Malvern Hills

Robert and I usually take a few days respite from London life and here we are in the Malvern Hills.

Eat Fish

“It’s brain,” I said: “pure brain! What do you do to get like that Jeeves? I believe you must eat a lot of fish, or something. Do you eat a lot of fish, Jeeves?” “No sir.” (My Man Jeeves, PG Wodehouse)

Weekend Wodehouse

Last Saturday I read this letter in The Times, after a nudge from its author: Appropriately it is lying on my 1940 edition of Weekend Wodehouse with an introduction by Hilaire Belloc.

Forsyth Saga

I came across this plaque in Kensington Gardens on Sunday. It is the right time of year to see it because William Forsyth’s Forsythia was flowering.

Ten Things To Do List

1. Write thank you letter to Alistair for inviting me to the Hotel Chocolat last week. Here’s the bar of chocolate I made. Looks like a dog mess but I won’t stress that in my letter.

Thelma

Thelma Cazalet-Keir (1899 – !989) was a Conservative politician and feminist, serving on the London County Council and as a Member of Parliament. She was also, amongst much else, a member of the Arts Council and a Governor of the BBC.

Three Times a Lady

My third Tosca since October: first Rome, then Live from the Met and on Saturday, Covent Garden. Saturday matinees are always popular.

Robert Herrick

Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen is PG Wodehouse’s last complete novel, published in 1974, a year before he died aged ninety-three. At an age when his creative juices might be expected to dry up, it is right up to his usual high standard. If you want to know why Bertie Wooster is mistaken for arch-criminal Alpine Joe… Continue reading Robert Herrick

More Opera

Yesterday was Fulham Opera’s spot. Tomorrow, Saturday,  Franco Zeffirelli’s production of La Bohème is on at the Met. I will not be there but I will be in the Curzon Chelsea to watch it being streamed live from New York.

I’m into Something Good

An obsequious, chastened Pious brought him the gin on the stoop. Morgan poured two inches into a glass full of ice, added some bitters and a dash of water. He hated the drink but it seemed the apt thing to do; end of a tropical day, sundowners and all that.