I was so flattered that someone wanted me to write a book, I said I would. It was published in 1969.

Never drink black coffee at lunch; it will keep you awake all afternoon.

I love the long grass coming up to meet the willows.

Meetings ... are rather like cocktail parties. You don't want to go, but you're cross not to be asked.

If you feel compelled to give a New Year's Eve party, don't invite people to arrive too early or they'll go off the boil before midnight.

I wrote my earliest piece for The Sunday Times about being a young wife.

There is something infinitely dingy about the word workshop. Pray that England doesn't become a nation of workshopkeepers.