saw a lot of Mums having a really hard time with their babies and toddlers. I felt for them and one said  she had not  had a nights sleep for three years. Fortunately I'd started to practice diplomacy then and didn't till her that since Miles was 42 days old we had had 6 disturbed nights. Some Mums  asked me about this and I said it was  about knowing when to respond and when not : distinguishing between the various sorts of cries.

 My mother in law told me this because she'd done it with Fiona and her sister. The few time Miles did cry it was  usually because of the surprise of waking up in the dead of night . I'd  watch the clock , 5 minutes go past and he was straight back to sleep. It ocurred to me then that instantly responding to a babies cry doesn't give them the chance to figure out what they want to do. If the Mum charges in and the baby is going back to sleep again she wakes the poor soul up and naturally there is a lot of crying . The more the Mum does this , the baby gets trained to cry . I will never talk about this to a woman again after mentioning it to some in York. Nearly got strangled with a breast feeding bra once. Yuk! After all , a man doesn't know how to look after a baby does he?! As I said to the lads " Bring your babies up like doggies but don't expect them to be as intelligent!".

Another magical weekend. Yesterday was great with sunshine, Fiona feeling fit, Clifford on top of his mathematics at sixth form college and Miles working his head off for the afternoon doing his Uni mathematics. Nothing like that feeling that it is all in place! The main aim of our walk in Durham City yesterday was to see the latest landslide and what was being done about it. There was a digger busy at work dragging down all of the loose soil and I reckon the path will be open in a couple of weeks.

Barely saw a bird yesterday they must have all been sunbathing! But had a good laugh walking up the steps of Elvet Bridge from the Riverside. A group of about eight teenagers were throwing some sort of cap gun paper off the bridge onto people below laughing as it exploded which wasn't as bad as it sounds but irritating. They were very excited and having a really good laugh. I was so so about this mildly youthful anarchic behaviour and as I walked through them I suddenly shouted as loudly as I could, "BANG" and they jumped out of their skins one youngie going so far as to run away with a really worried look on his face whilst the others realised I was just a middle-aged jovial idiot having a laugh at their expense. Good fun and proof that most youth are really alright was they thought it was really funny as well.

A miracle occurred yesterday. We actually got Fiona a jumper that she likes. It is second-hand has a small hole in it and we were politely informed by the stall holder that if we got one of the American army jackets there is a real bullet hole in that. She looked absolutely lovely a hiking lady through and through the highest evolution for the female species.

Today I took Miles skateboarding and my mate Lukes delightful girlfriend Ashleigh Perkins pencil sketched me while I was doing my reading session. She is a very talented lady no doubt about it doing Fine Art at Teesside University. After this we went to visit my mother who was in good fettle strangely enough feeling a lot better now she is off painkillers. The human body is a mystery not least the female one.

I should be starting work this week I finally got my identification . I'm looking forward to this new phase in my life and not having to bother with music so much which I wasn't enjoying  anyway because I did not want to be away from my beautiful wife, the lads, as well as the many good friends I know in this Northern Paradise. Life is moving forward from me which is my way of saying: it is good.