Category Archives: Life and romance

That was a week, that was

Posted on May 20, 2012 by fortewinks

Seven days in the middle of May: a more varied, demanding, entertaining week I can hardly remember and although it threatens to belie description, I’ll try. My efforts are necessary if only because, as a failed diary keeper this blog … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Entertaining, Family, Feminism, Food and wine, Friends, Life and romance, Uncategorized | Tagged Articulate Communication, David Eyre, Dragon Rouge, Entertainment, Eyre Brothers, Forte Medical, Girlfriends, Good Food, Hanway Street, Old Fire Station, Peezy, Prosecco, Smith + Village | 2 Comments

Beauty: a work in progress

Posted on May 7, 2012 by fortewinks

My birthday fell due last week, and as all birthdays do, it fell, took place and passed. But this nonentity of a birthday, ostensibly a nothing year, arrived on an ill-wind, one that ruffled my middleageing feathers in most unexpected … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Friends, Health, Life and romance, Uncategorized | Tagged beauty, Birthday, Brunswick Centre, Chantecaille, Erica Jong, fifty, forty-nine, Francesco Picardi, hair, hairdresser, happy, lipstick, Mac, make-up, mascara, Middleage, Pink Lady, Space.NK, Vespa | 6 Comments

Paddington Station, 3pm, Thursday. Bank Holiday Weekend began on a train destined for Bristol where my friend would meet and greet me. The journey was spent trapped between the window and a wall of strangely amplified sound: burger and fries … Continue reading →

Posted on April 9, 2012 by fortewinks | 5 Comments

London taxis and the art of Cabversation

Posted on March 13, 2012 by fortewinks

I am a Black Cab Queen. I love the London taxi and the driver behind the wheel. I adore the lucky dip quality implicit in climbing aboard; will I find optimism or gloom within? Cynicism or hope? Soulful entertainment or … Continue reading →

Posted in Friends, Life and romance, London, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged bethanl green, black cab, death, divorce, grandchildren, hackney road, krays, marriage, Monument, parenthood, philpot lane mice, puerto banus, sex change, stepchildren | 6 Comments

The G-Plan Diet: lazy and tasty

Posted on March 4, 2012 by fortewinks

The most important words between people are often exchanged over the table. Food is currency. Food is glue. Food is the stuff that brokers and builds friendships and relationships of any hue; and if they need celebrating – or even … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertaining, Family, Food and wine, Friends, Life and romance, Uncategorized | Tagged anchovies, chicken, Chili pepper, Cook, cooking, eggs, family, Food, friends, Garlic, ginger, green beans, Niçoise salad, Olive oil, pancetta, Potato, recipes | 3 Comments

Spicy rum, wayward cherubs and the artist unzipped

Posted on January 28, 2012 by fortewinks

Once upon a time I must have known how to spell ‘prompt’. These days its meaning seems to escape me, and so with more metaphorical Lycra than was decent for “fashionably late”, I landed in the midst of Zyg’s Private … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Friends, Life and romance, Shopping, Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Phillip, Alan Phillips Architecture, Art, Brighton, Jarzembowski, Kraken, Lamps, Leap of Faith, Marblehead Brands, Modelmaking, Party, Putto, Toy, Vintage, Zyg, Zyg Jarzembowski | Leave a comment

Mexico: mariachi, mountains, merriment … and my Girls

Posted on January 15, 2012 by fortewinks

Bethnal Green is where we usually congregate with family and friends to spend Christmas, exchange gifts and enjoy hearty food. But this year, we abandoned our home in East London to gather in Mexico, for what transpired to be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Food and wine, Friends, Life and romance, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Christmas, Expedia, La Villada Inn, Lady of the Assumption Oaxaca, Mariachi, Mexican rugs, Mexico, Mexico City, Mezcal, Oaxaca, Plaza Garibaldi, Pyramids, Salsa, Teotihuuacan, Teotitlan | 1 Comment

Twenty clever women (and two men in the kitchen)

Posted on November 12, 2011 by fortewinks

In May this year, I realised that I did not see enough of my female friends. Whilst the Boys are pretty easy to find barside, the Girls are more difficult to pin down. My girl friends are a fabulous lot … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertaining, Feminism, Food and wine, Friends, Life and romance | Tagged Alessandra Scherillo, Amelia Troubridge, Clever women, Dinner, Entertaining, Entrepreneur, Gladstone Gardens, Laura Quick, Man-About-Town, Michela Gisotti, Philippa Stockley, Satwinder Sehmi, Street Children Photography, Surface to Air Architects, The Nelson's Head, Trayler and Trayler, Trolley Books, Urban Species, Urban Stories, Women | 4 Comments

London: the opening credits

Posted on October 23, 2011 by fortewinks

Chelsea, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly, Soho: my route to work on the number 14 bus in 1982. New to London, embarking on an inglorious secretarial career, I climbed to the top deck daily, and gazed in wonderment as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Life and romance, London, Travel | Tagged Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Brighton romances revisited: make mine a ’99

Posted on August 14, 2011 by fortewinks

Brighton station appears earlier than expected. No matter; it’s a balmy, sunny, seaside day and a cycling jaunt through the delicious salty air is a welcome and unexpected pleasure, after the stuffy train journey. I set off down Queens Road, … Continue reading →

Posted in Life and romance, Travel | Tagged Brighton, Elvis Costello, First kiss, Fortes, Ice cream, Queens Road, Romance, Uncategorized | 7 Comments