September 4th – Interestingly, the honeysuckle thicket on the approach to the Black Cock Bridge in Walsall Wood is in a second phase of flowering. Lots of plants seem to be; the trefoil is showing strongly again, dead nettles seem back in bloom, and I’ve even seen a few fresh poppies in the hedgerows.

This doesn’t seem normal to me. It must be the sign of a good season. Long may it continue.

January 10th – Back in Darlaston, I enjoyed the morning commute. It was temperate and bright, and although there was a headwind, it felt good to be outdoors. I hopped on the canal in Walsall and cycled to Bentley Bridge. On the way through Pleck, I noticed that the peculiar algal bloom that Roger ‘Ziksby’ Jones had noticed on the Rushall canal, was now growing here, too. I suppose it must be the mild winter. I wonder what it is exactly, and why it suddenly proliferates like this?