After a really nice couple of hours walking around the Durham University Arboretum with Fiona I have got down to cooking the tea having my usual tussle with the mushy peas. This week I have lowered the amount of bicarbonate of soda because there is already some present in the peas I have got from Morrisons. They still keep me waiting right until the last 10 min and then the mush occurs much to my relief. O the trials and tribulations of a man fearful that his family will push him out into the snow, well okay the daffodils, if he gets the meal wrong!

The Durham University Arboretum was totally wonderful. We have got season tickets so we can look at it all year round and it is a gorgeous extension of our Durham Woods Walk. For the last couple of weeks we have seen no Jays in the Durham Woods but today we saw and heard at least half a dozen of them. So now we know where they have all gone: the Arboretum. The Cactus House and the Tropical House incorporating the Insect House were really interesting and next time we go, like every time from now on, we will be taking our magnifying glasses and loupes. The Arboretum is also an excellent place for birdwatching.

I have been wanting to get more into the Botany side of nature and this is a good chance to do it and we can see the development of the plants through all four seasons. A nice afternoon out with my lovely wife and it looks like the mushy peas have stop walking on the wild side and have come in from the cold to reach their true destiny of being mushed.

One very beautiful moment was when we walked across a bridge and Fiona spotted what looked like bubbles in some very still water alongside the stream but she knew they were Toad eggs and I am very excited about looking at the development of them over the next two or three weeks. I will be taking a small cup to scoop one of them up to look at it through my magnifying glass . Life is really exciting!
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