For the past month, roughly the time it has taken my sister and I to melt into life in the countryside, we have been talking about The Cottage. It is a game which harks back to our childhood when we…
My grandmother spent VE day, 75 years ago today, being sick on a coach. Her family and neighbours had decided to celebrate the end of five horrifying years of war by taking a special day out to a place she…
Joanna Payne never planned for the Founders of the Frieze art fair to attend her sausage themed party. As unofficial social secretary of the London organisation, she planned a leaving do for a colleague, drawing on the project they had…
Taurus, in my opinion, has always been the true star on the zodiac chart. Not only are Barbra Streisand, Janet Jackson, Adele and Cher some of the greatest divas of all time, but also like me, they are members of…
After two months of fashion shows, Lucy Rogers’ favourite thing to do when she arrives home is order a curry. Specifically a murg al jawab with pilau rice, saag paneer, four poppadoms and all the chutneys. Having known Lucy for…
In the past four weeks I have become totally obsessed with Venice. In what feels like an eternity ago in the golden era of airplane travel and passport control, I once floated through the waterways of La Serenissima in a…
Much to my delight my grandfather has removed his dental bridge. He has always found it uncomfortable and now the informality of isolation has settled in he has an excuse not to wear it. The ladies, who normally surround him…
My Sunday ritual, no matter where I am in the world, is to read The Sunday Times with a cup of tea in bed. I have done this for the past seven years, reading perfectly pressed copies delivered to hotel…
Hatty Pocock is the human equivalent of a walking, talking sunflower. Each time I see her, at a drinks party, or barbecue with friends (weren’t they the golden days we took for granted?) she is dressed in some hippy collective…
As the weather turns after a week of blissful Spring sunshine, so does my peaceful philosophy on isolation. I am home with my parents and sister, all of whom have not been under the same roof for longer than a…