With thanks to Country and Townhouse, here are ideas of five things to do in London this week:

The most stylish blankets to buy for your home, and 6 easy sustainable swaps you may not have thought of

Kill them with kindness. That’s the advice I give my children and that I try to follow myself (not always successfully). If someone’s got a problem with you – you accidently get too close in the greengrocer, your dog steals their dog’s ball, you hang around too long at a traffic light… or some such misdemeanour, and they lose their cool and bare their teeth; smile sweetly, apologise effusively and blindside them. Everyone is primed for antagonism. It’s good to do the unexpected – and have the moral feather landing in your cap.

Have a great week.

Lucy

Image: ‘Grandiflora Rose’ wallpaper design by Designers Guild

FIVE THINGS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS

New Normal Pictures

Artistic double act Gilbert & George – who feature on this week’s Break Out Culture – are back with a new show at White Cube Gallery. Titled New Normal Pictures, the exhibition brings together 26 images described by the pair as ‘celebratory, crazed and super-modern’. See it online now ahead of the gallery reopening. Image: Gilbert & George, WOKEN, 2020.

Bluebird x Nyetimber

A new virtual dining experience from Bluebird Chelsea takes digital cookery classes to new heights. Running in collaboration with Nyetimber, the evening will see executive chef Henrik Ritzen guide you through cooking a four-course meal paired with wines. On the menu: charred asparagus with wild garlic, baked Cornish turbot and a rhubarb crumble.

Candlelit Breathwork

Participate in Earth Hour by switching off your lights and tuning into a candlelit breathwork class with meditation expert Tara Nash. All proceeds from the class will go towards Friends of the Earth, a charitable trust dedicated to protecting the natural world. Image credit: Getty

Philippa Craddock’s Online Floristry Classes

Planning a post-lockdown wedding? Philippa Craddock, the florist commissioned to design the floral displays for Harry and Meghan’s big day, is launching two online wedding floristry classes. The first begins on 27 March and is targeted at brides and grooms – no prior experience required.

Hepworth Wakefield’s Print Fair

Explore artist studios, listen to in-conversation events and invest in new artworks for your home at the online version of Hepworth Wakefield’s Print Fair, which runs until 28 March. Tune in on Thursday for an in-conversation event with printmaker Martyn Brewster and Peter Davies, author of After Trewyn: St Ives Sculptors Since Hepworth. Image credit: Kittie Jones, Bar-tailed Godwit.

WHAT’S KEEPING MY SPIRITS UP

Micro Economies

Did your street set up a Whatsapp group when lockdown first hit in March last year? While then it was all about support, shopping and picking things up for vulnerable residents, I’ve noticed it’s morphed into a brilliant micro economy resource. Our neighbour at number 70 now posts a picture of her delicious home-cooked chicken biryani on a Wednesday. You can put your order in on Friday and she’ll cook it fresh for you on Sunday. There are also furniture swaps, carpools and yoga lessons. A future blueprint here perhaps.

Blankets

I spent winter’s lockdown being wrapped in them. And they always look so chic artfully slung over an armchair or sofa (preferably from Maker & Son) in other people’s houses. Mine were invariably covered in dog hair, chocolate stains (from sitting on Maltesers) and sticky bits from being used as the children’s napkins, but my research shows there are some absolute stunners out there – for grown-ups only. Image credit: JW Anderson x Magdalene Odundo Cat Walk. Juergen Teller.

Swapshop

You’ve got the reusable water bottle and coffee cup; you carry your hessian tote wherever you go and you may even do your own composting. But there are plenty more sustainable swaps you can do that you may not even have thought of – here are six of them.

THIS WEEK'S MUST READS

A new breed of stylish attire for canines has turned dog walks into catwalks, says Marc Abbott

New Line of Duty recruit Shalom Brune-Franklin gives us the inside scoop on season six

Behind the seams of Mary Katrantzou’s new collaboration with Bvlgari

Planning your summer staycation? Here we highlight the best hotels in Cornwall

Dreaming of a trip to the Maldives? We’ve partnered with Angsana Velavaru to offer one lucky winner and guest an unforgettable three-night stay post-lockdown at the luxury beach and ocean resort. Enter our competition here to be in with the chance of winning three nights in a Beachfront Villa, including breakfast and dinner for two.

TUNE IN

This week on Break Out Culture: a rare chance to hear Gilbert & George in conversation. The pair chat to Charlotte Metcalf and Ed Vaizey about everything from their beginnings and wearing suits to their views on Boris Johnson. Image: Gilbert & George, BOYTON CLOSE, 2020.