A Disorderly Retirement
This week we have been clearing out the loft. It would have been much more exciting if we’d had an attic to clear out instead. Lofts are so dreary – forgotten spaces in the eaves, smelling of old suitcases and mouldering clothes – but attics are so much more glamorous, containing the promise of adventure…
People say that life is short, but I think they’re wrong. Maybe it’s short compared with the age of the universe (13.8 billion years old apparently), but if you’re lucky I think it’s really quite long. I know this is true because when I look back on my 1960s English childhood it seems like something…
I’ve been wondering if you can take the philosophy of make-do-and-mend too far in peacetime. I relish that way of thinking, but am concerned about turning into a parody of myself. Although I suspect this happens to everyone by the time they reach 50 anyway. People just seem to become more and more of what…
This week I’ve been wondering how you know when it’s time to go. I’m not talking about whether you really should leave your friends’ house as the evening wears on and first they start yawning extravagantly and then one of them reappears in their pyjamas with their toothbrush in hand. I’m talking about when you…
Jasper (the cat) doesn’t realise how much of a threat he is to the environment and he wouldn’t care if he did. In fact, he enjoys the best of all possible worlds: living in a comfortable, warm home with regular meals and doting owners, while following his own natural instincts without any conscience or –…
We have just spent two wonderful weeks in Andalucía in southern Spain, largely because of my ambition to visit the most beautiful and iconic Islamic architecture in the world. (The delicious food and wine was just a bonus.) Iran has fabulous treasures and even though visiting the country is looking a little uncertain at the…
I rather like Instagram – photos of exotic places are my favourite – but even the hardened cynics and eye-rollers among us need to keep our wits about us. You never know what will trigger unexpected and possibly unwelcome emotions. I have to confess to a bit of travel/lifestyle envy of a couple who live…
I have missed travelling. I know, it’s not a human right, but then neither is sloe gin and I’d miss that too if it were banished from my life. I know that many people have satisfied their urge to travel by touring around their own countries and discovering great beauty on their doorstep, which is…
I have just read an article about the importance of fun, which, predictably, made me worry that there wasn’t enough fun in my life. So I read the article very closely to find out if I was getting my allotted quota and if not, how I should go about it. Luckily the journalist Catherine Price…
I’ve been thinking about roots this week. Not the literal sort (although I see that the weeds are starting to appear between the paving stones already), but the figurative sort. I blame Lyse Doucet, the Canadian journalist who works as Chief International Correspondent for the BBC and lives in London when she’s not reporting from…