Telly Tales

Recent tv programmes I’ve really enjoyed include ‘The Great British Bake-Off’ and ‘Man Made Home’ with Kevin McCloud (loved his boyish zeal for scrap metal etc…great ‘sustainability’ info).

Very glad that dear Nigel Slater is back with a new cookery series. I find his gentle culinary experiments so cosy and creative and he looks so lithe and delicious as he reaches into a kitchen cabinet for, say, turmeric. Particularly like Nigel’s ‘pondering’ face and the way he so fetchingly fetches herbs from his large urban back garden. Also really like the way he personalises his cooking. He often says sweet things like ‘There are days when I really need a hot pudding’ (I made that quote up). His approach seems very nurturing and wise.

I am also a fan of Monty Don on ‘Gardeners’ World’. My patio garden is small but fairly luxuriant…in some places anyway…and I love finding plenty of worms in the compost…added some Nori seaweed to it the other day. Thought I might sniffily avoid the big booming showy X Factor but now that they’ve actually chosen the singers it’s more interesting…that over-the top razzmatazz can be weirdly entertaining on a dark autumn evening.

I adored a recent documentary by Vanessa Engle on BBC 2. It was part of the Wonderland series and was called ‘Walking With Dogs’. Vanessa sure knows how to access the soft underbelly of human existence and in such a compassionate and honest way too…the focus was mainly on some people who walk their dogs on Hampstead Heath and their personal and sometimes very poignant stories None of the dogs seemed to have obvious ‘issues’ but in many cases their canine devotion for their owners was very touching and gloriously uplifting. There were great light-hearted moments in it too along with deft and deliciously comic touches and fantastic editing. It was clearly a labour of love.

Warm wishes and sparkles,

Grace x

‘…this is one of the best Irish novels this year…The trip to Greece is steeped in olives and jasmine, cicadas and sunshine…readers will love the local gigolo, Dimitri. Grace writes with great humour…On a more serious note, her portrayal of friendship, commitment and the complexity of relationships is very real and most enjoyable.’ Evening Herald re. ‘Ready Or Not?’