Things have finally settled down for daughter. Her mother and I decided last night that we'd share her residency one week on, one week off to give her and her boyfriend the chance to settle their life down before committing to taking her back full-time. This was a little disappointing for daughter as she'd anticipated something slightly different, but it's good for her because at least she knows what the score is now. It's also good for me, because this past six months has been as disruptive and uncertain for me as it has my daughter, so it's good to have some stability and direction for the future.

We watched I, Robot together. It's probably the fourth time I've seen it and I really like it. Daughter saw it for the first time and called at least three important plot or action devices before they happened. This amazed and impressed me greatly; I know she's sharp but for twelve years old she's pretty bloody keen-edged!

I hunted all over town for a particular chocolate bar after daughter saw one on tv and said 'I've never had a Topic bar.' She really appreciated the gesture and liked the chocolate too.

My work hours have changed back to 7am-3pm which suits me just fine, especially as the nights are drawing in now. When finishing at 4pm, I'd got to the point where I'd be home for just over an hour and it'd start getting dark. Damn this longditude and its variable daylight. It meant I couldn't really walk after work - particularly on paths I didn't know - and I was frustrated to have that taken away from me. So all's well that ends well, although I need to take advantage and start walking again!

I sent an internet friend a kid's book about Albert Einstein today. For a bookmark, I doodled a robot with an emoticon on its chest which I'm quite proud of. I took a cameraphone photo of it, imported it into Photoshop, added lines and colour and posted it here, where it got an interesting response in the form of a 3D render someone put together for practice.

Daughter and I walked out for five miles to a pub for lunch. It was great walking with her and she seemed to enjoy herself, which is always a bonus when walking. The food was good and the banter was flowing. We caught a cab home as I didn't think her legs would stand up to another five miles back. It was a lovely day and one I'd repeat in a heartbeat.

I cooked 'crispy' duck today. It wasn't entirely crispy, and it certainly wasn't dry like you'd get from a takeaway... and we used corn tortillas instead of the nice thin pancakes. I had a couple with hoisin sauce from a jar which was pretty good, and one with sweet chili sauce, while daughter had hers with honey as she doesn't like hoisin. They were served with strips of cucumber and spring onion and overall it worked quite well. The half duck was expensive but we got five large and three small wraps out of it, so it wasn't too bad.

I played a couple of games of chess. I won the first against what I'd consider to be a weak opponent, then lost to a more realistic match as I ran out of time. Playing under time pressure isn't my strong point and I got distracted a number of times during the game. It was still great to play, though, and I should start doing exercises again as I enjoy them.

I've been working on starting a charity called Walking for Wellbeing which helps sufferers of depression by taking them out for walks in the countryside. It's been great getting my head back around HTML and stylesheets and writing all the copy, and I'm really happy with the result. You can see the site at Walking for Wellbeing.

I had my two favourite ladies in my living room this evening, chatting, playing games and enjoying themselves in each other's company. It was beautiful to see daughter making jokes and interacting so fluently with my best friend... Just beautiful. I made soup and we chatted and laughed.

Daughter came home after a week away. Whoop! I cleaned most of the house and did a tonne of washing, interspersed with computer games.

She said 'when I was little, I thought a lie-detector was a machine that knew everything'. Awesome!

I texted all my colleagues with 'Eid mubarak' and got quite a few positive responses, which was nice.

I put some stale white rolls out on my bird table last night and filled the bird bath. I was just sitting here playing Bioshock and the whole garden erupted with birds all of a sudden: blue tits, sparrows, starlings, pigeons, doves, chaffinches, maybe a greenfinch, an LBJ and blackbirds. I didn't realise how much I'd missed the birds while we were house-sitting.

I cooked something great today. I picked some tomatoes which we'd grown in the garden, chopped them up with a clove of garlic and fried/simmered them down with a couple of small whole chilis until most of the moisture had boiled off. While it was simmering, I rolled out some puff pastry, scored the edges and put it on a baking tray. I removed the chilis from the tomato paste and spread it onto the pastry, topped it with good strong cheddar cheese and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and stuck it in the oven for half an hour. I must modestly say that it's simply brilliant and one of the tastiest things I've cooked in a while.

I put in another seven and a half miles after work today. It was about twenty minutes after sunset when I got in and it was still perfectly walkable outside. It was windy but bearably so, there were two lovely horses, I stalked a rabbit and took in a couple of cracking views.

I walked seven and a quarter hilly, hilly miles with my parents today, averaging 2.7mph around the little Cotswolds. It was lovely early-autumnal weather with clouds and sunshine and incredible views. My new boots are excellent and, despite the soles of the front of my feet feeling a little bruised toward the end, now I've got my boots off my feet feel great!

I got a message from my folks that they had something for daughter. Two minutes later there's a knock at the door and here they were. They gave daughter a lovely pair of Sketchers shoes. Wonderful! She was really happy with them and looked pleased as punch! I was so very pleasantly surprised when dad pulled out another box with an expensive and personally-selected pair of leather walking boots, a pair of thick socks, a pair of impact insoles and some wax treatment. The boots are just incredible - they feel great on my feet and ankles and while I've yet to take them for a good walk, I'm really, really chuffed with them. Great stuff!

I walked five miles after work today. It was a lovely day and the walk was a deliberate attempt to de-stress and it worked a treat, along with the small bottle of cider afterward.

Daughter and I cooked corned beef hash together. When we get together and cook, it's like magic. Hopefully we'll do it occasionally when she grows up and lives her own life.

She also asked if I was ok. I've not been myself for the past few days, with events at work getting me down. While that's not cause for recording a happy memory, daughter being concerned about me certainly is.

Daughter and I played Trivial Pursuit. I asked 'What did Bahrain discover in nineteen-such-and-such that made them rich?' and she guessed 'The moon?' When I raised an eyebrow she asked me 'Who discovered the moon?' I couldn't help but laugh.

I walked 9.75 miles today with my parents. It was great to be out, with lovely sights - including the biggest country house I've ever seen - good company and even a mini-tornado flinging hay into the air!

Daughter's gone to stay at her mum's place for the first time since Easter. This is the start of phasing her back into living there permanently, which is good for her. It's good for me too, as I have a little space this weekend.

I went to the pub to celebrate a friend finishing her Master's degree. It was a good excuse to go and get a bit pissed, and I had a great time talking with everyone.

I had a hour extra in bed today. My work hours have changed from 7am-3pm to 8am-4pm, which I'm quite happy about. It means I might be able to have more of a social life, and if I try to get to sleep around the same time I've been doing recently I'll get more sleep, which can only be a good thing. It's also handy as the days are getting shorter and it was probably only a week until it would be dark when I woke up, so at least I can stave that off for another few weeks. It'll also be nice as it means I'll see a little more of daughter in the mornings, as we'll be getting up at the same time.

Daughter and I made spring onion and lettuce risotto with bacon this evening, having been inspired by a tv show at the start of the week. I must say it was great cooking with her again, and it tasted bloody brilliant - one of the tastiest things I've eaten in a fair while. Daughter loved it too, which is always a bonus. We made it with some home-made chicken stock too, which was great. Omnomnom!