Category: Food & Drink

Pickers

I wrote about The Picnic Papers almost four years ago. Confined to barracks I remember wistfully childhood picnics.

Coronavirus Chronicle II

Sunday 29th March, 2020 Woke up unusually late, 7.30, feeling rather seedy. A surfeit of The King’s Ginger more likely than coronavirus. Unlike me, my iPad remembered the UK had changed to British Summer Time.

Walkies and Drinkies

Herbert Johnson supplied my Blackthorn at the tax payers’ expense in 1973. It was an essential accoutrement for even the most junior officer in 1 IG (1st Battalion, Irish Guards).

Go to Work on an Egg

This is the best thing since sliced bread; just the job for brightening breakfast in these dark days of uncertainty. It combines elegance and functionality, looking perfectly at home beside the Dualit toaster. What is it? Take a look.       By dropping a steel ball onto the hemisphere covering the egg, the shell… Continue reading Go to Work on an Egg

Rear Window

The story so far. Property developer, Dominvs Group, bought the old Magistrates’ Court on the Talgarth Road. They paid £50 million – nice money, if you have it. The site is between the Ark building to the west and a BP filling station to the east. On the south boundary are the Piccadilly and District… Continue reading Rear Window

Hop, Skip and Jump

The seasons and the weather change; there’re always new things to see and the river has many moods. Now I talk, sometimes, to other dog owners. Recently I met a Dutch Shepherd puppy with his Swedish/Japanese owners. Overhearing other towpath walkers, I seldom hear English. London, at its best, is a cosmopolitan, civilised place to… Continue reading Hop, Skip and Jump

Arnold’s Omelette

The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes were first awarded in 1919, so happy birthday and may there be many happy returns. Unlike the not-Man Booker you will have read many of the authors and some of the winning books. I think I’ve read eighteen titles in the fiction category; fewer in biography.