Whether you’re 16 or 60, shopping for your own mum or someone else’s, Mother’s Day gifts needn’t be formulaic. In fact, we’d argue that they should be thoughtful, fun or useful (but possibly not too useful), or provide a moment of escape. There’s no worse gift than one bought out of obligation, unconsidered and, therefore, … Read more
Sierra Nevada adventures, Spain Sierra Trails, run by Dallas Love and her brother, Mordecai, based in Bubión, two hours’ drive from Málaga, offers exceptional village-to-village rides in the Sierra Nevada. Dallas paired us with well-schooled Spanish horses that we rode across varied terrain, stopping to picnic under trees and staying in lovely family-run hotels. After … Read more
Lizzie, 29, Oxford Occupation Teaching assistant and trainee teacher Voting record Always votes Green, but would tactically vote Labour if she lived anywhere but Oxford Amuse bouche Is an avid salsa dancer; performs world music in many languages Richard, 55, Tunbridge Wells Occupation Teacher Voting record Pretty centrist; has voted for all three main parties. … Read more
‘She was sitting at the kitchen table, eating raw cauliflower. For dinner.” It’s September 2024 in London and my friend is reflecting on her time sharing an apartment with fellow models in Paris the previous year. I am grimly amused, but unsurprised. This is the type of story models are always telling. I would know, … Read more
I recently moved overseas by myself and I’m desperately lonely. I moved for better weather, proximity to nature and a calmer, healthier way of living but I’ve really struggled to make any friends. This isn’t the first time I lived abroad. I moved around in my 20s and they were some of the happiest times … Read more
Robert E. Ginna Jr., a founding editor of People magazine, a book editor and a film producer whose 1952 Life magazine article provoked a frenzy by validating the idea that flying saucers might exist and could have visited Earth from outer space, died on March 4 at his home in Sag Harbor, N.Y. His death … Read more
The green tidal mudflats are noisy with gulls and lapwings as the ferry sails towards Yarmouth. Far out on sparkling water, a white sail stands out against misty downs. The Victorian poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson regularly tramped over those chalky hills, declaring “the air is worth ‘sixpence a pint’”. There is no need to … Read more
Scatter cushions and bedspreads. Why? What for? If it wasn’t for the waste and environmental impact, I’d make a huge pile and torch them all. You’d see the fire from the moon. Alternatively, pick them apart and make something useful out of them. I’d collect them by means of a national scatter cushion and bedspread … Read more
Last week, the Thursday quiz idly speculated as to whether Lady Jane Grey, having been queen for less time than Liz Truss was in Downing Street, went on a similar book promotional tour. Many readers pointed out in the comments that in fact she was imprisoned and executed. May the quiz gently draw your attention … Read more
I had no tribe during my first three years of high school. Desperate to be accepted by the in-crowd, but sick with anxiety if I was invited to one of their parties, I had no idea who I was. I had spots, wonky teeth and my hair was lank. I was kind of gangly and … Read more