You wouldn't look at this and immeditaely think Lucian Freud, would you? And I can't say I've thought of pairing daffodils and celery, but don't they look fresh and springlike? It was the sparkling glass jug that initially caught my eye at the National Portrait Gallery and this was the painting that I paid a second visit to on my way out. I wanted a postcard but they'd already sold out, even though the exhibition only opened a couple of weeks ago - so I guess I'm not the only one drawn to it. Late Friday afternoon proved to be a lovely time to visit, no crowds and lots of room to stand and stare - and Freud always repays standing and staring. To my surprise, I ended up spending three hours there, barely time to grab coffee and cake in the crypt of St-Martin-in-the-Fields before meeting my friend for the theatre. Perhaps predictably, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry proved far too mawkish for either of us - and it came flooding back to me how much I hated the book - but the staging/design/lighting is quite brilliant, and whoever designed the dog deserves an award.