Life
No one knows how to sell the European project to the Irish any more
A few days after having Sunday lunch at the hotel where Michael Collins ate his last meal, we found ourselves…
Why am I so unlucky in love?
One of my exes is trying to get me arrested. I discovered this when I received an email from the…
Aussie life
As the Q&A host was telling me, the conservatives have a ‘problem with women’. Or with more election campaign zing,…
Language
Here’s one to add to your Weird Word collection: ‘empleomania’. This is a mania for holding public office. and there…
‘Grand and isolated’: The Wolseley City, reviewed
I am fretting about this restaurant column’s election coverage and then I alight on something superficially grand and lovely, which…
The perils of going to Manchester United
Plodding up Wembley Way to the FA Cup Final at the weekend surrounded by a phalanx of well-refreshed Manchester United…
Dear Mary: how do I stop my book club banging on about their grandchildren?
Q. At the Ludlow Piano Festival, during a Tyler Hay concert, my husband and I spotted a fascinating-looking couple who…
Are you ready for the ‘Genny Lex’?
‘It sounds like Polari to me,’ said my husband, who can remember Julian and Sandy (Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams)…
Why experience beats flair at Goodwood
Faced with a field of 13 two-year-olds in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Fillies Stakes at Goodwood last Saturday…
The not-so-French roots of chicken cordon bleu
We all have our quirks when it comes to cooking. I have clear mental blocks over what is and is…
Who will my wife marry next?
Since I had a brush with death a couple of years ago, I have often wondered who my far younger…
Labour’s plans to rewrite the National Curriculum
Michael Gove’s decision to stand down in this election was a reminder that the one really bright spot in the…
I’m setting up a ‘climate crisis hub’
‘We thought the house would make the most fantastic centre for climate action,’ I heard myself telling the cat rescue…
Aussie life
It is a point of principle for the residents of the smarter parts of Manhattan not to notice – and…
Language
The word ‘colonialism’ has become (at least for some people) a ‘snarl word’ – something that is always bad, and…
The best bottle to come from the Gigondas
One needs wine more than ever, yet when imbibing, it can be hard to concentrate. So much is going on.…
