1) Yesterday morning, in what may have been my longest sustained burst of yard work at Maison Robaire, I raked and bagged six bags of leaves out of the garden. I wanted to get that out of the way before this morning’s rain. Imagine my surprise that it’s so beautiful this afternoon!
1a) Shortly before this photo was taken I realized my eyeglasses were missing. Yes, I raked them into a bag of leaves. At least I only had to empty two of them to find the glasses. Moral: nothing goes in the pocket of a hoodie except hands.
2) Today I attempted kedgeree for the first time, remembering both Nicola Paget saying “Kedgeree - deevy!” on Upstairs, Downstairs, and the Duchess of Devonshire’s debutante dance, when her mother put it on the menu instead of the more usual chicken a la king. “Mother had the talent of making the commonplace original.” Something we might all cultivate.
2a) I ended up using cumin as a substitute for curry powder and brown rice because I had it in the house, not quite remembering that it demands double the cooking time of white or basmati rice. But the result was palatable, which is good, as I’ll be eating it for the rest of the week.
3) In an Oscar Wilde mood, have been watching the 1947 An Ideal Husband with my beloved Diana Wynyard, Paulette Goddard, Glynnis Johns (very early in her career), Constance Collier (very late in hers), handsome Michael Wilding, C. Aubrey Smith, and with costumes by Cecil Beaton. Absolutely worth your time, especially in the current political moment.