Category Archives: Food and wine

Scotland: reunions, drama, art & a poet


  One rainy July afternoon, BB and I arrived at a remote part of Scotland where we found forty people sheltering under a large pergola tent, sharing a generous picnic. We had landed at the opening event of an Outlaw … Continue reading

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A Wanstead afternoon and other social shenanigans


It began on the first Friday of April. I had invited very old friends from Cambridge days of yore, people with whom I had mingled during the year of my secretarial training. The early ‘80s involved partner in crime, the … Continue reading

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A London antidote: the joys and jewels of Northern Ireland


Mystical light, ruby skies and shades of green that dazzle the eye; rambling roads, rocky ups and rolling downs … This is Northern Ireland, a striking, beautiful place that flies in the face of expectation to reveal visual joy, drama … Continue reading

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The poet, new friends and fifty strangers: a Christmas story.


Sunday. How I love Sunday. We wake just before ten to catch Radio 4’s finest, and with breakfast in bed relax to the familiar theme tunes that herald our favourite listening. All this before rising to buy flowers on Columbia … Continue reading

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Girls on Tour: The Three Graces and a Tasmanian Roadtrip


The Three Graces at Nubeena. Painting by Tornado. Australia is a substantial and beautiful country that until recently left my interest unpiqued. Until that is, Exocet (Youngest of All) deemed her culinary career incomplete without experiencing the territory’s joyful food culture; she … Continue reading

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A tale of clever women and country cottages.


The charms of a weekend in the country have largely eluded me over thirty years as a Londoner, mainly because I feel safe in these smokey streets. So when invitations to go there began to arrive, I thought long and … Continue reading

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Sicily and the art of slow


Mr Smart, Head of Art is ultimately responsible. Chatting last term to Beautiful Boyfriend (mine, not his) he recommended as the starting point for our imminent vacanza, a swanky Palazzo apartment owned by a Countess he happens to know. Palermo … Continue reading

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Tales from the traveling (female) business executive


George Melly where are you now? Photograph by Colin Bell About four years ago, my company took part in a healthcare event in Harrogate. I secured a nice little deal at the deliciously luxe Hotel du Vin and after a … Continue reading

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Preparing for Launch: how The Hood came good


A launch isn’t just any old launch when it’s yours. When you are CEO of the company launching the thing to be launched, you can’t feign invisibility, safe in the knowledge that your lack of cuticle care will go unnoticed. … Continue reading

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The holiday: Gozo far … and find unspoiled heaven


Sunbather from ancient Gozo Excitement mounted as my long awaited, high-pamper-factor, sun-filled holiday hove into view, destination Gozo, a tiny island of the Maltese archipelago, which lies about 80km south of Sicily and 290km north of Africa. As yet unsullied … Continue reading

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