Zac Goldsmith calls for boycott of Sainsbury's

Good idea.
An affectionate profile of Zac is here.
Zac's magazine, The Ecologist, is here.

Findhorn

Findhorn Foundation
Articles on Findhorn and sustainability by Jonathan Dawson at
The Guardian

Lt. Churchill: 4th Queen's Own Hussars

Lt. Churchill: 4th Queen's Own Hussars

Read about Lt. Churchill's days in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars here.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty

VICTORIA (r. 1837-1901)

Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on 24 May 1819. She was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. Her father died shortly after her birth and she became heir to the throne because the three uncles who were ahead of her in succession - George IV, Frederick Duke of York, and William IV - had no legitimate children who survived.

Warmhearted and lively, Victoria had a gift for drawing and painting; educated by a governess at home, she was a natural diarist and kept a regular journal throughout her life. On William IV's death in 1837, she became Queen at the age of 18.

Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and, especially, empire. At her death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set.

In the early part of her reign, she was influenced by two men: her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and her husband, Prince Albert, whom she married in 1840. Both men taught her much about how to be a ruler in a 'constitutional monarchy' where the monarch had very few powers but could use much influence.

Albert took an active interest in the arts, science, trade and industry; the project for which he is best remembered was the Great Exhibition of 1851, the profits from which helped to establish the South Kensington museums complex in London.

Her marriage to Prince Albert brought nine children between 1840 and 1857. Most of her children married into other Royal families of Europe.

Queen Victoria

Emett, Grockles in Devon

Image: This is an Emett

These are Grockles: Jackson 5 arrive in Devon

Tarka the Opera

Yes, it's true! The little water wanderer's opera is at the Two Moors Festival. Read the synopsis here.
Otter sanctuaries are listed here.
Everything Exmoor is a lovely site, here.

Not Sloane Ranger and the Guccis

Image from FIRST POST.

Q.E.D.

Sun King: David Harber Sundials

Image from Armillary
It’s impossible to think of Chelsea in May without also bringing to mind the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. One regular exhibitor there is David Harber, maker of bespoke sundials, water features and sculptures. This year, like all the others (for three years he has won the RHS Sundries Trophy) he is putting the finishing touches to a selection of innovative products. Star of the show (so new it isn’t named) will be a bronze sphere with stainless steel and gold-leafed petals. ‘We set up the stand as a garden and put a lot of effort into it,’ says Harber. Those in the know credit Harber as having single-handedly breathed new life into the ancient craft of sundial making. His work graces private gardens, corporate headquarters, national institutions and royal palaces worldwide.

The Resident profiles the wondrous sundial creations of David Harber

David Harber's website is here

"I didn't make the Bullingdon"

From the Spectator.
Smashing Job, Chaps

Recipe: Nigella's Chocolate Cake

Nigella with daughter Cosima











Recipe

Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

Makes 8 to 10 slices

Ingredients

225g soft unsalted butter

375g dark muscovado sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g best dark chocolate, melted

200g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

250ml boiling water

Use one 23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5; put in a baking sheet in case of sticky drips later, and grease and line the loaf tin. The lining is important as this is a very damp cake: use parchment, Bake-O-Glide or loaf-tin shaped paper case.

2. Cream the butter and sugar, either with a wooden spoon or with an electric hand-held mixer, then add the eggs and vanilla, taking care to blend well but being careful not to overbeat. Nigella says: "You want the ingredients combined: you don't want a light airy mass."

3. Gently add the flour, to which you have added the bicarb, alternately spoon by spoon, with the boiling water until you have a smooth and fairly liquid batter.

4. Pour into the lined loaf tin, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 170C/gas mark 3, and continue to cook for another 15 minutes. Nigella says: "The cake will still be a bit squidgy inside, so an inserted cake-tester or skewer won't come out completely clean." Charles says: "Unlike King Alfred, keep an eye on the top of the cake, to avoid burning."

5. Place the loaf tin on a rack, and leave to go completely cold before turning it out. Nigella says: "I often leave it for a day or so: like gingerbread, it improves."

Nigella's serving suggestions: Eat with ice cream; or with a bowl of straw-berries and a jug of white-coloured rum custard; or cold cream cheese.

Visit Nigella's site here

Boris Johnson writes for NOTW

See what the Lord Mayor of London wrote at News of the World here.

The Independent - Dalai Lama: Karma Chameleon

The Dalai Lama charms the West, but can he save Tibet?

"Decline of deference much overrated"

Posh spice up life for Britain with class act





A sound not heard since the early Eighties floated over the Thames one recent morning - that of posh young Tories braying with delight.
"It was like a donkey sanctuary," said the Telegraph nark infiltrated into Boris Johnson's victory party in the Millbank Tower. "Lots of very drunk public schoolboys alternately booing and cheering at BBC News 24 as first Boris then Ken came on. You know, like very, very drunk.
From the Hong Kong Standard

Summer Evening in Sloane Square

The sun was shining, and we sat on the sill of the big open front window swinging our legs, sipping champagne, spotting the 'human statue' climb down from her plinth and slip round the corner for a sneaky cigarette, and watching the latest batch of Sloane Rangers swing by. They are much prettier these days - their hair long and golden, their skirts much shorter, and their sense of style completely different from the pie-frill collars, frumpy long navy skirts, flat buckled shoes and padded velvet hair-bands of Princess Diana's youth. We could have been in Rome, with the fountain playing in the Square and the trees bursting into leaf.
From America's Huffington Post

British UFO Files Released

Not Time Lords, but still entertaining - government UFO report is here.

Video: The Real Sherlock Holmes

Joseph Bell, an Edinbugh physician and pioneer in forensics, was the model for the fictional Sherlock Holmes; an article about him is here. Video is 45 minutes long.

Britain's Ten Best Country Houses to Lease

Bradley House

"The house managed the neat trick of being grand without being in the least formal. I realised that this was how a manor house would be if I owned one myself: full of books and comfy sofas and log fires. There were piano duets in the music room, chess games half-finished in the library, a great gaggle of muddy wellies inside the back door and a kitchen that was the warm heart of the house.
Every morning while the others slept, I went about the house opening the heavy curtains and the tall wooden shutters, a ritual that took a good quarter of an hour. As light flooded into the rooms, the view was revealed piece by piece – the curving drive encircling the fountain, the flat croquet lawn, the mature trees of a Wiltshire parkland, the decorative sheep on the far side of the ha-ha and the distant pastures rising to the heights of Brimstone Hill. Every evening, we had drinks in the Drawing Room in front of a roaring fire before we repaired to boisterous candlelit meals at the long dining table."
Read more here.

Mums - and Mumm's

Happy Mother's Day, everyone! Have a wonderful celebration - perhaps some
Mumm's with your Mum!

Chandeliers

Sloaniture and Sloanishings: This Ranger shopped for chandeliers this month. There are so many to choose from!
The steampunk Venetian glass dirigible and the crystal ship charmed me. You can see more here.

A Conversation with a Virtual You

You can make a virtual version of yourself here and then you and your friends can have fun chatting with it.
Tim Berners-Lee might not approve of using programming for something so frivolous, but perhaps Douglas Adams would.

The Rubiayat of a Persian Kitten

This priceless parody of the Rubaiyat is extraordinary for both its clever verses and its charming illustrations.
It's online here.

Brideshead Revisited, Again

Emma Thompson as Lady Marchmain, for Vanity Fair

Hope it's good. View the trailer here

Love Aga?

Splendid is one word for beautiful new design of the Aga site, here.
For recipes and more, go here.

May 1 - Morris Men and Beltaine

Green Men image is a boss from Exeter Cathedral
A Morris Dancers slideshow is here
A Morris Dancers BBC article is
here

James Bond show at Imperial War Museum

Ian Fleming
"Times Online has teamed up with Imperial War Museum London to offer you an interactive sneak preview of its brand new For Your Eyes Only exhibition which features an array of fascinating material, much on public display for the first time.

The exhibition explores the early life of Ian Fleming, his wartime career and work as a journalist and travel writer and how, as an author, he drew upon his own experiences to create the iconic character of James Bond that continues to have global appeal.

Click the link below to launch our interactive sneak preview of the exhibition, which also includes audio commentary by Times writer-at-large Ben Macintyre, who has also written the accompanying exhibition book."

The Virtual Exhibition link is here.

BBC Radio 4 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of James Bond creator Ian Fleming with the first full-length radio adaptation of Dr No, starring Toby Stephens and David Suchet.
The drama, which airs on May 24, will also star Samuel West, John Standing, Martin Jarvis and Peter Capaldi.
The link is here.

The London Season website has a link about this show here.

If you have a yen for a ride in a flying automobile, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and other delights created by Rowland Emett are here