The smell of heaven

It has been a long time since I last wrote. During this time I have lost two close friends, the most poignant of whom was my amazing greyhound puppy Zephyr, who tragically lost his life at the tender age of ten months. Some animals have something incredibly special about them and Zephyr was one of those creatures. Not only was he extraordinarily handsome, charismatic and aerodynamic, he was also deeply sensitive and had the aura of a long-lost soul mate. He lost his life to a hit-and-run sports car outside our house. I shall never forget him as long as I live. In his short life he brought me unmeasured happiness. A new black dog has since come into our lives. From Battersea Dogs Home he arrived, carrying in his big, puppy paws plenty of emotional baggage. After a fraught few months of unsightly behaviour, we are now seeing a warm and loyal creature emerge, ready to lick us to death.

Another friend just disappeared into the ether one day. Like a puff of smoke. It was very sad. I think it was something I said.

I have just come back from Switzerland, a country where millionaires parade relentlessly with a distinct lack of allure – just obvious money. It was strange being in a skiing resort that comprised large numbers of very rich people – and us. We were there with a skiing charity and Zelda was learning to mono-ski. We all had very cold hands and needed new gloves. £300 pounds for three pairs seemed quite reasonable at the time, compared with the price of a punnet of chips at the top of the mountain.

Today I had a lovely e-mail correspondence with Linda Pilkington, the creator of Ormonde Jayne perfumes. I just had to have a bottle of Frangipani for a party I am going to tonight. No other perfume would do. So she made sure I got it in time. And I made sure I told her how incredibly talented I think she is. I am now floating on a cloud of gorgeous exotic flowers and it’s amazing how good I feel. I first tried this scent on the mountain top last week and it was so very good up there that I had to try it down below and it was so very good there too. So I am now drenched in it.

Another new development in my life is that I’m doing a degree in Humanities with French. I did Humanities last year and loved it. I’m now doing French and I love it. I’m going to a summer school in Normandy in July. I can’t wait. God knows how useful any of this will be to me in the future but at least I now know that Milton Keynes is a sacred space and that Cleopatra had a very big nose on Roman coins.