Q. I am going to stay with some grown-ups in a house next to the beach in Suffolk. I will be the only boy of eight who is staying. The other children are too old to play with me. There is no television and I have finished the Harry Potters. What can I do?
L.B., Camden Town, London
A. You might follow the example of Milo Rowse, aged eight, and his friend William Polito who staged a summer display outside Milo’s house in Thorpeness. The boys filled a disused aquarium with a selection of 20 or so insects and other wildlife ranging from beetles to woodlice to newts, all found within the Rowse’s own garden. Having identified the beasts, they dubbed their display ‘The Secrets of Sandy Lodge’ and invited passers-by to pay one pence each to examine its creepy contents. Business was so brisk the charge soon went up to ten pence per person. The boys kept one quarter of their takings for themselves and gave the other three quarters to charity. Why not improvise a similar display using what see-through receptacles your mother has to hand? You will soon find a boy of your own age emerging from a nearby house to offer his services as fellow curator. This will keep you busy for days.
Q. I get so bored with people asking me what scent I am wearing because usually it is something I don’t want to divulge. I used to be the only person I knew wearing Ambre Extrême by L’artisan Parfumeur and then Hadrian’s Water by Annick Goutal but so many people have copied me since that I don’t want to wear either of them any more. Next time I find something I love, how should I politely conceal its source from others who ask?
S.
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