This episode starts with something a bit more personal. I’ve talked openly before about my mental health and how far I’ve come, but I wanted to be honest that it isn’t always rosy in the garden. You go up, you go down. The trick I use is to imagine those worries as files in a filing cabinet – take one out, look at it, say “that’s not going to happen”, pop it back and shut the drawer. It really is worth pushing yourself to reclaim your life.
Then it’s back to the good stuff: a 7am beach walk before the sun gets too hot, followed by a swim. Some lovely followers came up to say hello – thank you Emma and Debbie, and sorry I scuttled off! I always thought I was invisible, and suddenly I’m not.
On the food front there’s a caprese pasta washed down with a margarita, a hot and sour soup and some bhindi (okra – I know it’s a love-it-or-hate-it thing) at my favourite fish restaurant after a very long wait.
I also answer a few of your questions about who I am and what I do: top tips, ingredient chats, a tiara every Tuesday (blame the Cartier exhibition at the V&A), cocktails at five on a Friday – and a book on the way. Oh, and the dresses everyone asks about: one from Superdry that I cut into a halter, and a sheer beach cover-up from Monsoon.