In the Lyttelton, Hart-Davis letters, which I continue to relish, Rupert H-D reveals that he is a crossword fiend and wins many a prize. I have twice (non-swank) won the top prize from The Spectator.
This year’s biography of Molly Keane by her daughter, Sally Phipps, is a good read. As I read it I wondered how she knew so much about her mother’s childhood.
David Stevenson’s Adventurous Investor column in FT Money is always interesting and often useful. Last weekend he was worrying that equities might be getting over-valued.
I often ask for a Pink Gin in other people’s houses. Recently my host instantly flourished a new bottle of Angostura bitters but more often there is faffing around.
I read excellent reviews of Sally Phipps’s biography of her mother, Molly Keane. The best was in The Oldie but they left me pretty sure that I didn’t need to read her book. However, fate intervened.
I have been at the Cheltenham races this week. The weather was super-sunny and warm on Wednesday – most unusual for the Arctic micro-climate there. The traffic is as well managed as possible in such a rural location, so I choppered in.
Galateo has never been out of print, at least in Italy, since it was written in the 1550s. Its author, Giovanni Della Casa, was born near Florence in 1503.
At lunch on Sunday my host made a rather unusual starter. I am sorry that I didn’t think to take a picture as he served it in a big sapphire blue glass bowl and it looked spectacular.