Come friendly bombs

I could scarcely believe my eyes when I read in the Post this week that a petition had been started by some Windsor residents, clearly with far too little going on in their lives, to have Windsor's postcode changed from SL4 so they don't have to be associated with Slough. I've got one thing to say to those people: GET OVER YOURSELVES. As a proud former resident of SL4 4BL, this born and bred Windsorian cannot believe that people can be such bloody awful snobs as to waste time in this pettiness. After all, Windsor Castle falls in the SL4 area and I can't see the Queen - who has almost a bird's eye view of Slough's trading estate from the private apartments at the Castle - signing such a petition. If she does, I'll be the first calling for a republic and, as Julian and Nigel know, I LOVE the Royal Family (and organic farming). Hurrah for Windsor Racecourse for not falling for it and I hope the Windsor, Slough and Eton Express, the paper to which I was indentured in about 1743, is suitably up in arms about such idiotic snobbery. If Betjeman's friendly bombs do ever come, let's hope they fall on Windsor instead (safe to say that since my parents have long since departed to the Highlands).

That's the soapbox moment over for another week (don't even get me started on Nic Coward). Now to any other business.

Firstly, apologies to Alan T, possibly the only person who reads this blog, for being absent for so long. I have much catching up to do with my husband, who has been blogging away to his heart's content. I've no real excuses, as this is generally a much quieter time of the year for me, but I've been doing an awful lot of faffing (oh and sort of skiing but only for four days and only in a very half-hearted way).

I've done the odd bit of work in between bouts of faffing. Several days spent at H&H last week were enjoyable, not just from a work perspective but for the opportunity of catching up with lots of old friends in London. Some of them still work at H&H (Catherine, Nicola, Jenny, etc and the huge added bonus of Alex Medhurst also in for a freelance stint) and Kate's next door at Country Life. My old boss Julian put me up yet again at my old flat and H&H exiles Pippa, Kate and Nigel gathered for what we thought was Lizzie's birthday party but also turned into an engagement celebration for Lizzie and Rob, which was excellent news. She and another old H&H friend Paula are both getting married in the next few months (and both, weirdly, at Chelsea Town Hall). It truly is amazing that any of us old H&H bags have ever managed to con poor unsuspecting males into marrying us. There's a sucker born every minute.

Another really nice bit of work was interviewing Lucy Wadham for this week's H&H. She's a very nice lady who had some awful luck at the weekend when one of her horses was badly injured. I felt rather rotten barging into her house on Sunday morning when she was clearly feeling so low but she was very good about it and it was interesting talking to her about some of her nice young horses coming through and, of course, the old favourite The Dark Lord.

William Kennedy was with us on Sunday morning and gave Mobs (My Obsession) a very encouraging schooling session (see picture). I'm going to be horribly nervous when he has his first run over hurdles but watching him in action has made me feel very positive about his prospects as a jumper. The same afternoon, we had a lovely time at the unseasonally warm Higham point-to-point with Gemma and Simon. It was great to see Andrew Barr's smashing horse Mr Tee Pee win his third race in a row. He's clearly such a source of pride and fun for his owners - it's what pointing is all about (and what racing should be about). And no point-to-point would be complete without an appearance from Nick Pearce Jump Jockey. I'm happy to say our hero did not disappoint.

On the subject of jumping, I've been spending so much time telling all and sundry what a truly fabulous jumps sire Kayf Tara is (not that he needs me to do so - his results speak for themselves) that the decision has now been taken to send Desiree to him this year after her Sulamani foal has been born. That's a very exciting prospect for me though I suspect I will end up having to sell the resultant offspring but we'll see.

I've now coached John in using my camera and he took some shots of Panto and me on Warren Hill the other day which I'm very pleased to have. The aforementioned Pippa, who now works at Great Leighs as their communications director, has asked to borrow him (Panto, that is, not John) to have the first canter around the track which is all now in place. Stand by for Pantomime Prince, lead horse to the stars, making history by being the first horse on the first new racecourse in this country for 80 years. Good luck to Great Leighs. Everyone has been queuing up to knock them but the finish post is now firmly in sight and I can't wait for the track to open. It will be a huge asset for Newmarket-trained horses.

John's been complaining that I haven't been putting enough recipes on this blog so here goes:

Aunty Em's Smoked Fish Paté
Take one Arbroath Smokie (available from www.donaldrussell.com), a few slices of smoked salmon, one small tub of creme fraiche (half-fat if you're feeling virtuous) and a small tub of Philadelphia. Whizz 'em up together in a blender with lots of lemon juice and black pepper and, hey presto, a delicious quick and easy starter if I do say so myself.

I still haven't been to the smokery near Bottisham, as recommended by Problem Walrus, but I did find a very nice Irish smoked soft cheese in Waitrose when I was out doing a spot of hunter-gathering the other day. I can't remember what it's called but it's in a sort of hexagonal box. Yum.