. . . read an article this morning, about a small blue & white vase that had been handed down through a family in north yorkshire, valued at between £10,000 and £15,000, but turned out to be a very rare 18-century [museum-quality] piece that ended up selling at auction for nearly £1m; it reminded of how this colour combination, blue & white, is so very perfect anytime, but especially for spring — whether in toile with bamboo chairs, or monograms and canopies or breakfast in bed — it is at once fresh and chic, and always impossible elegant . . .