Town mouse - Jessica Fellowes

Town mouse - Jessica Fellowes

An early heatwave seems to bring out the best in everything, whether you are a town or a country mouse. I had the good luck to see this from both points of view last weekend. On Saturday, I went walking in some of England's green and pleasant fields, where I was treated to the wonderful and rare sight of an old farmer ploughing his fields with the aid of two Suffolk punch horses (he probably does it in the rain, too, but I wouldn't be outside to see it). Later, I lay in the grass reading the papers, with nothing but the chirping of hungry baby birds and the wanderings of a bold pheasant hen to disturb me. On the Sunday, back in London, I escaped to Holland Park, along with, it seemed, the entire population of West London.

The lawns were all but turned into a beach on the Costa del Sol, bar the sand: women in bikinis, children playing frisbee, men kicking footballs. The queue for ice creams snaked round the corner, and by 3pm, the only flavour left was Peach and Mango. Hazy, lazy days whether on grass or tarmac, whether peaceful or rampant everybody loves the sunshine.