TABLE TALK #69
The weather is somewhat of a national obsession. As Brits, we use it as a conversational crutch, a get-out-of-jail free card of sorts, second only to āup to much this weekend?āĀ
š” AMUSE-BOUCHESĀ š”
Enjoy:Ā Kricket's inaugural FriedĀ ChickenĀ Challenge.
Explore:Ā the best restaurants for a relaxingĀ mealĀ alone.
Look:Ā Palm Report's gloriousĀ imageĀ gallery.
š MAIN COURSE š
Lighter evenings and wonderfully crisp, clear days are almost certain to give you a spring in your step. The early emergence of bulbs across the nationās flowerbeds and a collective sense that the worst of winter is behind us belies a quiet uptick in our moods.
Over this past week, weāve found ourselves torn between relishing the clarity of thought that seems to accompany a brisk walk on a crystal clear morning and thoughts of longer, warmer days that your mind inevitably wanders towards. And therein lies the crux, the oddity that underpins our national obsession with talking about the weather. When we talk about the weather, what weāre really doing is saying āwell this is a bit sh*t, I wish it was sunnierā without explicitly doing so for fear of fomenting a mass emigration to sunnier climes.
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A beautiful encapsulation of our changing seasons
On reflection and on speaking with some of our readers, I think this points to a deeper quirk of our psyches - never quite being happy with our lot. Here, in this context, weāre just talking about the weather but in many respects, I think itās a perfect encapsulation of this most human of frailties.
In winter, we spend our darkened days dreaming of long evenings, lazy days spent in the sun and of not needing to wear four layers to leave the house. Yet bizarrely, come summer - and last summer was an extreme example - we spent our whole time complaining, announcing that we canāt wait for this to end so that we can get a decent nightās sleep and go longer than three hours without needing a shower.Ā
So today, when youāre walking along or looking out of the window, stop to take in the majesty of our seasons, to enjoy our variable climate and our national psyche for the glorious oddities that they are.
š® SWEET ENDINGSĀ š®
Ever wondered how Londonās Docklands came to be? Us neither, but once you get a sniff of the real story, we guarantee youāll be hooked.
BBCās latest Sunday night drama,Ā The Gold, does a brilliant job of telling the story of 1983's somewhat accidentalĀ Brinkās-Mat gold heist and the way that same metal found its way irreversibly into our lives in more ways than one.Ā
Police in the aftermath of the heist
š·Ā WHAT'SĀ NEW
FROM
WEDNESDAY'S DOMAINE?Ā š·
For a business like ours, there are two myths weāre always keen to dispel -Ā isnāt non-alcoholic wine just grape juiceĀ andĀ isnāt it all rubbish?Ā No and yes, historically, but no longer.
Itās for that reason that we were so pleased to receive a flurry of press mentions recently, including being listed as Delishās #1 non-alcoholic wine (here) and Oliveās best non-alcoholic wine for food pairing (here).
Until next week,
The Wednesdayās Domaine Team x