Town mouse - Jessica Fellowes
I know that Paris in spring is supposed to be all the rage, but this April, parts of London are looking glorious. Many of the trees are still yet to leaf, but the cherry blossom has been bursting out all over, as have the exotic looking magnolias. I wrote to a friend in Washington DC, exhorting the pleasures of the blooms in the park, but she was able to go one better. Apparently, in 1912, the city of Tokyo presented DC with 3,000 cherry trees, as a way of enhancing the friendship between the two cities. In 1915, the Americans responded in kind with a gift of flowering dogwood trees. Then, in 1965, Tokyo gave 3,800 more cherry blossom trees. The whole thing finally came full circle when Japanese horticulturalists came over to get cuttings from the trees to replace those in Yoshino, which had been destroyed in a flood. Every year, DC holds a two week cherry blossom festival, and, my friend tells me, the streets are 'buried' in the blossom. This Saturday, there will be a parade, with performers, balloons and dancers. All to celebrate cherry blossom and a friendship. Perhaps we should send some daffodils to Paris.
-
‘Calf’s brains have a bland, gentle richness that soothes and cossets': Tom Parker Bowles on the joys of eating offalEating offal it is more sinned against than sinning, but it offers the ultimate in magnificent, fully immersive eating.
-
The wave of downsizing about to hit the property market in the UKThe Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget — and specifically the 'Mansion Tax' — has fired a starting pistol for downsizers, and the waves will wash across the entire property market. Annabel Dixon spoke to property experts across the country to gauge how it will play out.
