Fishbourne Palace

First thing it was, of course, pouring with rain and so we decided to go on an outing in the afternoon.  Vikram had always wanted to see Fishbourne Palace, the remnant of a Roman palace near Chichester. Then it cleared up and I wanted to stay in the garden but V had bought the tickets and so we went.   I remembered it from junior school outings as having two interesting things, some skeletons and this mosaic of a boy on a dolphin.  And guess what….

What was shocking to me however, was that we must have been among the first school kids through the door as it was only discovered in 1960 and opened to the public in 1968. I left that school in 1969. 

They’ve done some work on the gardens since and laid out a Roman garden and a clearer idea of the rest of the palace.   It was sunny when we were there (cold) so I’m glad we went.  I won’t rush back unless a grandchild is interested in all things Roman. 

In other springtime news I made nettle soup, an annual Easter ritual.  I was going to change recipe from the Claire McDonald one I’ve done for years to a Felicity Cloake one, you know, where she’s tried all the recipes and settled on the best but she demanded 500g of nettles.  500g!! That’s about three carrier bags. And after discovering my gardening gloves weren’t nettle proof I canned that idea and went back to the original. 

Planted some lilies - which I love in tubs.  Did some other gardening.  Got ahead on what I’m cooking from the Dishoom cook book for tomorrow.  

Watched the last ep of Shogun that we have access too for now - so good.