PREMIUM
Plumbing and punning go together, notes reader Jean Park who noticed this sign on a plumber’s van in Ayr. Potty about plants HOME-BASED hobbies are the happening thing, with plant growing particularly popular. In the past this meant chucking some water in the general direction of a clay pot, then forgetting about it until those frisky shoots and leaves turned dry and crumbly, like an Egyptian mummy who’s mislaid its tube of moisturising cream. But with most people trapped at home there’s now plenty of time to encourage greenery to grow, either through abject pleading or snarled threats.
HAVE you ever visited the Louvre, back when Anglo-French relations allowed such things, and found yourself in the gallery where the Old Masters are displayed? There you will discover a particularly well executed sketch by da Vinci, which goes by the name of the Mona Lisa. As this is a rather famous little etching, we may as well dispense with formalities and call her Mona. What art lovers usually do when visiting the Louvre is check out Mona’s enigmatic smile for a couple of minutes, then move on to glance at other paintings. (It’s the Louvre. They’ve got one or two.)