business

The problem Few plants test a person’s patience like ferns. One day they’re full of life; the next they look like tumbleweed left on a radiator. Fern fronds crisp up at the first hint of dry air, and once they turn brown, most think it’s game over. The hack Put the plant inside a clear … Read more

My sister Liz Barnard, who has died aged 83, began her working life in the government Careers Service, but in her 30s she changed career herself. In 1977 she embarked on a degree in furnishing and interior design at the London College of Furniture, and then moved back to Norwich, where she had grown up, … Read more

I know I’ve reached a certain maturity because I had no invitations for Halloween, apart from taking my son to a stage show of Judith Kerr’s Mog, but two for Bonfire Night. I love Bonfire Night. I grew up in a village where people would start constructing a bonfire on the school playing fields in the … Read more