Sumptuousness at Liberty's

A day spent in London to meet up with my school chums for the annual Christmas lunch and, in the evening, to see Driving Miss Daisy at Wyndhams Theatre.

The school chums were all on top form and there was even talk of reviving the old netball team on the basis that our talents in that area had remained untapped during our school years. The most central meeting point, with a suitable court, seemed to be Welwyn Garden City, so this would require some serious commitment. The highlight of my day was hearing the words "You were good at hockey!"

Driving Miss Daisy starred Vanessa Redgrave and she was superb. My only disappointment was that there was no fine old jalopy taking centre stage as the star of the piece, but it didn't matter in the end as VR gave such a fine performance - grumpy, irritable, querulous yet at the same time warm and witty - that nothing much else mattered.

The afternoon should have been spent Christmas shopping, but still in avoidance mode, it was easier to soak up sumptuosness at Liberty's. It was difficult to choose whether to blip the magnificent Iranian carpet made of recycled ancient woollen pieces with remarkable vibrant colours or these lampshades. I went for the lampshades in the end because they reminded me of a recent trip to Fez: there is an emporium a short way down the souk that leads away from the shrine of Moulay Idriss that has lampshades of the highest quality ever, largely made from brass, with more shapes, sizes and designs than you could imagine, definitely worth a visit if Moroccan lampshades are your thing...