With the gorgeous Fiona I had a nice afternoon out visiting my mum and doing a mini trek around Richmond. My mum is in good fettle but she is weakening a bit as she gets older. Still, she managed an hour of my wayward sense of humour which  cheered  her up.

After this, Fiona and I did a nice 2 mile circular walk around the West end of Westfield's a nice roughly square mile of common land at the, errrr , West of Richmond . As we plodded up the hill there were huge fields full of Buttercups and Sedges which looked especially beautiful under a mostly blue sky, with very high cirrus stratus and a nice backdrop of gathering cumulus clouds over the North Yorkshire moors. It felt like paradise and Richmond is a very beautiful place.

Very strange with the cumulus clouds at the moment because they are not towering up to become cumulus congestus clouds they are merely staying fairly flat which is a clear indication of a lack of heat and not much convection. I personally think this is one of the first signs an ice age but I don't think anybody will believe me. Anyway, it will be a couple of thousand years before it really kicks in but if in my lifetime I start to see patches of ice still left on top of the Lake District peaks over the summer that would be a sure sign of global cooling not warming. Funny how ideas can get in my head and I go around thinking about this quite a lot. It is quite likely to be a wrong idea but it is good fun thinking it through.

Before we even went out this morning I had a really good session with my harmonica and singing and it is coming together quite nicely. I have been amazed that when I start to do some exercises with the harmonica it really improves my playing no end. I cannot do them for very long   like I used to when I did them all day but I only need a bit of seasoning these days I already have the body of practice done. A lovely afternoon out with my beautiful wife.