Who’s Who

Oh the shame of it. It turns out I have been self-isolating for years, living in social Siberia if you will. Anyone of any consequence has caught the virus but it hasn’t sneaked into No 56 yet. The Prince of Wales has had a royal flush.

Silver Lining

On Monday Bertie and I drove to Richmond Park. The park is closed to traffic; pedestrians and cyclists are cautioned to keep well apart and not meet in groups. This was largely observed. Incidentally, the roads outside the park are the only ones south of the Humber that have free parking.

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Categorised as Nature

A Jaunt To See Jenner

Guest blogger, Robert Bruce, went on an apposite walk on Sunday. “Yesterday, in need of exercise on a bright Spring day, I walked down to the Italian Gardens at the north side of Kensington Gardens. I made sure that I was socially distancing all the way. Though this was relatively easy. Not many people about.… Continue reading A Jaunt To See Jenner

A Day of Reckoning

A month ago I took a look at my savings, see Bertie and Brunner. Now it’s time to see how resilient my portfolio is.

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Categorised as Business

The Happiest Days of My Life?

It was raining when I left the club to go to the Hugh Lane Gallery, so I took a cab. The driver asked me if I’d been in Ireland before …

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Categorised as Family

British Baroque

The last exhibition I saw was at Tate Britain. British Baroque: Power and Illusion covers the reigns of the last Stuart monarchs, from the restoration of Charles II in 1660 to the death of Queen Anne in 1714.

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Categorised as Art

I Don’t Believe It!

That’s Victor Meldrew’s catchphrase in One Foot in the Grave; a sitcom broadcast on the BBC in the last decade of the 20th century – those halcyon days. Well, I don’t believe it; I don’t believe I’ve never written about Rafael Sabatini.

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Categorised as Literature

A Limpid Dreary Day

This morning I went to the Polish Café by the tube station to buy lunch. It is only doing take-away sales. The corner shop was busy but had run out of eggs. A long queue outside the butcher. A sign on the chemist’s door: “no Ibuprofen, thermometers or hand gel”. Oddbins also have a sign:… Continue reading A Limpid Dreary Day

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Categorised as Literature