Life
I am escaping Surrey in the nick of time
As I slapped a rude note on a car parked outside my house, I realised that nature was taking its…
Greece’s age-old obsession with fire
Patmos While green Rhodes and greener Corfu burn away, arid Patmos remains fireproof because rock and soil do not a…
Aussie life
Wellbeing is complicated. Like junk food and cigarettes, we need professionals to explain it to us, maybe with an expensive…
Language
The compound noun ‘rage apply’ is (I am told) the name being given to a new trend in workplaces around…
The beauty of a serious Burgundy
It was the English summer at its most perverse. We were drinking Pimm’s while hoping against hope for better news…
Why Barbie deserves the backlash
Being the CEO of a massive corporation isn’t easy. You’re expected to grow the company, increase profits and boost the…
How to increase your home’s value – with a sandwich
It is a tenet of neo-liberal economics that there is no such thing as a free lunch. This is obvious…
Spectator competition winners: famous poems in reverse
In Competition No. 3309, you were invited to compose a poem starting with the last line of any well-known poem…
Relief Rally put the Ascot heartbreak behind her at Newbury
‘God it’s hot,’ said a Newbury waitress escaping into the lift from rain-soaked crowds jostling in the bars last Saturday.…
The problem with posh dog food
Having loaded the last sack of working dog food in Surrey into my car, I slammed the trolley back into…
High life
Now that Wimbledon is over, a few thoughts about youthful brains showing traces of horse tranquillisers, angel dust and cannabis,…
How I incurred the wrath of my iPhone
As I sat down to dinner in a lovely old country pub my reservation was cancelled by my iPhone, which…
Aussie life
Standing on the banks of the Swan River the skyline tells you how Perth retains observable links with its regional…
Language
Some trendy new expressions will probably have the lifespan of a fruit fly (for the scientifically minded, that’s between 30…
French tomato tart: a simple celebration of summer
Last year, we grew tomatoes for the first time. And we did so with our characteristic enthusiasm, lack of knowledge…
I’m a holidaymaker… get me out of here!
Reading about all the travel chaos, I began to regret my summer holiday plans. Wouldn’t it have been more sensible…
