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Forget catnip, it's all about catmint
Nepeta, the highly aromatic and pretty perennial beloved of so many country gardens, may be your feline’s favourite fix, but we should be wary of its root, warns Deborah Nicholls-Lee
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New balls please: Eddie Redmayne, Anna Wintour and Laura Bailey on the sensory pleasures of playing tennis
Little beats the popping sound and rubbery smell of a new tube of tennis balls — even if you're a leading Hollywood actor.
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What lies beneath: The weird and wonderful things lurking in Britain's museum basements
From radioactive rocks to great white sharks, and a dolphin called Boris, the things stored in Britain's museum basements make the mind boggle — and now plans are afoot to improve visitor access.
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Food with a pinch of salt: The crops we can harvest from the sea
Filling, rewarding and nutritious, vegetables and plants grown in saline environments — whether by accident or design — have plenty of potential. Illustration by Alan Baker.
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Why do the English constantly say sorry?
What is that makes the people of this island so overly fond of apologising? Deborah Nicholls-Lee finds out.
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Playing the fool: The rich history of tarot and how it satisfies our desire for transcendence
Once an elaborate art form that entertained 15th-century Italian nobility, tarot cards have evolved into a tool of divination. A new exhibition shines a light on their history.
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‘Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about!’
Variously described as ‘wearing a cloak of silver’ and looking like ‘a hoary old man’, Jack Frost has attracted many artistic depictions over the centuries — some more positive than others.
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'Fractals are everywhere, even within the human body: our nervous system, blood vessels and the structure of our brain and lungs'
What do spiders’ webs, snowflakes and snail shells have in common? They all contain fractals: Nature’s exquisite, endlessly repeating mathematical pattern.
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Mud, glorious mud: Why we should get down and dirty in our wet earth
We loved it as a kid, and we should love it as an adult. Mud is fun to walk through, play with and has real scientific benefits for our health to boot.
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'There was a 70ft hole beneath where the children were playing': The ups and downs of having a well on your property
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all’s well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply.
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This Victorian boozy blackberry cordial is as good today as it was 150 years ago. Here's how to make it.
Deborah Nicholls-Lee has been delving into the history of the blackberry, and discovered a brandy-enhanced blackberry cordial recipe from Victorian cook Phyllis Browne.
