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
Unless you haven’t been paying attention, you’ll know that knitting is having a serious moment. Thanks to knitfluencers such as Katie Jones, Stephen West, Ella Emhoff and, of course, Tom Daley, the meditative hobby is riding a new wave of popularity. A big part of its appeal is making clothes and accessories – from waistcoats … Read more
Kelly Sempels’ dad was a builder, most of her five brothers are builders, and, until leaving her last job, she too was a builder. Now, after a career fixing roofs and laying bricks Sempels is plying a new trade: “urban mining”. She and her crew of six still dress and talk like builders, but their … Read more
If your eight-day work trip was unexpectedly extended by nine months, you might expect to rack up some overtime pay. Not so for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, the NASA astronauts who spent 278 extra days on the International Space Station after their spacecraft malfunctioned. On Tuesday, they splashed down off the Gulf Coast of … Read more
An international team of astronomers on Wednesday unveiled the most compelling evidence to date that dark energy — a mysterious phenomenon pushing our universe to expand ever faster — is not a constant force of nature but one that ebbs and flows through cosmic time. Dark energy, the new measurement suggests, may not resign our … Read more
Name: Doggie bags. Age: According to the Smithsonian magazine, about 85 years. Appearance: A box of old food. Oh, I love a doggie bag. Well, you’re just about the only one. What? But there’s a grand tradition of leaving a restaurant with your leftovers. Maybe in the US, where portions are traditionally larger. But they’ve … Read more
Hi Ugly, I haven’t worn makeup in years but my wedding is coming up in November and I’m facing a lot of pressure to wear it (from friends, my mum and my sisters – not my partner). I want to stand by the idea that my natural face is formal enough. I really want to … Read more