Yesterday with the whole family we had a nice 8 mile walk around York. It was similar to the one I did last year on my own except there were a lot more people around yesterday. We started at Clifton Green then The District Hospital, Gillygate and then arrived at Foss Islands Road via the Foss River path because its one of the places ie flats I'd like to live in if or when? we move back to York but there is no chance because the Green Fingered Goddess I'm married to wants a garden! There was a convenient bench at the Walmgate Bar end of Foss Islands road notable because whilst we sat all chatty and chirpy munching our favorite cookies people were staring at us as they drove by. Probably thought we were a homeless family . It was a pretty cosy bench and right next to where I munched fish n chips parked up in the car over 15 years ago at two in the afternoon after Fo had given birth to our second doggy . Sacred spot as far as I am concerned!

The sun was just setting blood red as we went past York Uni library and there were a few students about all foreign students of course and its nice to know that British Universities preoccupation with their profit margins continues on . The world education system is so rational that eventually all UK students will study in China! Barely a duck in sight on the Uni lake so the "food aid " handed out by the groundsmen doesn't seem to have the desired effect! But seriously I hope they are not all dead but quite sensibly and in line with their genetic programming they've all flown off . You see they know its "on yer bike time" if you've got a problem in the UK economy so it stands to reason that they've got " take to a wing" or even better a pair of them to earn their crust in the New UK order of Tory land . Possibly they have realized that if they fly away abroad and come back the Uni will see them as foreign ducks, charge them in the only way you can charge a duck which to call for volunteers for the Vice Chancellors dinner plate and be allowed to charm the two legged students and visitors like me with there heads down in the water study methods . I never realized that caddis fly larvae and pond weed were so interesting but then again idiot I may be , plenty of evidence for that, but bird brain I am not !

We headed off for Rowntrees Park via the Millennium foot bridge which was all lit up with multi colored lights giving me a flash back experience to the early 80's when I saw exactly the same bridge and all lit up even though it didn't exist . Strong ale in York! Surprisingly Miles started to get cold which was the first time in his life that has ever happened to him on a walk and is proof that he has still got a bug or is suffering from the after effects of one . The kebab shop cheered him up and we got back to the car and back home in just over an hour to settle into double Star Trek. Family Trek - Star Trek : we are so consistent ! A nice afternoon out.

Yesterday Fo was better so we got out for a walk around Durham but not with Miles because he didn't feel well. The ice on the River Wear was melting and the weekly compliment of 5 Goosanders and 4 Little Grebes were seen. Fo wasn't in the best fettle but getting going is often the best remedy for getting better . After a nice 4 mile walk and coffee and cake , Fo is with us after all upgrading the walk with a bit of middle class input , we trucked off back to Darlington to find Miles feeling a lot better and wanting to have a meal out to lift his spirits . Well , we are not the sort of parents to turn a hungry man down so we went back to Durham and woofed our way through sizable portions of Chinese food at the Inshanghai Restaurant . The lads wanted a walk afterwards and so did I so we had a walk around the town up to the cathedral , popped in and got an impromptu recital of Bach organ music . Magic . Even the lads were impressed . Good fun was had walking in the nighttime woods and I tried to scare our lads on the other side of the river with a loud growling sound but it didn't work . They just laughed . We listened to the new U2 CD in the car on the way up and down and it was brilliant . Nice day and early evening but best of all the family is nearly fully fit so we can get out for longer walks.

I took the lads sledging in Durham this afternoon. Fo was still zonked out but getting better. Into her grub anyway! The snow was quite thick but wet so the sledging was a bit slower than expected not that I noticed because I had a nice three mile walk around the river Wear and into the City. A few snowstorms blew over which made it really cosy and I had a good look with dripping binoculars at the two very mature Goosanders I saw yesterday . True to form as soon as I stood still to observe them they moved off but didn't fly off . Not many open patches of water at the moment so the risk/reward ratio was in favor of staying put. When I got back to the lads for biscuit break the they were having a good time so I went off for another just half hour trek this time through a downpour of snow . Great ! When I next got back to the lads Miles had just about ripped his trouser leg off because ( as far as the little pratts were telling me ) they zoomed down the slope held together by this stick which broke , stuck in the ground and then ripped up Miles leg taking out the trouser part leaving a nice deep scratch that was going in the direction of his wedding tackle . As I have frequently said in the past " Always protect your nuts" but I chewed him over anyway because if the stick had stuck more firmly in the ground it could have impaled his leg or worse . I had a bit of a job keeping a straight face when I did this but he still believes me even when I was in Oscar winning performance mode . Good! Cracking afternoon out made even better by being greeted by a warm cuddly wife who is feeling a lot better !

Fo was still zonked with the bug today , Miles was zapped out from an excess of skateboarding last night at RKade in Redcar in a -7c temperature and he is still getting over a series of bad colds so he was wasted this morning , Clifford was quite happy to stay in , wimpy doggy, so I went out on my ownsome lonesome again for a four mile walk around Durham. Usual Shincliffe and back route but since a few days ago the River Wear had completely frozen in places and mostly frozen in the rest . I saw five , yes five , Goosanders today the usual three who've been there a while but two much bigger ones had turned up just downstream from Elvet bridge . These were not shy and were quite happy to be observed from 10 metres away although I walked slowly and didn't stop because I knew that could spook them . Why so many Goosanders? The obvious answer is that most of the lakes and ponds in Durham County are frozen over , big Rivers like the Wear are freezing over so fish eating divers like Goosanders are being concentrated in the clear water areas. Cormorants weren't there at all except for one because they can shove off to the coast where there is no ice but lots of fish. Way to go : brains working today!

On the River wear where it was completely frozen there were 45 degree angled lines in the ice highlighted by the snow on them and how they got there I've yet to conjecture. The river got frozen over by a two processes ; freezing from the edges ; and bits off ice that had broken off from river ice upstream getting stuck around those edges and then hey presto the whole river is blocked . Further downstream I heard a weird cracking sound I'd never heard before and that was the sound of metre square patches of ice floating down channels of fast water then crashing into frozen parts of the river . Very exciting.

As I walked into town a snowstorm came over and happily for me there was a Starbucks nearby so I sought refuge in there . I missed the family today because this was the second time this week they couldn't make it and there were many exciting and interesting things to see which I know they would like . Still , Fo is on the mend and the lads want to sledge in Durham so hopefully we will get a family afernoon out soon. Nice afternoon out in a somber snowy Durham.

Today the plans to have a family afternoon walking in York were scuppered by Fo feeling grotty with flu like symptoms this morning . The lads didn't want to go without Mum so I went on my own. Miles was still a bit wasted from skateboarding and walking yesterday and he felt grotty last night . Family is a bit of a worry sometimes . So, I went out on my own and had a nice 8 mile walk around York. When I got into the City Centre I'd just finished munching a sausage roll when I saw my friend Sybil Wood. She looked not very well and said she had come back from work because early because she was feeling grotty. I only spoke with her for a few minutes ! I got chatting to the young Irish lady who served me coffee later and she said that nearly every customer who'd been in the cafe over the last week had been ill , recovering or just going down with the lurgey . I haven't had anything at all. I'm beginning to feel left out !

York City was lovely in the low afternoon winter light and when I walked around the Foss River area there were what looked like long brush marks in the middle of the frozen river which were the landing marks from the feet of ducks and geese gliding down to feed . The university lake was all frozen and I noticed university groundsmen feeding the ducks. I suppose if they didn't do that a lot of them could die . Isn't that what is supposed to happen? Good for the fox population! What next feeding fish in the river! Coming out of the Uni grounds I ran into my friend Harry who I have known for over 25 years and I played music with him in the Irish sessions and I lived just 'round the corner from him for 2 years . He is a very nice man straight , constant and very intelligent . He has been doing research and lectures in the Environmental Unit in York Uni. I last ran into him about two years ago and I'm going to the Sunday night session soon so I can see him again and have a good night out . I managed to get to the City walls between 3 and 3.45 because I wanted to see the sun going down and that was really nice . Got home in time for Star Trek and tea with the family . It was a great afternoon out particularly running into Sybil and Harry but it would have been nicer with the rest of the family gang!

Fiona and I had an excellent night at the Butterknowle Acoustic Club Xmas do. The roads on the way up there were more slippery than a bankers tongue and it was even worse on the way back because it was -7C and I just knew going slowly and carefully was the only way to go . And home of course! Anyway , Butterknowle Village hall is a welcoming place mostly because of the very nice people who go there but I noticed that it was slightly cooler than expected . When I saw Brian Whiley one of the organizers he told Fo and I that the heating had gone off because the fuel had run out quite likely because the thermostat kicks the heating in when it is really cold to protect the pipes! Well, no problem in a very capable village community and I saw a lot of this in Reeth and Muker communities in the 70s when I played in the brass bands in the Dales. Because Butterknowle has many adjoining farms someone knew one of the farmers and many gallons of heating oil were whipped over to the village hall. Bet that could be trickier to do in an urban community .

The music got going and there was much laughter as well particularly when one of the folk singers got going on a John Denver song " Today when the blossoms still spring from the vine , "cough, cough" " and so on . He eventually stopped, blaming the peanuts he had munched beforehand , something I of course as a harmonica player would never do! , but everyone including the singer thought it was hilarious . Got the night off to a good start . Julie McGrath the folk/country singer was excellent taking me to inner places I didn't expect to go on a cold night in County Durham. The Exiles from Eden folk Band were also great. I had a good play with the Button Hole Jam and they are a really good band and I had to make sure that I didn't over play and kept my self out of the way when it was right to that . It is important in a band that all voices are heard and everyone gets to musically say their bit . Button Hole Jam pull that one off really well.

Which brings me into a point to be considered by musicians : anyone out there : get music clubs going like Butterknowle Acoustic Club or if you are a band trying to get ahead , good thing to do , play small venues and give the audience a really good time not by just playing well for a short period with music superbly produced for your demo but takes so long to write and rehearse that you can't put together enough music to be able to entertain everyone for at least two hours , you know you are , my favorite band at the moment, but play well for a long period : at least 2 hours . Win the audience in other words. Then, musicians will be supported as they are every month in Butterknowle. Point Proved ? Butterknowle Acoustic Club produced over two and a half hours of music last night all of good quality and yes one will wince occasionally at the gaffs as much as I groan at my own talent level and many gaffs I made last night such as doing a very nice little musical run in one of the songs but " Hey folks it was in the wrong key and at the wrong time " . Groan. I don't know how I get away with it sometimes but maybe I do : everyone in Butterknowle Village Hall wants to have a good time so they hear the general impression which was pretty good from all of the musicians . What face doesn't have some spots on it? I like my own, spots and all , but not as much as I like my wife's!

A really cracking night out and I would like to thank the Butterknowle Acoustic Club organizers and particularly Brian and Klara Whiley : excellent musicians and comperes who got everyone going and made us all feel really welcome comfortable . Thank you.

I took Miles skateboarding this morning at RKade in Redcar and was surprised to find about 10cm of snow in the Tees Estuary. There had been none in Darlington . Miles had a great session and his friend Luke Bourner pulled off a really difficult trick . Good lad . After this we went to see my Mum in Richmond and had a walk around Easby Abbey in the low winter light and it was cloudless and beautiful. We saw a small flock of birds we couldn't identify but I think they may be Golden Plovers and I saw two woodpeckers ripping across a field . Got some speed those birds . Richmond is nice at any time of the year but in the winter light it is wonderful . My Mum was in good fettle and we had a very humorous time . We all seem to get very excited when we see her . Star Trek and egg and chips coming up and I'm playing at the Butterknowle Acoustic Club Xmas do tonight , with who I'm not quite sure but the Button Hole Jam said they'd put up with me for a few numbers and Fiona said she'd be my personal groupie . Wow!