Selsley Common down to All Saints'.

There is little to clear the post-Samhain head than a walk on Selsley Common, high above the Severn Vale and in the teeth of a gale. The weather was favourable too, and the cloud shadows flitted across the common but failed to drop any rain on us. We had fun clambering up and down the steep sides and over the barrows, spotting various fungi along the way.

This is the view down toward Selsley itself. The little church of All Saints' with the odd saddleback tower is full of the hallmarks of the early Arts and Crafts movement including a series of stained glass windows by William Morris. In a small room generally closed to the public is a small piece depicting Adam and Eve.

So, here's November and at last our inept government calls a lockdown. If they'd called it when it was first called for, it would have encompassed the school holidays avoiding the worst of the infection transmission. As it is, it will be hard and unpleasant in the weeks approaching winter, with nothing but the promise of the catastrophe of Brexit behind it.

I'm not going to go on at length, because I really want to. And if I do I'll not do my mental health any good at all. I've not much hope for America either, to be honest. I am really, really hoping, but with no expectation of a good outcome. The western world hasn't been too clever recently eh. In better news, Janet is still full of the joys and can't stop bouncing... -->