Costumes by Vivienne Westwood, hats by Stephen Jones, photography by Simon Proctor, celebrating 300 years of Royal Ascot
I would love to be wearing a fabulous outfit, topped off by a wondrous hat, floating round the Royal Enclosure, studying the form, with a glass of bubbly in hand...
But no, I am getting the house ready for our own Summer Season and I am up to my neck in cleaning, the nearest I am to a thoroughbred racehorse right now is cursing the local horses, cows and sheep who are currently grazing in the adjacent fields and sending loads of fly's my way, I have just cleaned all the windows and although there is no grime or pollution to worry about, idyllic country living does bring it's own problems I can't tell you how hard it is to clean all the fly dirt off the windows inside and out. Its hot here at the moment so the windows are open in the early morning and the little buggers are pouring in, they don't seem to sell fly screens here, all there is is spray, which makes me sneeze, those revolting sticky things you hang from the ceiling and ghastly stickers for the windows (which don't work). Oh well at least the windows are clean for now.
Our first influx of seasonal guests arrive on Saturday, hence the mass cleaning frenzy and Belle Mere arrives on Sunday (she likes to see a clean, tidy and well ordered home) so the place has got to be pristine. No stone is being left unturned, I have even run all the CLEAN glasses, that were languishing in a cupboard in the guest house, through the dishwasher as they have been unused since last season and have gone a bit foisty, nothing worse than a foisty wine glass!
Blog posts and commenting will probably be very thin on the ground for the next few days. Next week I intend to reward myself by going to the local salon to treat myself to a leg and bikini wax, pedicure and manicure, and then I want to do something utterly glamorous, will see you then!
Fresh non foisty glasses!
I would love to be wearing a fabulous outfit, topped off by a wondrous hat, floating round the Royal Enclosure, studying the form, with a glass of bubbly in hand...
But no, I am getting the house ready for our own Summer Season and I am up to my neck in cleaning, the nearest I am to a thoroughbred racehorse right now is cursing the local horses, cows and sheep who are currently grazing in the adjacent fields and sending loads of fly's my way, I have just cleaned all the windows and although there is no grime or pollution to worry about, idyllic country living does bring it's own problems I can't tell you how hard it is to clean all the fly dirt off the windows inside and out. Its hot here at the moment so the windows are open in the early morning and the little buggers are pouring in, they don't seem to sell fly screens here, all there is is spray, which makes me sneeze, those revolting sticky things you hang from the ceiling and ghastly stickers for the windows (which don't work). Oh well at least the windows are clean for now.
Our first influx of seasonal guests arrive on Saturday, hence the mass cleaning frenzy and Belle Mere arrives on Sunday (she likes to see a clean, tidy and well ordered home) so the place has got to be pristine. No stone is being left unturned, I have even run all the CLEAN glasses, that were languishing in a cupboard in the guest house, through the dishwasher as they have been unused since last season and have gone a bit foisty, nothing worse than a foisty wine glass!
Blog posts and commenting will probably be very thin on the ground for the next few days. Next week I intend to reward myself by going to the local salon to treat myself to a leg and bikini wax, pedicure and manicure, and then I want to do something utterly glamorous, will see you then!
