It's time to go to France again, but at least this time I'm starting with a holiday, in the Pyrenees, before getting back to work starting with a visit to that loveliest of French cities, Toulouse. After that I'm bound for Hérault and Montpellier before tripping up to the Vaucluse...not been there for a while.

Once all this is done and dusted, I'll be back in research mode as I return to studying the development of tourist accommodation in the Lake District...all through the winter, apart from a brief spell on the West Highland Way, trying to complete what I didn't finish in July.

But currently, I'm working on a guidebook to the High Fells of the Lake District for Crimson Publishing.

After three weeks in France, visiting Morbihan, Finistere and Charente, I'm now heading back to Scotland to walk the West Highland Way to prepare a revision of my Cicerone guidebook. Then it's time to work on a new guide for Crimson to the high fells of the Lake District. September will see me back in France, heading for the Pyrenees, to see if I can still get my aching bones above 10,000 feet, then a few days in Toulouse before heading for the Med, and later the Vaucluse. That should get me through to October.

I'm spending time at the moment revising the Michelin Green Guide to the Auvergne; such a lovely part of France...wish I could be there all the time.

June usually sees me somewhere in France; this year I'm spending time in Brittany before heading for cognac country in Charente Maritime. You'll probably find me clutching a bottle or two in the vicinity of Chateau de Beaulon.

Back home at the beginning of July, when I wander off up the West Highland Way to do revision work on my guidebook.

I'm on Skye, so it must be May! A week on Mull led to a stay on Skye for the rest of May, while working on a new Pathfinder Guide to the island for Crimson Publishing.

I have just completed a guidebook to Geocaching in the UK for Cicerone Press, which should be available early next year, if not sooner. Geocaching is a developing leisure pursuit for all the family, young and old alike, with new geocachers joining virtually every day. You can find out more at www.geocaching.com.

At the end of the month, I will be heading into Scotland to spend time on Mull and then the Isle of Skye, where I will be working on a new Pathfinder Guide to the island for Crimson Publishing.

The picture shows a happy family out geocaching: everyone gets involved.

Following the recent devastation experienced by the people of Madeira, when many lost their lives, and even more lost property from cars to entire homes and livelihoods, it is heartening to report that a massive effort is being made to repair damage and restore the island to its magical charm. All the streets of downtown Funchal are clear and almost all shops are open, including some restaurants that took the brunt of the deluge. Of course, you can still see the effects of the storm in the form of damaged houses and collapsed roads, but work is on-going 24/7 to make this good, and anyone planning on cancelling holidays here should think again; there is no reason not to come, and many reasons why you should, not least the support it shows for the local people and the contribution it makes to the island's economy at an especially difficult time.

Madeira is and always has been a place of popular resort with visitors from Britain; there is no reason to change that.

November saw the publication of five new titles, published by Crimson Publishing, to the Lake District. Four of the titles sectionalise the Lake District, each containing 28 walks, while a fifth title culls selected walks from each of the books, to provide, if you like, an overview of the region.

You can order any or all of these titles direct from the publisher at leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/leisure-guide-books/leisure-guide-books-walking-guides/leisure-guide-books-walking-guides-british-country-walking

With advance sales of Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia doing very nicely, thank you!, I've been able to press on and complete my walker's guide to the Isle of Mull. Work on the book was suspended when I was undergoing and recovering from a heart operation. But as soon as I could face my computer again, I completed the book and delivered it to the publisher. I'm not sure when it will be ready, because it rather fell out of the schedule. But hopefully not before too long.

Right now I'm cracking on with a new book to the leisure pursuit of geocaching in the UK. And if you don't know what that is, take a look at www.geocaching.com.

Returning to Snowdonia to work on 'Great Mountains Days' was a joy, a chance to go back to the places where I learned the skills and techniques that have carried me safely across the mountains ever since. The new book, due for publication in March 2010, features forty excellent walks, some familiar, some less so, but all of them invigorating and inspirational. The book is available from the publishers, Cicerone Press, 2 Police Square, MILNTHORPE, Cumbria LA7 7PY (www.cicerone.co.uk).

The middle weeks of November saw me south of Edinburgh working on revising a guidebook to the Pentland Hills and the Lothians. Although I completed my work, I also managed to squeeze in a heart attack, which I put down as rib cartilage inflammation and drove home. My GP, however, saw things differently, and hoiked me off to hospital tooty sweety, where I've been ever since. An angiogram revealed things I'd prefer not to think about, not least that I need bypass surgery. This is scheduled for 10th December, following which I'll be sitting around at home working my way steadily through my LP collection, which should be okay, so long as I don't start conducting Mahler, that 8th Symphony can be quite a handful!

Meanwhile, I'm expecting proofs of my forthcoming 'Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia', to work on, following which I'll be preoccupied pending recovery...can't wait to get my hands on a decent glass of wine, the stuff they serve in hospital lacks the character of a full-bodied Portuguese alentejano.