Selborne

Taking August Friday’s off to do something local.  V and I went to Selborne, Gilbert White’s house and garden.  I’ve long dipped into GW writing and it’s 15 mins away and yet I’ve never been.  It was lovely, very peaceful and buzzing with insects.  It’s not really a garden in any highly cultivated sense, there’s a herb garden, a veg garden and a cottage garden near the house.  Other than that you can see in this the hangers (hills covered in beech woodland - typical of the area) that GW and his brother carved his zig-zag path into, his revolving hide (I think it’s a remake) set on a small hill), and the dead hedge put round this foregrounded beech tree as a habitat for small mammals and insects.  GW having effectively categorized the harvest mouse they were keen to have them on the site again and have succeeded. 

Lunch at the cafe, quick trip to the pottery to check on a commission, giant bunch of allotment flowers bought for £8 and then home. 

Out to dinner at The Harrow with George and Clare in the evening.  An eccentric pub at the end of popular walk with a minimal menu.  We drank beer, ate soup, flans and made sure George had the single cottage pie. Bought another bucket bunch of garden flowers for a fiver, I can never resist them….