It's a Jubilee Parade

I love being a Brit. We know how to put on a show. This afternoon around a thousand boats flotilla-ed down the Thames and the Queen kept waving. It was, after all, her Jubilee. The weather was dreadful. It was cold, windy and raining, but we pull out our sou'westers and thermal undies, stick feet in wellies and just go for it.

This family braved the drizzle to go to a local 'picnic in the park'. Some enterprising souls brought their own tents. We just dodged from the Antiques to the tea tent and face painting then slipped and slid through the quagmire that was once parkland. We don't care. It's our Queen's Jubilee and we're jolly well going to enjoy it.

You've got to admire the woman. 60 years on the throne and still smiling, still poised and elegant, still very much a figurehead and a bastion of all that's British, even if no-one can quite fathom what she carries in her handbag (maybe a couple of quid for an ice cream if the weather's nice).

She only has to say the word and the Royal peacocks change their plumage just for her. Red, white & blue is so this season.

I've no idea what possessed me to draw a peacock to celebrate the occasion, but let's just go with it. A Jubilee-inspired piece for Sunday Sketches.

Stepping in to step out

What do I wish to step into? That’s the Wednesday Wishcast for this week and never has my answer come so quickly... Why, it’s my very posh cocktail dress – which not only do I need to step into, but I have to do it up too! I have a black tie event on 9th November at a posh hotel in London and the frock I bought for meeting the Queen last year* is more than a little tight. Drastic action required my friends! Have already been on the South Beach Diet for two weeks but need to start the exercise regime. Wish me luck!


*Come on, if you’d met the Queen, you’d mention it at every available opportunity wouldn’t you?

In response to popular request - my meeting the Queen post!

The Queen and I

I love London! Every time I go back I wonder why on earth I ever left. I just find wandering around the West End such an uplifting experience, drinking in the architecture, the people, the history. Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours in a part of London that not many get to see - no less a location than St James's Palace and in the company of Her Majesty the Queen! I had been invited to the 25th anniversary celebrations of the charity Help the Hospices as a thank you for my work in setting up a charity partnership with Carlsberg - linking each of the sites to their local hospice. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed myself despite not much really happening - no wild party! We simply turned up, had a glass of wine and nibbled on a (very) tiny canape or two and chatted with some random people. Then the Queen and Prince Philip came through each room and were presented to notable people then we wandered around a bit and left. However, it was the whole 'occasion' that was so enjoyable, the sense of where you were and the company you were keeping. The ghosts of monarchs past wandering those same corridors where suddenly I, a lowly girl from Northampton was strutting her stuff in her new Coast dress and stiletto heels. We even saw the Throne! No idea if it is in regular use, but imagine what important bottoms must have sat on it! I got to pass my business card around a bit so you never know... Maybe I'll get a call from HRH next week!

Help the Hospices are a great charity to be involved with on a corporate partnership. One of the reasons Carlsberg chose them was because each of the sites could team up with their local hospice and, through fundraising and volunteering, give something back to the local community.