I love Rod Liddle. He’s one of the few journalists who manages to be entertaining and thought provoking at the same time, which is why I never miss his columns in the Spectator and the Sunday Times. There was no question whose side I was on when Derek Hatton called him a “f****g fat, useless lump” and a “pathetic bully” when he appeared on “Come Dine with Me”. I was chuffed today to see a reference in his Sunday Times column to my appearance on “How The Other Half Lives”. He said he had watched the programme and was struck by the irony of someone from West Cumbria saying that they lived in a crime free area only weeks before Derrick Bird embarked on his killing spree. An excellent joke, only slightly spoiled by the fact that we don’t actually live in West Cumbria, which is an hour and a half away. But Rod Liddle is an excellent journalist and the first rule of journalism is not to let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Archive for June, 2010
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
The First Strawberries
It’s a miracle that any of these strawberries reached the bowl, as it was just too tempting to pop them straight into my mouth from the plant. These are the first strawberries of this year, which is just as well, as I picked the last of the asparagus on Saturday and there’s not much else to eat in the garden. But the rhubarb is still going strong and the gooseberries are not far behind- in fact I had a couple of large, but still too sour, gooseberries from the bush this evening.
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Two Beers or Not Two Beers
What is true simple and sincere is most congenial to man’s nature”
Cicero
Sarah Thurston has this quote from Cicero on the home page of her website, which proves her Slow Life credentials. She is also famous for living life in the fast lane, which she proved by giving the most magnificent, generous, party at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster in celebration of her 60th birthday. Lavish quantities of Champagne (very Sarah) were followed by a sumptuous buffet from Very Simply French and then a brilliant cabaret in the Dukes Theatre, specially written for Sarah by her friends. Helen Longworth ruthlessly, hilariously, exploited Sarah’s perceived likeness to Edina in five Ab Fab sketches, of which I caught four on my flip video. Here’s the link. The video here is of a sketch by Damien Warren Smith, which culminates in Sarah receiving, most appropriately, a great big kiss.
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Garden Photos
Helen Shaw our official photographer for the day crept into the garden at first light on judging day and took some atmospheric photographs before the sun became too bright and crowds too dense. She also managed to capture some of the celebs as they went by. This slideshow is a selection of her photos accompanied by Lynyard Skynard singing Free Bird.