Basically, it’s quite easy to stay young in an old body, don’t let getting old take over, don’t sit and do nothing and don’t think old.

Perhaps, some people would just say, well it s just a dog. Well, of course, they are right, but my Harriet is not just a dog, she is my friend, she cheers me up when I am sad and alone, she seems to know when I am hurting.

Well I suppose I have had a pretty exciting life in my way, it doesn t seem it to me but let s see what you think...so let's start with... JOHN LENNON.

LAURA ASHLEY…maybe if you are young you may not even know the name, but she was very important in the 60’s.

Thank goodness it’s not just me that is angry about MY RADIO 2…I know we can’t always live in the past but when the past is good and brings happiness to so many people what is bad about it?

Well, who doesn’t know her name, she was THE name in the ‘rag trade’ back in the 60’s?

Well the title sounds very interesting but perhaps it s not...I just think it is worth telling my little story, as it makes me smile every time I think about it. I was about 30 years old and as well as designing clothes for lots of famous people like Sandy Shaw and Julie Christie in my boutique called HARRIET I also worked 3 days a week for a group of shops called WALLIS shops as an advisor.

I read about Savills in some blub they sent out recently. Something about being in business for 30 years and how brilliant they were and are .. Well let me run a little story by you about Savills.

Perhaps I should give you some background details as to how I came to meet Coco Chanel and how I even managed to have the honour of working with her, however brief. I m afraid I need to go back many years to be able to paint a picture of those glorious 2 days in Paris when I worked with her. I need to tell you the story because otherwise nobody will ever know how it happened and nobody will ever know about one man who made it possible.

I live on my own since my lover of 52 years died. Well I actually live with Harriet my totally wonderful Cocker Spaniel. I m fine, enjoying my own company who needs men anyway! BUT I miss male company and especially miss going out for lunch, I m a foodie you see, SO out of the blue a really nice man called Anthony telephoned me a couple of days after my birthday to suggest, as he had missed my party, he would take me out for lunch. He suggested Burford Garden Centre.

Of course not everyone experiences loneliness. Lucky them. If you had mentioned being alone a year or so ago I would have said that I actually suffered quite badly from being lonely. I suppose it s stupid thing to say but I think loneliness is sort of self-induced! What do I mean?

Barely the day started and... it's already six in the evening. Barely arrived on Monday and it's already Friday. ... and the month is already over. ... and the year is almost over. ... and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed. ... and we realise that we lost our parents, friends, and we realise it's too late to go back... So Let's try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time...

All lives matter of course, but at this moment in my life OLD LIVES MATTER to me personally because I realise that although I am not at all OLD I have a label around my neck stating that I am! I am very lucky I have all my marbles, well I never had that many anyway, but I check each morning when I get up, and they are still there! I know my name, my post code, my address and even know my INSIDE LEG MEASUREMENT I remember my bust, waist and hip measurements to.

On BBC 1 a few weeks ago, there was a programme about the BLITZ, if you don t know that word, be ashamed and look it up on Google! I was fearful of watching it as I have hidden those memories, they are deeply buried in my childhood memories. Revisiting was scary. The programme was about the BLITTZ that took place in 1940. I was only 2 , and I know that I couldn t have remembered those early years but strangely I really believe I do.

Well I suppose I have had a pretty exciting life in my way, it doesn t seem it to me but let s see what you think so let s start with JOHN LENNON now back in the early 60 s I was a young dress designer. I had flowers in my hair AND I went to IBZIA most weekends! My showroom was in Margaret Street in the centre of the rag trade. My clothes were for sale worldwide.

Well, I have to share this with you. A couple of weeks ago I did my first podcast. Having never done anything like this before and knowing that I am not good at this sort of thing, I nervously agreed to do the podcast as I am trying to promote my new book no darling it s called BAD ORGANISATION by Wendy Darling (me) and as all book shops are closed I decided to take this opportunity to promote the book. I m even thinking of getting a sandwich board and walking the streets. No maybe not!

Doctors played God with the elderly and disabled... When you read this article you will feel as I do, utterly shocked, and utterly disgusted. I always believed that you went to the doctor when you were ill and they took your temperature, gave you some pills and then you got better!

It seems to me that good speech and good manners are things of the past. Bad speech and bad manners are the future! Nobody cares about double negatives anymore. What s wrong with he don love me no more? Why bother to speak properly anyway, who cares. well I do. We have a lovely language, not as pretty as French but when spoken correctly it is charming. The French, thank goodness, are protecting their language but we Brits are slowly stamping out the last of the Queen s speech. What amazes me is

The pandemic is a pain! I think many of us still feel we will wake up from a dream and it will all have gone away! Sadly, so many people have died, lives are ruined, hopes dashed but I, for one, still can t believe it is really happening, can t imagine what I am waiting for, surely listening to radio every morning and watching the evening news on TV should convince me that this is serious. But the numbers are sort of unbelievable...

I have a lot to say about a lot of things so listen up! Ok to start with I am 82 years old which means at least 75% of you will move on. What would be of any interest to you from such an OLD person? Well, I know it might be a shock to you, but you too will, one day, be OLD. Can you imagine what it is like to be classed as a waste of space, as someone to be laughed at no use at all? OK, not everyone thinks like that, but it happens in this country.