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The wit and wisdom of snow, from Laurie Lee to Ogden NashSnow has always inspired wit and wisdom — and here are some of the best, as picked out by Jonathan Self.
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Jonathan Self: 'We blocked every hole, engaged a feckless cat and baited traps with the best Camembert, but still they came'Jonathan Self tackles a minor infestation, only to miss the hole in his life left by the furry visitors.
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Jonathan Self: Our postman delivers 1,000 items a week — and less than 50 are 'real' lettersJonathan Self laments the fact that we're losing the art of writing letters.
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Jonathan Self: The Irish words for a visit to neighbours, from airneál for a sing-song, bothántaíoch for telling old stories — and scoraíocht if you're there to gossipJonathan Self on airneál, fiosrú and why the Devil himself is the reason you shouldn't be picking blackberries any more — at least not according to his grandmother.
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An entire feature on sarcasm? Oh, yeah, that's a GREAT ideaWell, okay, actually it is. We asked Jonathan Self to write it — and to pick out his favourite examples from history.
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10 sustainability myths busted, and six things you can do to make a real difference'It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little — do what you can,’ wrote Sydney Smith some two centuries ago, but his words are the perfect reason why we should all do what we can to save the planet. The problem is that it's hard to know just what to do; Jonathan Self pores through the confusing and sometimes contradictory information to help.
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Jonathan Self: 'Tend your vines and crush the horror'Jonathan Self has turned his eyes inward during social isolation – not just to his mental health, but to his garden.
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Jonathan Self: ‘Going plastic-free for a week – how hard can it be? Jolly hard is the answer’Jonathan Self finds that eschewing plastic for a week is testing, but achievable, even if his quest for locally grown strawberries packed in wooden punnets proves fruitless.
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10 terrible but terribly funny school reports of the world famous, from Einstein to ChurchillJonathan Self picks out 10 of his favourite bad school reports of all time, and laments the fact that the age of political correctness has robbed parents, children and teachers of the refreshing honesty which once characterised these important communications.
