We visit Cannock Chase a lot and it frequently appears on this blog. Today was particularly special as we had it almost to ourselves. For those readers unfamiliar with Cannock Chase, it’s an AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) that lies between Stafford and Cannock, so just north of the West Midlands conurbation. It’s small at around 26 sq miles but very popular and in easy reach of around 3 million people. This morning we saw more deer than people in Sherbrook Valley and Brocton.

We saw around 50 deer, clustered near the old quarry and the heath beyond. We saw one jogger, one dog walker and a cheery man struggling with the Times crossword. Other than that we had this wonderful space to ourselves. We had tea and biscuits and listened to the brook (below). Regular readers will know this area was…

With today, March 20, 2022, spring enters: the spring equinox. Unlike the autumnal equinox, the primvaera equinox almost always happens on March 20, and except in rare cases it happens on March 21. We hope that it will bring good weather, both the meteorological and the social one: now, between covid and war, we no longer understand anything.

This very creative letter was created by Dave, pretending to write as Mack, the family pet.

Mack, posing for his snow portrait

Sunday         Feb 10, 1940

Der brother Afurd,

I am miserable. Dick gave me a bath the other day, just because I went for a stroll in a fertile field. I wonder if I would no you if I saw you, I think I would. I would prably no you by your smell (don’t get me wrong). I’m getting fatter all the time. Zeke says it’s a DAM shame I don’t get fed more but he’s crazy. One day I went down to Center School to look around and I went in one room where a bunch of little kids and a rather plump teacher – I recognized the teacher as a girl I had seen befor. She started to teach me to read and write. It was…