'Neither fish nor flesh'

A creature of bewitching contrasts, the otter is 'an animal that might have been specifically designed to please a child' and has captured our imaginations since first we encountered its bright-eyed gaze, says Laura Parker

The plant that defied the weather

SO much of what happens, in summer and after, is due to what forecasters like to call ‘weather events’ that occurred in the previous winter and spring.

Sporting chances

Buyers inspired by Team GB's success at the Paris Olympics and the magnificent architecture of the competition venues can pursue their own sporting dreams at four charming houses that have recently come to the market

The sweet taste of freedom

The L-plates are off and it's time to hit the road. Everyone remembers their first (car), so James Fisher asked COUNTRY LIFE staff and friends to tell us about theirs

Attending the barley ballet

Late one August night, John Lewis-Stempel and his labrador are transfixed by the last dance of the barley field, as moonshine bathes the shimmering and swaying sun-goldened crop in an ethereal silvery light

Elegy to a country churchyard

A garden with a church as its focal point is both movingly effective and mellow, with nods to a horticultural hero and a ruby wedding anniversary, as George Plumptre discovers

The summits of excellence

Scaling the Three Peaks of Britain is not for the faint of heart and neither is driving the powerful Aston Martin DBX707. Fortunately, Adam Hay-Nicholls is braver than most and took on the challenge with aplomb

Be not hasty to pluck it

Have we been picking blackberries wrong all this time? Ignore the birds and follow the bees for the ultimate hedgerow delight of summer's end, advises Deborah Nicholls-Lee

A fatal court and folly

In the second of two articles, John Goodall looks at the Jacobite history of Scone and the transformation of the Palace from 1802 into a Gothic Revival prodigy house

Hero of the turf

George Stubbs, born 300 years ago, found Nature superior to art and approached his pictures with the eye of an anatomy scholar, yet no contemporary could rival him in capturing the elegance and character of racehorses, dogs and even zebras, as Jack Watkins discovers

Wheels of fortune

Life is nothing but endless choices, even more so when looking to buy a car. Thankfully, James Fisher has thought of (almost) every possible situation in which you might need one and which model to buy

From Paris, with love

British equestrian sport is riding high post-Olympics and next month's Defender Burghley Horse Trials, which has attracted an illustrious entry, should show it in its best light, believes Kate Green

Can I tempt you with another carrot?

No tea party is complete without a four-hoofed friend in attendance, says Flora Watkins. Just be mindful of where you put the sugar lumps

An undefeated summer?

James Fisher laments the quality of England's Test opposition, and wonders if those at the top of the game are taking it seriously

'Look at the old girl now'

Hello, Dolly!, starring the charismatic veteran actress Dame Imelda Staunton, is a triumph, as is a revival of a rarely seen Shakespearean play

Reality is merely an illusion

Requiring us to suspend disbelief, automata are so much more than toys, demonstrating the separation between the created and the creator, discovers

Cream of the crop

Although small, last month's Christie's Old Master sale brimmed with treasures, such as paintings by Hals, Bonington and Titian, including his celebrated Rest on the Flight into Egypt

The road to the Isles

Entranced by the purple-shadowed hills and rugged coastlines of the Highlands, earlyand mid-20th-century artists challenged the stereotype of the Romantic North with modern works that deserve to be better known,

Is that a plum in your mouth?

Coe's Golden Drop', 'Valor' or, perhaps, Pershore Yellow Egg'? To taste the rainbow of heavenly British plum varieties, you may well have to get your hands dirty,

Sculpting with plants

The walled garden at Whitburgh House, Midlothian The home of Mr and Mrs Alastair Salvesen

O flowers of Scotland

A million bulbs in one garden are not the only objects of beauty across three Scottish estates new to the market, two with houses

Working their red socks off

Each August, a merry band comes together to help run the Chatsworth Country Fair. Simon Reinhold, who's pulled up his volunteering socks for the past 33 years, explains how the tradition came about

Dive in with both feet

Do you know your great crested grebe from your little grebe? Your red-throated from your great northern diver? Marianne Taylor gets to grips with these masters of the underwater world

Thistle do nicely

The boorish cousin of the dainty daisy, the emblem of Scotland was historically blamed for donkey flatulence and recommended as a treatment for depression, discovers

Building on history

Scone Palace, Perthshire, part I The seat of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield and Mansfield In the first of two articles, John Goodall explains the importance of Scone—and the great abbey that formerly stood here in the grand narrative of Scottish history

Complex parenting

BLACKBERRIES are many people’s first—perhaps only—excursion into the world of foraging.

A new chapter

The British Museum's Reading Room-where Sylvia Pankhurst and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once workedhas reopened at last

Hotel Casa Lucía, Buenos Aires, Argentina

I’M sitting on the elegant sweep of Calle Arroyo in Buenos Aires.

A tale of two artists

A Christie's sale shows that, but for a disinclination to travel, we might talk of Callot with the same reverence as Claude

Going Dutch

The visual riches of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have enthralled visitors since the 15th century. Michael Hall traces the reasons this small slice of Europe has nurtured some of the world's greatest masters