Just the tonic, division and catching the boat

1. Dimly coming round with a stinking case of the man flu, I lie face down on the mattress. I can just about make out a clinking sound coming from down the corridor. Kelly enters the bedroom carrying a pair of steaming mugs and sets one down on my bedside table. I am really in the mood for coffee, but Kelly hates coffee. Can't abide the smell of it. I, on the other hand, can barely smell anything at all.

"It's tea, isn't it." I wheeze glumly.

"No, it's coffee. With sugar instead of sweeteners, just how you like it."

2. We're in the Anchor and Hope having lunch. It's a hubbub of old friends and families, buzzed around by waiters wearing old-fashioned striped aprons. They manage the rare trick of being hugely engaging without being over-familiar or patronising. They bring us a plate of bresaola to share as a starter. It's delicious - thick rounds of salted beef, beautifully tender and set off superbly by the freshly squeezed lemon. We hare through the dish with reckless abandon, pausing just before the end to find there are exactly two slices remaining.

"Perfect" says Kelly.

3. We go and watch Inherit The Wind at the Old Vic. It's a stage version of one of my very favourite old films with Kevin Spacey in the Spencer Tracy role, which has a pleasing assonance about it. The play is really enjoyable and as we leave Kelly asks me if I want a programme.

"No, it's all right." I say, "I always felt like we should have started collecting programmes when we first started going to the theatre together. We've missed the boat by about six years."

"It isn't too late." she says, "We can still swim out and catch it if you want."

All I can do is smile. That's Kelly all over - the queen of positive thinking and the undisputed mistress of the unmixed metaphor.


One of my favourite bloggers is getting married today. I love her blog and the way she manages to distil wonderful moments of happiness into beautiful snapshots every day. In her own way she's bound to be the best photographer there, even though she won't be taking any pictures. This is my small way of paying tribute.