Rus in urbe

I went out for a stroll on Hampstead Heath at 7.30 this morning. It's 80o acres of countryside in north London comprising high heathland, woods, lakes and grassy meadows. Within 10 minutes I had spotted two wild rabbits, picked ripe blackberries and found these two Birch Boletes, Leccinum scaber, which I have photographed on a Fernand Léger plate (the communist painter - very Hampstead!)

My father, who as I mentioned yesterday was Russian, lived for many years in London (a Rus in urbe) and was a great forager in the wilder places of the city and its environs. Once, having left his tobacco pipe at home and fancying a smoke with his pint of beer, he rummaged in the flower bed of a public garden known to him and within a very short time unearthed a perfectly serviceable clay pipe that must have dated from a century back. In true Slavonic fashion though, fungi were his main passion. I have followed in his footsteps there and I'm delighted that my sons have caught the bug too.

The birch boletes made a nice little garnish for the evening's risotto. No rabbits were harmed.