although i have contracted thurber's suspicious dislike of katharine angell, and although she drew my ire for saying that her taste rejects camellias, i was a little reconciled when her husband, e.b. white, wrote that she considers a room without flowers an empty shell. that makes two very judicious editors (the other being diana athill) who endorse my custom of filling the house with flowers. what a shame valentine's day is coming up - this means the shops would be full of tasteless roses and other red and pink rubbish and everything will be hideously expensive. still. i'm going out to get orchids and peonies and callas and sweet peas and gladiolas and freesias and yingchun hua tomorrow morning!