But the wormery will grind to a halt and there's nothing I can do about it apart from bringing it inside...
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Annie Lennox and the Home Secretary got together to big up SING, an AIDS charity http://www.annielennoxsing.com/ Listen and be moved.
Camila Batmanghelidjh said she would rather be facing a teenager with a knife than us lot after lunch. Her work with homeless, troubled teenagers is being threatened by a funding cut. This is insanity. Which billionaire with a brain will step up to this particular plate? Please? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_Company,
As always the lunch was packed with women doing boggling stuff - witness this site:
http://www.womenoftheyear.co.uk/z-yes-you-can.htm
And Shara Brice and the East End kids she turned into a troupe of world class cheer leaders...can't wait to see the film that Hollywood is making about them.
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Odd things always happens after time spent at the Savoy. Once, many years ago, the concierge found me my first husband. Another time Adam Faith picked me up in the American bar on the night I launched the Daily Express' first colour magazine. And then there was the Botham incident, again in the American bar.
Tonight I went to a small pre-opening party to have a look at the renovations which have taken nearly three years. All very lovely.
Outside, just beyond the only street in the UK where you have to drive on the right I gave a hand to a man in a wheelchair. Ten minutes later I was in at the Royal Opera House listening to an audience with Sir Jonathan Miller talking about.. opera. All thanks to my mystery new friend - don't even know his name,
As I left, slightly early, I lost my way and landed up in the staff canteen where I found a pile of chocolate muffins. I hate the things but bought a couple for my colleague Tom Robbins, the FT's travel editor. That was the deal - I represented him at the Savoy so long as I 'brought back muffins from the Savoy'. Has anyone else ever seen muffins at The Savoy? Well I haven't and even the super soaraway new Savoy had little parcels of raw tuna, tankers of champagne, teeny spring rolls etc etc but no muffins.
So the muffin issue was resolved by the Royal Opera House.
And if my mystery friend reads this: thank you so much.
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GOLD
The win, and raising awareness about problems faced by the indigenous people of the Cameroon rainforest, made the slog worth it... even working seven months without a weekend. You can read about some of it on http://bakagarden.wordpress.com/.
And as soon as I get a break from my new job, running the Financial Times' property section, I'll put some pix up.
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I'll be talking about Erotic Gardens on Friday February 5th at Middle Temple (all proceeds to Malawi Dream, tickets from malawi_dream@me.com) and March 12 and 19 in Oxford. The Oxford gigs are also fund raisers, one for a new homeless charity working with the Burford Garden Company. Probably easiest to buy tickets from me. Watch this space for updates about the charities etc!
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