Stress

I had the late evening variety - eventually resolved - and settled my nerves with a glass of cherry and coconut.stout laced with Irish whisky..This tastes like a Fisherman’s Friend in liquid form, but is curiously satisfying. It has an almost nostalgic liquorice quality to it, the impossible combination of flavours redolent of an era that never existed but which is somehow comforting.

According to the historian Judith Flanders 

"The word nostalgia was coined in the 17th century when it was defined as a physical ailment to which Swiss soldiers fighting abroad were particularly vulnerable. The recommended treatment was opium, an application of leeches and a visit to the Alps." Nostalgia is actually a fantasy and there is certainly no future in it. Most people are nostalgic for something they never really knew.

We paid a nostalgic visit to the Hay Festival today and watched Ardle O’ Hanlon. I like him a lot, although he seemed a little subdued in this recorded session. Too much cherry and coconut stout with Irish whisky the night before perhaps.

For the record Scout doesn’t do stress - he is, as this image shows, very laid back.

I reinvented the Bristol Stool Chart today to help people select the next Tory leader. See attached.