High up on my bucket list was a trip to the Antiques Road Show and it was great to meet up with three old university friends at Compton Verney last week. A fascinating day out. I took the WW1 German helmet that my grandfather had brought back from France in 1918. Bill Harriman was most…

Sally Geeve, who designed The Allotment Kitchen, is in the Experience section of The Guardian magazine for 20 April 2019 telling the story of how she had been crushed by an elephant in Thailand. ‘Her enormous foot was pushing down on to my body. It felt like a truck was driving over me.’ It must…

Had a great reunion with Elizabeth Williamson, Tye Blacksaw and Kathryn Penn-Simkins, all old Penguin/Buildings of England chums on 31 October. Three of us went to the Anni Albers exhibition at the Tate Modern and then met up with Kathryn for a drink at Terroirs, off Trafalgar Square. Kathryn brought us presents of her home-made…

For many years, in the early autumn, we have bought lamb from Mr Roberts, the butcher in Bala, North Wales. I discovered T.J. Roberts and Sons butcher’s shop when working with William Watson on his Chinese art books published by Yale University Press. He lived in a remote farmhouse north of the town. It is…

Eades, our local greengrocer, not only supplies fruit and vegetables to many of the hotels and restaurants in Bath but is very much a local, family shop. I admire them for trying out new products and Tims Dairy yoghurts are quite delicious. Their logo is ‘good food from the heart of the Chilterns’ . I…

The badgers are active again and using the entrance they have dug in our garden to get under the wall to the main part of their sett next-door. Our neighbour’s garden is a magical looking wilderness but needs to be cleared. Like so many things in the centre of Bath, permission is needed to take…

There is a traditional folk song from Rhodes in praise of aubergines. I heard it some time ago on Radio 3. It’s a very jolly song. Now I have found a translation and plan to cook every dish mentioned over the summer. On a different note, we are eating our first home grown asparagus this…

Mick, our local newsagent, has retired after 33 years. We wish him well. There was a party for him in the Wine Vaults on Sunday evening and I took a tray of warm tomato keftedes; the recipe for which is already included among those given on this website. Finding small plum tomatoes now on sale…

 The demand for duck eggs last year encouraged Julie, my ‘Egg Lady’, to increase her duck population and a very pink duck house was provided for them. There had been a great demand for duck eggs from restaurants eager to serve them with asparagus, broad beans or in quiches but sales dwindled over Christmas and…