You don’t need a collection of exotic spices or a degree in culinary arts to master a proper midweek meal; in fact, I’ve found that most recipes online make things far more complicated than they need to be. People spend far too much time worrying about reducing expensive red wines or sourcing organic shallots when […]
Continue Reading
I was sitting in the village hall last Tuesday, staring at a broken Grundig radio from 1974, when it hit me how much nonsense is floating around the internet regarding how to start a repair cafe. You’ll see all sorts of glossy, high-concept guides telling you that you need a dedicated community organiser, a complex […]
Continue Reading
I was standing on a particularly rickety step-ladder in the hallway of a mid-Victorian terrace last Tuesday—the kind with those lovely, high ceilings that look grand but are a nightmare for anything electrical—when I realised most people have it all wrong. They think that knowing how to fit a smoke alarm is just a matter […]
Continue Reading
I remember standing in a muddy garden near Sevenoaks back in ’94, watching a young couple look absolutely gutted because their dream cottage had turned into a plumbing nightmare. They’d been told by a slick estate agent that the drainage was “fine,” only to find out three weeks after moving in that the system was […]
Continue Reading
I was standing in the changing rooms at the leisure centre last Tuesday—the same one built back in ’74, if memory serves—and I watched a man struggle with a brand-new, high-tech waterproof smartwatch that cost more than my first car. It struck me then how much nonsense is out there regarding how to start swimming […]
Continue Reading
People will tell you that you need a laboratory setup or some expensive, imported spice kit to master the art of preserving, but that’s a load of rubbish. I spent forty years inspecting foundations and structural integrity; I know when something is built on a shaky premise, and the idea that you need more than […]
Continue Reading
I was standing in my kitchen yesterday morning, staring at the bottom of my electric kettle, when I realised it looked more like a piece of ancient limestone than a piece of modern kitchenware. There is a common misconception that you need to go out and buy those expensive, bright-coloured chemical tablets to get the […]
Continue Reading
I was standing by the old stone wall near the cricket pavilion last Tuesday—the one we spent three weeks patching up after the autumn floods—when I saw a flyer for yet another “comprehensive safety initiative.” It’s the same old story: glossy brochures and jargon that makes a simple idea sound like a government white paper. […]
Continue Reading
I remember standing in a drafty hallway in a converted barn near Chawton back in ’98, watching a young surveyor stare at a glossy brochure while ignoring the massive damp patch creeping up the north-facing wall. He was talking about “market trends” and “comparable assets,” but he wasn’t looking at the fact that the access […]
Continue Reading
I was out by the old flint boundary wall last Tuesday—the one we put up back in ’94—trying to shift a few stones, when my right knee decided it had quite enough of my nonsense. It wasn’t a sharp pain, just that dull, heavy ache that tells you the weather is turning and your joints […]
Continue Reading