01.01.70

Last week, they launched what Barker claims is “not a manifesto” at the Legatum Institute, the think tank run by Jeff Gedmin and Anne Applebaum. The 2020 Conservatives want to work on social mobility, the green economy, and transparency in Whitehall. Their star turn will be Andrew “Plebgate” Mitchell, explaining why Britain must keep its generous overseas aid budget. That should ensure the group a few headaches. Sorry, I mean headlines.

• I like the pop musician-turned-TV scientist Brian Cox. But despite his puppy-dog eyes and Beatles’ haircut, I’m tired of science dominating the “serious television” schedule. Friends in the BBC explain that Cox’s series draw a youthful audience — the El Dorado of programme-making. But to grab young viewers, TV bosses don’t need to explore the cosmos. There is a cheaper and equally intelligent alternative, closer to home. Our 19-year-old came home last Sunday with stars in his eyes: he’d spent the evening at the Royal Festival Hall, listening to poets reading from their work as part of the TS Eliot Prize. More than 4,000 (mainly young) people packed the hall as Simon Armitage and others read their work. Armitage boasts eyes as brown, hair as long, and an accent as northern as Prof Cox’s. A TV series beckons, surely.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

by madebymum

Have you ever made a radical lifestyle change? I don’t think I ever have. Like most people, I’m not good at sustaining new habits. I never bother with New Years resolutions on the basis that I will never stick to them. But somehow, last week, I decided that I was going to give up white flour and, since then, I don’t think I’ve had any. This is a very strange state of affairs.

As you will know if you have read previous posts on this blog, I like to bake and I like to eat the results of my baking, see here , here and here . I’ve never been one to turn down cake, or scones, or a nice, freshly made sandwich. This week I have said “No thank you” to each of these and truthfully, it hasn’t felt like a hardship.

So what precipitated this change of diet? I had a bit of a ‘light bulb moment’ last week while doing my shopping, a ‘moment of clarity’ if you like. I decided that something could do something about it. It sounds simple doesn’t it?  So many people swear by cutting out wheat and dairy that I thought it must be time to give it a try. I figured that I could do it as a late ‘give something up for Lent’ activity, as there are only a few weeks left....