The first photograph here shows the view from my parents’ upstairs windows. That view looks north towards the Cheviot Hills, and Scotland beyond. While standing here looking out of this window I heard what I thought was possibly an animal in distress at the bottom of the field. I went off to learn more and it turned out to be…… just a gray squirrel making one of those weird sounds gray squirrels can make. So I circled the whole field, disturbed a deer in the long bracken, and then tagged on a walk in the woods. I ended up having a relentless sneezing attack. Something environmental was definitely bothering me – airborne weed pollens most likely. Anyway, I ended up walking many familiar paths and once I got home I had a big cup of tea because that’s what you do. -Tom

Photographs from Slaley, Northumberland.