Grub’s Up

The peregrine falcons have hatched a chick. Azina, a young first-time mother, has learned how to feed her offspring. The chick has no eating disorder.

You may recall, there are three eggs but only one has hatched. Either two are infertile, most likely, or the proud parents stopped incubating when the chick hatched.

Meanwhile R and I are being fed by Deliveroo. Almost every evening we look at menus and order. Delivery takes about 45 minutes; Japanese, Chinese (sometimes dim sum), Indian (sometimes vegetarian), Italian(sometimes pizza) and more. There’s usually enough over for lunch but we do not heat up rice (another story).

So it was only a step to ask friends for lunch in the garden and order on Deliveroo. It doesn’t save money, it does save time and we all get a better lunch, and cheaper drinks. This is an inflection point if you live urban. It’s like when I started sending my shirts out to a dry cleaner. Previously I washed and ironed at home – a big drag. It’s like ordering on Ocado and buying almost everything online; a permanent behavioural change.

Something I didn’t want to buy online is a suit, so I walked (1 1/2 hours) to Jermyn Street and snagged some threads for £199, so not Savile Row. Waist was 31”, now 34”; chest was “38, now “42. I need to get in shape. Chips Channon reveals he wore stays and he was only just forty. When reflecting on the large number of servants at 5 Belgrave Square, SW, I forgot about the kitchen. I suppose there was a cook and an assistant augmented by more cooks and waiters when he and Honor entertained. It’s a pity some of his staff didn’t keep and publish a diary too.

I have finished Chips the First and will resume another book, put down for Chips for chronologicality (something Julie Andrews might have sung in SoM), for a bit of light relief; A Far Cry from Kensington. I listened to the first episode on Radio 4 Extra this morning and had forgotten how well Muriel Spark writes; so observantly, incisively, elegantly and stylishly. Like PG Wodehouse she confides in the reader.

”As an aside , I can tell you that if there’s nothing wrong with you except fat it is easy to get thin. You eat and drink the same as always, only half … I offer this advice without fee; it is included in the price of this book.”