THE PRICELESS WATERCOLOURS FROM JAPAN

My dear friend Yoshie, who has just finished her MBA at Birmingham, sent me some more wonderful watercolour studies painted for me, by her dear mother in Japan. What a honor and here they are: summer versions of small sweet peppers,rape blossom, and hydrangeas.

Another discovery: her father is involved in a charity to save Japanese beech forests, involved in opening a photo gallery and writing to explain the important of these trees to our ecology. We take so much for granted living where I do, in England, where beech trees are part of the fabric of our world and so very common. Iwanami-san's photographs are featured here too - the picture on the left won an award.

Omedetou gozaimasu! (I hope this is correct)

What a talent family and a great example of all that is exciting about Japan culture and why there is a piece of my spirit forever in Japan.

A SHAMELESS PLUG FOR FABULOUS SMOKED FISH

Super-friend Mike Muller recently relaunched his smoked fish business. We survived a whole week feasting wonderful smoked salmon when we were sailing with Mike in Ireland a short while ago. Gorgeous tasting fare from the dramatic West Coast of Ireland

Fine quality salmon, sea-trout and mackerel - fished from the wild, clear waters of the Atlantic and smoked to a special recipe on the western tip of the famous Ring of Kerry and now available in London, in leading restaurants, cafes and delicatessens, and directly to the public at Borough Market.