A Whirr of Gardens and Functions – Dixter Great as Ever «

A Whirr of Gardens and Functions – Dixter Great as Ever

Thursday 22nd September 2016

On Saturday 10th September, Robert Nevil and I left for Great Dixter. We lunched there and made remarks. We were lucky to escape jail. Some Americans were being shown round by Fergus, no doubt on a massively paying basis. We couldn’t bear them. They were so ‘me, me, me.’ But hanging baskets at Dixter? And a cactus garden? I was worried. The recent hot spell had taken its toll: a lot was fried up but enough remained. Let the graphs speak.

On Monday 12th I took the Lapada Private Champagne evening view at Berkeley Square: it’s an antiques fayre. Lord Arrowby was held up by some of the highest in the land. We ran into a Robert Nevil early boyfriend. I said, ‘This is Lord Arrowby. He was held up by…’ But Lord Arrowby wasn’t having any name-dropping. Later he said, ‘Hello, Garter.’ It was Garter King of Arms. They discussed departmental boundaries for two minutes. Then it was, ‘Hello Lord Grimsby.’ He was recently realigned so as to be out of the Government. Lord Arrowby was comforting. ‘We’ve done well,’ he said. ‘I’ve bought you Garter and Lord Grimsby.’ No sign of Wright-Fogg Junior who was seen at Lapada last year. We grew impatient with the antiques and the crowds. Lord Arrowby homed in on the one good art gallery, called Boundary, and had learned confab about Abstract Expressionism before we flew out and into a taxi for Talli Joe, the new Indian small plate dining (yes! small plates) restaurant in Shaftesbury Avenue where Mela used to be. Must in fact be Mela re-furbished and named. India is Lord Arrowby’s second home and he was thrilled to find India’s only pork dish amongst the small plates. We also had the one Robert Nevil and Joshua Baring had there (it was them who brought Talli Joe to the fore) but I can’t remember what it was except exquisite. It might have been a crab and pomegranate curry. Radiance radiated from Lord Arrowby: his glow was quiet but deep.

Meantime, Dainty Lady TV have broken their teapot lid. This is a disaster. The serving of tea in the traditional manner is at the core of Dainty Lady TV life. It was sent to the basement to be mended by the handyman, but Genevieve Suzy ordered it to be retrieved and taken to museum conservators near Regent’s Park. It might be cheaper to buy other on eBay. An identical model would be about £190. ‘We need to crowd-fund it,’ Genevieve said. When we went to Buckingham Palace last week we investigated the Royal Collection Shop. A Queen’s 90th Birthday Limited Edition is £280. Well, why not just buy?

There’s so much going on I feel shape leaving my life.