Those amongst you, regular visitors to my ghostly world will have seen in these pages the name Barnum Flowers. This old-fashioned impresario owns a circus proudly displaying human oddity acts. This family of troupers are as you would expect a close and guarded community with Barnum no evil svengali but guardian and protector.

Barnum and I have been friends for many years and while we sip at our Krupnik Lithuania cocktail and Barnum toasting the room with the cry nazdarovya, I continue to savour the roast quail, black cherries, rice and wild morels in the grandeur of the old pavilion. We do tend to draw the occasional glance, a whisper here and there and that curiosity from strangers who first catch sight of us.

Barnum does have a waxed moustache, sharp angular features, piecing dark eyes. He is always with silver-topped cane in hand, pocket-handkerchief and a presence that would scare your granny.

Tall and erect he seems of another generation and my only two concerns with him is his insistence I join him in the proper etiquette ritual of snuff taking, favouring a brand called Dixie Sweet. The other is at times bringing Jo-Jo his clown from the circus, permanently performing his act, which I would describe as the actions of a maniac.

I leave you all with a quote attributed to Writer, Novelist and Playwright Ben Hecht

Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away...