River Lavant at West Dean

The last day of my marathon clearing out, taking everything to the charity shop and tip. Difficult to get anyone to take quilts, not duvets, just quilted throws. The guy who runs the tip was quite upset at one which had been in the guest room and therefore rarely used. He couldn't even take it for ragging, and it ended up in the waste with the rest of the household rubbish. Such a shame.

I stopped for lunch at West Dean for a bit of peace and quiet with the views. I forgot that it's now December and the restaurant was full of Christmas Parties with all the attendant noise. The waitress found me a quiet spot on a sort of mezzanine, bless her.

The Downs were still covered in mist, it didn't lift all day. I didn't want to do the walk and persuaded the lady who should have taken the ticket money to let me nip out of the door as far as the bridge to snap this photo of the River Lavant. The recent rain has churned it up to mud. It's a winterbourne, the kind of river that occurs in winter over chalk beds, and is quite full already. Just love this parkland.