Lifestyle

Sandi talks knitting, lockdown survival and why she’s desperate to get on the road again with her new live show NEXT SLIDE PLEASE…

It won’t be a surprise to Sandi Toksvig fans that the polymath QI presenter owns an Encyclopaedia of Flintlock Weaponry and a tome titled Knitting with Dog Hair.  “I collect books where I think, ‘Why would anybody publish that?’” she admits. “So you should never challenge me as chances are I will have a book about it.” A dozen or so such titles will crop up in her new stage show, Next Slide Please, among many other quite interesting topics.

two Royal favourites joined forces for an exclusive evening for Barnardo’s, to raise awareness of the critical services the charity delivers for vulnerable children and young people.

During the evening, sculptor Frances Segelman, who has crafted likenesses of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, ‘live-sculpted’ a bust of Bruce Oldfield OBE, the favourite fashion designer of Diana, Princess of Wales, at Lambeth Palace Gardens.

On the return journey from Somerset in the Bentley Flying Spur, I pulled over for a zoom meeting with perfumer Ane Ayo to launch the new Bentley Momentum Unbreakable fragrance for men.

Ane Ayo is a huge star in the perfume firmament. Having created fragrances for Lalique and many other well-known brands. Ayo spent her childhood in Spain (she has a gorgeous Spanish accent still), then studied in the UK and Germany before settling in France.

They were the songs that defined an era– Show Me Love, Young Hearts Run Free, No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), Finally – and the artists that defined an era – Robin S, Kym Mazelle, Angie Brown and Beverley Skeete – now for the first time, House Classics - celebrating the most iconic house tracks from the 1990’s, performed and reimagined by some of the most recognisable vocalists of the decade live on stage with the NPCO on a nationwide UK tour.

Serves 2
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 20 mins

Ingredients
1 itsu classic ramen brilliant’broth
8 itsu vegetable fusion gyoza
1 sachet itsu miso’easy traditional
2 portions ‘heat & eat’ udon noodles
2 baby pak choi
4 baby corn
Sesame seeds
Coriander

Providence almighty! Award-winning singer-songwriter Katy Carr’s latest studio album - made in lockdown over 2020 in a year that few will forget - serves up some catchy songs with an edge. Inspired initially by a dream sequence that the Nottingham-born singer had, literary luminaries and others including George Orwell and Oscar Wilde influenced this latest work.

If you want the best all-weather touring jacket money can but, look no further than the Dainese Gran Turismo GORE-TEX® Jacket.

Dainese is probably the most iconic and evocative motorcycle clothing brand in history.

Maybe you’ve had to cancel your wedding this year. Maybe you’re feeling the pressure and stress of having to postpone or rearrange. Maybe you’ve decided to change your wedding plans entirely. Right now, there are a lot of ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’. And I want to assure you that, whatever shape your wedding takes, whatever changes and adjustments have to be made, know that it will be the most glorious of days, because it’s yours – and that is all you need to make it special. 

I’ve always used full face helmets, and always sports bike/race style lids. Open face helmets have never really appealed and I wouldn’t consider not wearing one, no matter where I was. When AGV offered to let me try their SportModular flip front lid I was a bit sceptical, but I’m always open to new ideas, so thought I’d give it a go.