21 Comments
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Maggie Alderson's avatar

Thank you for this reminder of our amazing freind. George came to Les's memorial service at St Bride's wearing something wonderful at a point in his life when he was really fantastically famous and I was very impressed that he turned up. I wish I'd known about Les's duvet boast, because I could have beaten him... My mother read about them in the Observer in about 1966 and ordered them to be sent from Norway!!! I think she had to make the covers herself. It was years before they were widely on sale here. She was always an early uptaker - who immediately saw how much easier it would make changing five beds every week. A less welcome new addition to the household linens was the switch to dark brown brushed bri-nylon sheets a few years later. They were truly horrible, but made washday a breeze for her.

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Anneke Campbell's avatar

I love how you combine your honoring of your friend Leslie, with the description/proclamation of how wonderful it can be to have a day with no agenda but rest, relaxation and reading . . I find the duvet too hot in Los Angeles, so I just refer to mine as the less alliterative "couch day."

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

You can have a wonderfully lazy day on a couch, Anneke!

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Clare Wormell's avatar

Lots in this cuddly chronicle. I remember my first duvet, I thought it weird and missed the weight of my blankets. I had to put my coats on top of the duvet to make me feel like I was in bed! So sorry you lost your friend to aids xx

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

Thanks, Clare. You and Leslie would have had so much fun together it would have been verging on the dangerous ...

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Ruth Kelly's avatar

Wonderful read! Thank you!

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

Thanks for letting me know you liked it, Ruth, it's always wonderful to hear!

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Alice's avatar

This was a really lovely read on a grey Tuesday morning, thank you!

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

Glad you enjoyed it, Alice!

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Marianne Jennings's avatar

Duvet Days are lovely and you've described them perfectly. I agree, the term 'Duvet Day' is so much better than a 'Mental Health Day' and one that I've totally adopted.

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

I would expect no less of you, Marianne!

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K E Koblitz's avatar

What a lovely story about the duvet. I like your thought that if AIDS hadn't taken so many beautiful young men, perhaps their standing in this world would be more celebrated. You have know so many celebrities, Boy George before his fame! I have had varying duvet covers over the years. Perhaps from my time living in the Midwest. When winter is upon us in LA, and it gets into the 40's at night, the duvet comes out, and we decide on which cover to use for the near future, as we have more than one duvet cover. We are blessed and. I will think of this story the next time I take a duvet day!

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

You have duvets with covers, Karen? How very European. We just have quilts, which we have to keep replacing after the cat has had her way with them ...

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JSS's avatar

I too have wonderful memories of the wonderful Les. We had happy times then, didn’t we?

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

And we laughed as hard as I'll ever have laughed, June! I for one will never forget him.

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JSS's avatar

Or his red Kickers!

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Mary O'Connor's avatar

Lovely!

Well-shaped.

Good gossip.

Perfectly satisfying.

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

Thanks, Mary, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

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Joni Spinazola's avatar

Oh, I love this. Thank you.

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

Glad you enjoyed it, Joni!

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Gabrielle Donnelly's avatar

I was all in with this until I read about the brown sheets, Maggie. Oddly, my parents had them too and even seemed actively pleased with them. I cannot for the life of me think why ...

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