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A Far Better COVID-19 Christmas 2020 Than We Expected - Shrewsbury, England - December 2020

28/12/2020

My beautiful niece meets Eric, the Steiff sloth; a Shropshire family Christmas calls for Tanners Wines' champagne; & my mother's expertly cooked roast goose Christmas lunch.

Despite London moving to Tier 4, we managed to have another very special family Shropshire Christmas.

With fine wines chosen by dad; mum's legendary cooking and my niece there, it could not have gone any better.

I gave a Chanel gift to mum; Tanners Wines & Fortnums gifts to my brother & father; a Steiff gift to my charming niece and my godson loves his Swiss Army Knife, with his name engraved on the blade. I gave some of my best gifts this year.

I received Veuve Clicquot champagne; The Glenlivet whisky; Silent Pool gin; Paul Smith socks; The White Company sleep products; Elton John's new book; a personalised mug from a friend in Qatar that I treasure; an umbrella that is a piece of art from Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park etc. So happy with all my beautiful/ thoughtful gifts too.

Hope the photos below illustrate how lucky I feel to have such outstanding friends & a one-off family.

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Featured in The Sunday Times Wine Club Blog & My Yayoi Kusama La Grande Dame 2012 Veuve Clicquot Arrived - Shrewsbury/ London - October 2020

5/11/2020

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I think my charming & beautiful niece has my eyes. This photo was taken after we went to see the leaping salmon on the River Severn in Shrewsbury.

October 2020 was the month when my friend Will Lyons, The Sunday Times wine critic, featured my photo in The Sunday Times Wine Club blog and my Yayoi Kusama designed La Grande Dame 2012 Veuve Clicquot arrived & it looked even more spectacular than I had hoped for.

However, it was also the month of my niece's 10th birthday & I am even more proud of the job we did making that so special and to ensure her half-term was full of fun, despite her mum having to be in Moscow & her dad in Dublin. A special mention has to go to Kerry Jones at Bloom for Budding Artists in Shrewsbury for her Yayoi Kusama inspired Halloween pumpkin prints workshop. I took it as a fortuitous omen that this was being run!

Despite two trips to Shropshire to support family, ladened down with Hamleys and Fortnum & Mason gifts, I did manage to try the London 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' experience in Harrods. The room is exquisitely decorated and the staff better than in New York but the food disappointing, compared with my scrambled eggs with truffles in Manhattan. It did not help that, as the first booking of the day (10am), I had to wait outside in the cold rain for the doors of The Tiffany Blue Box Cafe at Harrods to open at 10am.

I also bought Lebanese wine again in October and would encourage people do what they can support that beleaguered country. At the same, I did all I could to promote The Market Hall Shrewsbury, with its high quality fresh local produce.

Before 'Lockdown 2' was announced I also managed to squeeze in a delightful afternoon tea at The Wolseley, with one of my most legendary hotel contacts; a sublime Gordon Ramsay Sunday lunch at The Savoy Grill; & collect more superb Dorchester hotel flowers from designer florist Philip Hammond. While collecting the latter, I was able to have long chats with Robert (GM of The Dorchester) and John (GM of 45 Park Lane). All this means I am now 'ready' for the next 4 weeks without visiting a hotel.

With England now in COVID-19 'Lockdown 2', & the results of the US Election still uncertain, hope my photos from last month below help to raise everyone's spirits a little. Good luck to us all!

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Celebrating a Birthday in the Midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis - Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK - March 2020

28/3/2020

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