As it's my birthday, I have to slip in a picture of the house where I was born. It's a pretty recent picture & as such, doesn't really represent the house of my childhood. Three other owners have had it since I was there, so there have been plenty of changes. For a start, the name, Grove House, & that sign on the wall. In this picture, the garden is very bare, but in our time, the place was full of flowers, with fuschias flanking the front door, & a witch elm in front of the house. Though you can't see the back of the house, there were old stable buildings around a flagstone yard, pretty run down in our time, but fun to play in, and a big old barn. All converted to functional looking flat and office space. We had an orchard & a big vegetable garden, but now it's a smooth empty space with a swimming pool. Recently sold, more additions to the house are planned. I have an unabashed love for this place, & to me the alterations are completely out of keeping with the its spirit, leaving it bare and out of context. But it's still amazing to me, & I'm so far removed from it now that I'm tempted to think it's just a figment of my imagination.
