Life
How emotions shape our decision-making
Ask any estate agent: most potential house buyers arrive with a detailed list of criteria for their new home, only…
Dear Mary: how can I relax about the clothes moths in my home?
Q. Having previously lived in the country in a field with my nearest neighbour not even visible, I recently moved…
Remembering the horror of Rwanda’s genocide
Rwanda It had been more than 30 years, yet I recognised the church and its surroundings instantly. Superimposed on the…
Pope Francis, my love rival
To be honest, I felt relief when Pope Francis died. This had nothing much to do with his regular assertion,…
Spectator Competition: That’s your cue
Competition 3399 called for a traditional bedtime story updated for the 21st century.We’re tight on space, so I’ll pause just…
Devilled kidneys: a heavenly breakfast
Iam standing in my kitchen preparing kidneys for devilling. Snipping their white cores away piece by piece until they come…
The £486 driving licence con
By changing the address on my driving licence, I was somehow signed up to something that began charging my credit…
Aussie life
Of all the Gospel parables, I’ve always thought the one that would be hardest to pitch to Hollywood would be…
Language
The New York Times has coined the expression ‘dark Woke’ to describe the current strategy being used by the Democratic…
Everything Ottolenghi should be but isn’t: Delamina Townhouse reviewed
Delamina Townhouse is on Tavistock Street in Covent Garden. It is an Israeli restaurant, and a very fine and subtle…
The glorious sporting spectacle of snooker
I’m not sure quite what Sir G. Boycott would have made of it, but the People’s Republic of Yorkshire was…
Dear Mary: What is the etiquette of responding to save-the-dates?
Q. I have a problem with a much older friend who is slightly insecure and super-sensitive to criticism and I…
How do you pronounce ‘mayoralty’?
‘Six!’ cried my husband, waving his notebook as he monitored the by-elections. He wasn’t counting Reform wins but the ways…
My foolproof plan to avoid speeding fines
The online speed awareness course cost £101, or a few pounds less if you didn’t want to book ‘flexible’ so…
We’re spending the children’s inheritance on the dog
After we bought a place on my father’s hill farm in 2000, I’d study the notices pinned to boards in…
Spectator Competition: That’s your cue
Competition 3398 invited you to submit a poem about snooker as the world champion-ship was under way. The entries poured…
My ones to watch this season
With racing there is always a little history involved. One of the few top races John Gosden has never won…
Back to winning ways
Vasyl Ivanchuk was at the centre of a heart-rending scene during the tenth round of the World Blitz Championship in…
