Longstanding readers of this blog may recall that our beloved border terrier Martha gave birth to 5 puppies on Boxing Day in 2010. Actually to be really accurate she gave birth to 4 puppies on Boxing Day and 1 more on 27th December 2 hours after all the others.

All of the pups went to good homes except the last-born ‘Rocky’ who we kept. We’re not sure Martha is delighted about this situation – there have been a few distinct sideways glances – but mother and son have established an Entente Cordiale and rub along well enough.

Martha and Rocky

It is hard to imagine that it in just a year the mole-like blob that we weighed tentatively on the kitchen scales everyday has grown into the bouncing beast that we now possess but at least he has plenty of vigour and vitality. Rocky is never going to win prizes for brains or looks (he has a kinked tail and an under-bite both of which are disdained by professional breeders) but he is very affectionate and enthusiastic and that counts for a lot.

And what of his siblings? Jezebel, the smallest and sharpest puppy was the only female and a perpetual escapee from the wooden enclosure that we erected in our sitting room. She now resides happily in the Academy Club in Soho where she is doted on by her adoring owner Mandana. Bobby, the biggest puppy by far (who we originally nicknamed ‘Fatty’) also lives with friends in London and has, on occasion, bumped into his sister in the park. Sparky, who had a fluffy red coat, has moved to Devon to enjoy coastal walks with a very outdoorsy young family and last but not least Alfie, the middle puppy in both weight and birth order, lives just down the road in Frome and enjoys chasing after his brother if ever they meet on a walk.

Jezebel and Mandana

So I’m happy to report that 1 year on there are still ‘Five Alive’ and all are doing well. Would we do it all again? Of course not – Martha would never forgive us!

Rocky

I am sure that the 110 year old reading room of The London Library in St James’ Square has seen some jolly scenes in its time, but last Thursday’s shindig would take some surpassing. My old university pal, Nicky Dunne, had charmed me into agreeing to pour Yapp wines down the thirsty throats of a large crowd assembled for the joint Heywood Hill and London Library Christmas party.

Current President, Sir Tom Stoppard used the occasion to announce the winner of the London Life in Literature award, a relaunched literary prize ‘for a lifetime’s contribution to the enjoyment of books’ which is sponsored by Heywood Hill bookshop. The posthumous joint winners for 2011 were novelist Josephine Hart and Patrick Leigh-Fermor.

Bill Nighy reading at The London Library

Guests were then treated to readings by actors Dominic West, Natascha McElhone and Bill Nighy while they enjoyed Vouvray mousseux Brut, Saint Pourçain Cuvée Printainière and Côtes du Thongue. And rather a lot of it!

Dominic West reading at The London Library

They say you should never meet your heroes, presumably because you’ll be disappointed to discover their feet of clay but there are exceptions to prove every rule. I grew up loving the storybooks written and boldly illustrated by John Burningham. Borka the goose without feathers, Humbert the dray horse who pulled the Lord Mayors coach, Cannonball Simp – the dog who joined the circus and Trubloff the balalaika-playing mouse were all firm favourites of mine that I read and re-read time and again. Happily my battered originals have survived to be enjoyed in turn by my own children along with later titles such as Avocado Baby, Would You Rather… and Oi! Get Off Our Train.

I was therefore quite excited back in 2008 when my partner Pippa mentioned that John’s daughter Lucy was singing in the same choir as her and positively euphoric to learn that John and his wife Helen Oxenbury (who is also an acclaimed illustrator) were going to be hosting a joint book reading at our terrific local book shop the Hunting Raven – www.huntingravenbooks.co.uk. We duly attended the reading en famille and John and Helen were very engaging and patiently fielded questions from their young and not so young admirers.

I subsequently contacted John and asked him if he would be interested in illustrating the 2009 edition of our wine list and after some consultation over a bottle or two he acquiesced. In truth, John took very little persuading as he is a keen oenophile and Francophile who regularly visits the Rhône valley.

We were delighted to sponsor the opening party last week for a major retrospective of John’s 50-plus year career, at the Fleming Collection, 13 Berkeley Street, London W1. This superb show is stuffed full of gems including the original maquette of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, early note books, the childhood toy that inspired Borka and a wealth of original artwork. Attendees enjoyed lashings of our Crémant de Limoux Brut from Domaine Collin – a crowd-pleasing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend – but they would probably have enjoyed anything surrounded by decades of awesome artwork by one of the UK’s foremost talents.

Anybody remotely interested in graphic art, illustration or children’s literature should make a bee-line for this superlative show. It is open on Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am-5.30pm and is on until December 22nd. Entry is free so what are you waiting for?

I was privileged enough to have been invited by our transport company Geodis to attend the annual International Wine Challenge 2011 Awards dinner at London Hilton Park Lane Hotel a first time for me to attend an event like this.

When I initially received the invitation and noticed the dress code was ‘Black Tie’ a moment of sheer panic set in because the “I’ve got nothing to wear” sentence went through my mind at a fair old speed (this, by the way, is something every woman can relate to even with an overflowing wardrobe), however this also gave me an excellent opportunity to shop for a new frock.

With the frock situation positively sorted I accepted the invite and last Tuesday was the big event. With Yapp Brothers nominated in 3 categories (respectively: Rhône, Loire and Best French Regional Specialist) the whole event was even more exciting because winning one of these awards not only gives Team Yapp a great boost and lots of pride, but we also get recognised for all the hard work we put into the company.

I travelled up with my two directors: Jason Yapp and Tom Ashworth who were attending the event as well and they kindly dropped me off at my hotel where I then had 2 FULL hours of getting ready, blissfully on my own. (Being a Mum of 2 young boys getting ready in my house is a whole different ball game, I normally have about 5 minutes so, by the time I walk out of the house, I am just hoping I am wearing two shoes the same).

Ready to go I met Steve Harris from Geodis Dover and was introduced to his colleagues and the rest of the guests I would be sitting with during the evening. Arriving at the Hilton it was busy with glam women in beautiful dresses and dapper men in their DJ’s and most important of all the Champagne was flowing.

The hosts of the evening Charles Medcalfe and Tim Atkin MW took to the stage to announce the results, but because there are so many different categories only a few results are announced ‘live’ during the 3 course dinner that was accompanied with a varied choice of IWC award-winning wines.

All the winners of the pre-announced categories were waiting backstage and sure enough there I saw Jason appear on stage so that meant WE HAD WON!!! Although we ‘only’ won 1 out of 3 categories (competition was fierce) this was the best one to win, so I am happy to announce that Yapp Brothers is the 2011 winners of Specialist Merchant for….RHÔNE for the second consecutive year in a row.

While thoroughly enjoying myself the rest of the evening, networking, talking to other colleagues in the trade and celebrating their success it all went by in a flash and I met up with Jason and Tom to celebrate the fantastic result for Yapp Brothers and we hope to go for the hat trick next year.

It was over 30 years ago, while doing a ‘five stretch’ at Sexey’s school, that fellow inmate Anthony ‘Ant’ Thomas (lead singer of Accumulative Poison – the best punk band in Bruton) taught me how to screen-print. The reason we wanted to screen-print was to produce T-shirts proclaiming our fandom of more obscure bands whose memorabilia wasn’t readily available in the shops – Accumulative Poison being a prime example. Not for us the corporate, commercial tat of the Clash and the Sex Pistols we were artisans keeping it real in the back of the art room on seemingly endless Sunday afternoons.

Happily I’ve kept the craft alive over all these years and still take pleasure in building a screen and making a mess with inks and dyes when I’m in the mood for solitary diversion. The first thing you need to make a screen is a sturdy wooden frame. I am sure these are available from art shops but in the spirit of my youth I prefer to saw a section from a small wooden wine box which does the job nicely. You then need to stretch fabric tightly over the frame, purists use silk for this but Ant favoured curtain netting (I assume for economic reasons) and I’ve remained loyal to the ways of my mentor.

The next stage of production is to draw an outline of the image you wish to reproduce on the screen and then carefully block out a ‘negative’ of it in insoluble glue or gloss paint. There is no getting way from the fact that this procedure is quite painstaking and requires close attention to detail. As with cutting hair and sculpting, errors cannot readily be rectified retrospectively so it is best not to rush anything. Once the glue or paint has hardened a second, and, if necessary, third, thickening coat can be applied to make the screen more durable and sharpen up any rough edges. Then you are in business, you can break out the poster paints or print with inks on to fabric.

Novices might want to start out cutting stencils from cardboard before graduating up to simple screens as can be seen here with these two graphics in celebration of my home town of Frome.

More complicated images like this ‘Hermitage’ screen require patience but once they are made you can print copies off with abandon.

Anoraks maybe interested to know that I took that image from a 1974 ‘J-L Chave’ Hermitage carton. The same logo ran until 1978 (possibly 1979). The border was dropped in 1980 and by 1985 so was the word ‘Viticulteur’. Contemporary ‘flat’ packs came along with the 1991 vintage that marked the end of an era.

Consummate masters of screen-printing, like Ant, deploy multiple screens each using a different colour to produce more complex and layered images but I prefer to stick to basics while blasting out some X-ray Spex or Undertones in the splendid isolation of the garden shed.

A quick note about our recent day out at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury show with our friends, Natural High Safaris (www.naturalhighsafaris.com). As you can see from the photos, the new-style layout looked fantastic and we received many comments on how cosy and inviting the “Bedouin-style” scene was looking. One customer commented that all we needed was a herd of grazing wildebeest outside (we’ll see what we can do next year!) but it turned out to be an ideal place to shelter from the afternoon’s rain!

The wines on tasting were the Saint Pourcain Blanc 2009, a perennial staff favourite and ideal for most occasions; the ever-reliable Domaine Millet Rosé 2010, light, fruity and a refreshing 11.5%ABV; and the red Saumur Chateau Fouquet 2010 – an elegant cabernet franc from Domaine Filliatreau which has already garnered plaudits from Jane MacQuitty of the Times and Victoria Moore in The Telegraph (see press page for details). By the way, it is currently reduced to £10.50 as one of my August Wines of the Month and it delights on a warm day after a few minutes chilling in the fridge – just add sunshine!

The Yapp ‘Bar’ was manned by myself and Jonathan (pictured) who normally spends his days selling to London restaurants but was enjoying a day out in the countryside! As ever, it was a great chance to meet (old and new) customers in a relaxed (African themed!) environment. Now picture yourself, on safari (with Natural High, of course) gazing over the savannah at a stunning sunset, caressed by a gentle warm breeze carrying the camp-fire scents of outdoor cooking, with a glass of cool Loire red…..perfect!