The judges of this year's BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery got it wrong. This picture, Ciara by Alan Coulson, should have won! 
If ever there were to be a competition to judge the best painting amongst the NPG's main collection my vote would go to this one of Lady Colin Campbell by Giovanni Boldini. Each time I visit the gallery, I always seek out it.
All the BP Portrait Award contenders can be viewed here. Which would you have voted for?
These two books are both on the Man Booker Prize long list, both are hardbacks sold without dust jackets and both have beautiful covers with shiny designs which sparkle as they catch the light. For me, that's where the similarities ended!
One, the Long Song by Andrea Levy, the story of a slave called July, is a great read which trips along, despite the harrowing subject matter. I was totally immersed in the life on the Jamaican sugar plantation and wanted to follow July's story right to the end.
The other, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell, I abandoned after 150 pages, deciding life was too short to spend it reading this! All very clever, historically interesting, highly imaginative but, as I lacked the ability to picture the story in my imagination, it became a tedious slog. It will probably win!
The Church, Lanhydrock House
At least it gave me a chance to read the latest book being discussed on the Persephone Forum - Someone At A Distance by Dorothy Whipple.
After sampling a couple of the dishes from the Junior Masterchef magazine, made by my niece, I decided I had to have a copy of my own! The recipes, as well as tasting delicious, are, of course, easy to follow and don't have too many ingredients - so just about my level. The first dish I tried myself was an easypeasy gnocchi with tomato, red pepper and mozzarella and which was made in a trice - perfect!
Honeycomb or Clotted Cream or Strawberries and Clotted Cream .......???
