Thursday September 28th 2023

Hurrah - the day of our latest wedding anniversary has dawned:  yes, it's 51 years, 1 month and 3 days since Lois and I got married at Wheatley Registry Office just outside Oxford.

flashback to our wedding reception: (left to right) us, the cake Lois made,

my parents, plus (half in the picture) my little sister Jill (14)

Yes, we're a bit late celebrating this "anniversary" today, admittedly - but better late than never, eh? You're only married for 51 years once, aren't you. Be fair! 

And, once again, we're celebrating with a lunch a couple of miles outside Broadway, Worcestershire, at Buckland Manor Hotel, the restaurant we were first introduced to, at least 20 years ago, by my sister Kathy and her American husband Steve on one of their visits to the UK. Steve knows about restaurants and also wine-lists, no doubt about that. 

Once again, at Buckland Manor, as soon as Lois and I take our seats in the lounge, we get that wonderful feeling of being pampered, as if we were billionaires. We sink back into the sofa and gaze at the portraits of the 16th and 17th century owners on the walls, sip the gin-and-tonics and mocktails, and get tempted by the little amuse-bouches that the (mostly) French waiters offer us.

What's not to like!

we sip our gin-and-tonics and mocktails, and nibble on

the amuse-bouches, overlooked by one of the 17th century owners

from his portrait on the wall (left)

Then it's into the dining-room, with even more 16th and 17th century portraits of owners looking down on us, as we savour the multiple courses of exquisite food that the waiter brings us, not loading us down with huge portions, so that we can take our time and enjoy each mouthful. Yum yum!!!

...the venison....

....the blackberry mousse...

And then it's back onto one of the sofas in the lounge again, to browse the magazines and sip the coffee. 

Our brother-in-law Steve reminds us later that the hotel also has 15 rooms, and that children are banned:  I wonder why?!

 a typical bedroom at Buckland Manor Hotel

When Lois and I are sitting in the lounge, we often fantasize about coming for dinner and staying the night here, but we suspect it may be expensive. Still you're only young once aren't you! 

[That's enough fantasy! - Ed]

Steve regularly keeps us up to date with wine news, also taking in spirits. He tells us today that just a couple of days ago, 40 bottles of what is now officially "the world's oldest scotch whisky", were found by accident in a hidden room in the basement of Blair Castle, Perthshire. Somebody moved a door blocking a long-forgotten cellar, and eureka. And a young Queen Victoria is known to have enjoyed a taste of the castle's whisky when she visited the castle in 1844, aged 25.

What are the chances of that happening, eh?

Queen Victoria, aged 25

As the Daily Mail says, "Cheers, your majesty!". And sorry we're a bit late with that - 179 years too late, to be exact, but Lois and I are late with most things nowadays - anniversaries, and now toasts. Oh dear!

15:00 Lois and I finally leave the hotel and drive home. 

Then we go upstairs and enjoy a relaxing 2.5 hour lie-down, finally surfacing around 6:30 pm - well, you're only young once [Don't try that one on us again! - Ed], and best of all, we won't have to bother about having a meal tonight, which gives us a lot more time. We decide we'll just have our usual couple of pieces of toast about 7pm. 

That's a nice feeling isn't it!

21:00 We settle down on the sofa and decide to go to bed on the second programme in BBC2's new 3-part series on Picasso.

Picasso "goes through" at least another 3 women tonight. I've feeling pleasantly sleepy and I have to admit that I doze off for about 15 minutes, only to wake up and realize he is now on another one. Oops! Luckily  Lois has stayed conscious and she fills me in, so I think I'm up to speed now.

We hear excerpts from a 1950's radio interview with Marie-Therese Walter, whom Picasso took up with in 1927, when she was a 17-year-old schoolgirl. Picasso himself was then 47 and still living with his Ukrainian ballerina wife Olga and their little child Paul. 

excerpt from a 1950's radio interview with Marie-Therese Walter, 

whom Picasso took up with when she was 17, a schoolgirl, while he was 47 

and still with Ukrainian ballet-dancer Olga and their son Paulo

Oh dear, a little "problematic", you might say. Art critic Louise Buck gives her stark comments.

For "problematic" as usual, read "shabby" or "shameful" - oh dear (again) !

It's hard to admire Picasso as a person, that's for sure. It's not just because of the way he casts these women off, leaving them with wrecked lives. It's the way that this sorry pattern of behaviour is so often  linked to his status in the art world, which was the thing he most cared about, it seems. 

Whenever Picasso's premier position as world's most talked-about artist was threatened, e.g. if Matisse grabbed the headlines with some spectacular exhibition or with some bold new innovative style of art, Picasso had to fight back and do something attention-grabbing himself. And to do this, it appears, it was only taking up with a new woman that could give him the necessary inspiration. 

And Lois comments also, that when his women started bearing his children, in the longer term it tended to be the kiss of death for the relationship. It's weird but Picasso initially always showed a lot of paternal interest in his offspring, but not for long. Lois thinks that the problem was that the women then had to give a lot of their attention to the baby, meaning that Picasso himself got proportionately less attention from them, a situation that he couldn't seem to tolerate.

What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!