Bit of a chilly day for Chelsea Physic Garden - but how lovely to see grapefruit growing outdoors in London - the tree was weighed down with fruit - as well as kiwi fruit (a few) and lots of pomegranates.  The Scots Guards were playing show tunes on the lawn and I shivered and enjoyed it. Pleased to see that Sir Hans is still in pride of place!

There have been some fascinating talks for Chelsea History Festival - still available online - and I recommend Charles Spencer (a brilliant speaker) on The White Ship and Ben Macintyre on Agent Sonya:

       

In a quiet English village in 1942, an elegant housewife emerged from her cottage to go on her usual bike ride. A devoted wife and mother-of-three, the woman known to her neighbours as Mrs Burton seemed to epitomise rural British domesticity.

However, rather than pedalling towards the shops with her ration book, she was racing through the Oxfordshire countryside to gather scientific intelligence from one of the country's most brilliant nuclear physicists. Secrets that she would transmit to Soviet intelligence headquarters via the radio transmitter she - was hiding in her outdoor privy.

She went on to become a best-selling children's writer, East Germany's answer to Enid Blyton. I definitely need to buy the book.