Town mouse on swine flu
The symptoms seem like a normal cold, but Clive sees it as unavoidable that his family will succumb to swine flu


First, our eight-year-old son Charlie came down with flu, then I did. I’ve been getting what I can out of the experience by telling people it’s swine flu, currently as fashionable as the Harry Potter premiere. As a family, we had already been swine-flu victims, because a teacher at Johnny’s school got it: so many parents kept their children away, it had to break up a week early.
But what’s the point of delaying the inevitable? One of our eldest son William’s friends had it at Eton, only being diagnosed a couple of weeks after all the fuss had died down. He said it was like getting a cold.
My range of vision has, therefore, been confined to my study window, where the flat opposite, clearly for sale from the number of new people who could be seen poking around, has been bought by some Italians, who’ve been exuberantly moving in. Italian is a language that never fails to cheer.
Below them, by a freak of chance, lives one of the teacher’s at William’s school. Life flowed back only when I struggled into a suit (unnecessarily, as, out of court, even barristers go tieless) for lunch at Gray’s Inn; they put up a marquee-cum-restaurant every summer. Better than a Fisherman’s Friend.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by His Majesty The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
The Glovebox: Phantom in a pool, Porsches in the snow and a new world record for Polestar
Rolls Royce celebrates one of Rock and Roll's greatest myths, and Polestar drives for almost 23 hours on a single charge.
-
This blissful converted mill has sweeping views, a breathtaking library and gardens by a Chelsea gold medallist
Penny Churchill takes a look at Stanbridge Mill, one of the finest properties for sale today in the west country.