Agnus Dei; Francisco de Zurbarán 

Ecce Homo; Mark Wallinger

Once in a while, we encounter a phenomenon that seems to impact the whole world even if we are not directly involved. 9/11 is an obvious example, the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral seems to be another. Coinciding with Holy Week, it has touched a chord that most people did not even know existed in them. What I found interesting was the many questions that have arisen since the fire: does it matter if an old church burns down when people no longer worship in it in any meaningful sense? Does God care? What are people so distraught about – the fact that a monument with artistic value is destroyed, or is the distress because it is believed to be a cornerstone of faith and ‘God’s house’? Thus far, the donations pledged have topped $1,000,000,000. One billion dollars and counting, and that is regarded as a ‘good start’. The billionaires of France have been subject to much calumny after pledging 300 million Euros on the first day: the general sense seems to be that they are hypocrites trying to buy salvation. Now, I do not know the people involved and therefore cannot assess their piety but even if I did know them, I would not presume to know what is in their heart. I am in no position to judge another man’s servant. Read more

Day 2 of the Country Living Spring Fair and we are still having fun. Yesterday was a blur – I had to go in 2 hours before the show opened in a mad panic to tweak the displays and make sure all was well. As per normal, the first day was the quietest, we had equal numbers of browsers and actual shoppers but it was still OK. By 10.30 this morning it was already obvious that it was going to be much busier and so it proved, we sold loads more. The finished stand generated quite a bit of interest and there was much admiration of the wall of flowers which had been painstakingly applied by Ari. Oh, the power of double-sided tape!

Today was great – it was sunny, it was warm, and the crowd were out to enjoy themselves. The absolute scene-stealers? The gorgeous wee lambs. The truism ‘never work with children or animals’ was manifested right before our eyes. Forget the little kids 🙂 it was brilliant watching grown men and women oohing and aahing over the little darlings. They of course gambolled and played like the precious divas they are. It increased the happiness quotient by a gazillion. The hens were total anarchists and absolutely bonkers. I could have warned them about the hens. When we were young my parents had a cockamamie plan to establish a poultry farm so I have experience of hens. I’ve loved them since then, they are nuts! Read more