Pauline Rodger recalls a summer of busking and bunkhousesWhen I met up with friends in Zurich, I was entranced by the street entertainment. I stood for hours, watching the jugglers, musicians and puppeteers.From there we took the most amazing train journey, to Chur. The train had large windows you could open to experience the clear [...]
It’s the place where the fish is as fresh as the airMy boyfriend Alex and I are sweating our way through an after-dinner sauna on one of Sweden’s most westerly, deserted islands; part of a group known collectively as the Weather Islands (Väderöarna). We’ve been here a few hours, and we’ve already met the only permanent resident, [...]
Fancy an armchair in your bathroom or a bath in your bedroom? Then just do it – you’d be surprised at how well furniture works out of its usual contextArmchair in a bathroomArmchairs don’t usually furnish bathrooms – dampness issues aside, few of us have a large-enough space. But size is no problem for owner [...]
Ever wondered why your friends seem so much more popular than you are? There’s a reason for thatThis is going to be awkward, but someone has to tell you, so it may as well be me: you’re kind of a loser. You know that feeling you sometimes have that your friends have more friends than you? You’re right. [...]
A friend in need is a friend indeed – that is the age-old adage. Going to the help of a neighbour, a fellow man, even before making friends with him or her is a step higher than what was required of me, a neighbour, in the saying on friendship.
My life is going very well, but I often lie awake terrified about death and running through a checklist of all the things I haven’t done yet. How can I appreciate what I have?The dilemma I am a 28-year-old woman in a happy relationship with a caring man whom I’m planning to marry, [...]
Too many carers are isolated in their struggle to help people with dementia lead better lives. It’s time we gave them a handI’ve been seeing dementia everywhere recently. Terry Pratchett has it. Half of my friends’ parents have it. Every time someone forgets a name they put it down to creeping dementia. It sometimes seems [...]