I travelled up to my parents' place on Sunday, driving the 330 miles from Surrey to Hallbankgate, Brampton, 15 miles to the east of Carlisle. On a good weather day I like to leave the M6 at junction 37 and drive through the Western Dales, from the Howgill Fells, across to Hallbankgate on the Cumbria/Northumbria border.

The beautiful Howgill Fells are where east meets west - based in the county of Cumbria but also a part of the Yorkshire Dales national park. You don't get that mixture often!

A short while later and I was driving beneath thunderous clouds, working my way across the tops of the Pennines, heading west from Middleton-in-Teesdale to Alston before dropping down in to Hallbankgate where, a mile before reaching my parents' place, I passed the Belted Will - an occasional watering hole for Lorraine. Hopefully we'll get to share a pint of Thwaites there one day.

Arriving at Hallbankgate means being within shooting distance of the beautiful Talkin Tarn. Yesterday, three generations of McLaughlans (my Dad, my youngest son Fabian and me) went to the Tarn - all armed with cameras - but quit after half an hour because of the cold winds. The gallery at the top of this post includes some of the shots I managed to get - click on the thumbnails and you can see a gallery of the full size pictures. I hope you like them.

I don't know who wrote the 'Seven cardinal rules in life' but I came across them for the first time earlier today and thought them worth passing on. I'd be happy if I can live to these this year.

1. Make peace with your past so it won’t disturb your present.

2. What other people think of you is none of your business.

3. Time heals almost everything. Give it time.

4. No one is in charge of your happiness. Except you.

5. Don’t compare your life to others and don’t judge them, you have no idea what their journey is all about.

6. Stop thinking too much. It’s alright not to know the answers. They will come to you when you least expect it.

7. Smile. You don’t own all the problems in the world.

Happy New Year!