TUTUSTU ilmaisiin artikkeleihin projektissa ZINIO

All wine regions tend to be stereotyped to a certain degree – and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If a region has managed to get its name associated with, say, aromatic whites or sparkling wines or powerful spicy reds, that can give it a head start at the local supermarket or restaurant. As customers, we feel as though we know what we’re getting from Rías Baixas, or Champagne or the Barossa Valley, almost to the point where the producer’s name becomes secondary, a stamp of quality rather than style. Rioja has always been one of the most tightly defined wine regions – a place with a strong vinous identity to which people are drawn because they feel as if they know what to expect. Say the word Rioja and most of…

The Flash Point Top’s alternating red and white stripes represent the flash point, the temperature at which an organic compound gives off sufficient vapor to spontaneously combust. This top is worked back and forth on the bias in separate pieces and seamed. Yarn Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima Fine and Louet North America Euroflax Sport Yarn Weight Finished Size 34½ (37½, 42, 45, 48, 53)" circumference at underarm. Top shown measures 37½ "; modeled with 4" of positive ease. Yarn Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima Fine (100% Pima cotton; 137 yd [125 m]/1¾ oz [50 g]): #3713 wine (red; MC), 3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5) skeins. Louet North America Euroflax Sport (100% wet-spun linen; 270 yd [247 m]/3½ oz [100 g]): champagne (cream; CC), 2 skeins. Needles Size 6 (4 mm). Adjust needle size if necessary…

ONCE THE OLYMPICS ARE OVER, THE sports we cheer so loudly for all but disappear from mainstream attention—until the next one, four years later. It’s only when someone breaks a world record or Simone Biles invents a new move that Olympic sports catch a blip of our attention in non-Olympic years. It’s even worse for triathlon. Most years, draft-legal racing doesn’t garner nearly as much interest as the Ironman World Championship—especially in the U.S. Some of that has to do with location. Ironman has hosted its main event on American soil every year since 1978. Meanwhile, World Triathlon has only hosted its Championship Series Grand Final in the U.S. once, in Chicago back in 2015. Then there are the athletes. America’s only gold-medal winning triathlete is no longer a triathlete (Gwen Jorgensen).…

Forty years ago, after returning from a two-year tour of the United States and Europe to support his first No. 1 album, The River, Bruce Springsteen arrived home at his rented New Jersey ranch house, not far from where he grew up in the blue-collar town of Freehold, and dropped $10,000 on his first extravagant purchase: a 1982 Chevy Z28 Camaro. “I’d never owned a new car in my life,” he wrote about the splurge in his 2016 autobiography, Born to Run. “I’d never spent $10,000 on myself. It felt as conspicuous as if I were driving a solid gold Rolls-Royce.” Today, the man who once sang of being haunted by the ghost of Tom Joad can afford a fleet of luxury cars. In December, the Boss sold the masters and publishing…

The first time we visited Japan, back in 2008, my Hawaii-born mother and I spent hours wandering the food halls of department stores, gazing at prized muskmelons wrapped in cellophane. We visited galleries dedicated to woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e, and celebrated Thanksgiving on the Shinkansen bullet train, happily devouring bento boxes. I gaped in awe the first time I saw her converse in fluent Japanese, somehow persuading the gruff tuna auctioneers at Tsukiji Market to let me stand among the fishmongers instead of with the tourists. Watching her perform Japan’s complex etiquette—nodding, saving face—was also astonishing. I am a half-Japanese woman, yet I can barely manage a convincing arigato. My American passport lists my birthplace as Manila, but growing up I never lived anywhere longer than four years. My dad’s career…

One of my four-year-old’s favourite games is emptying out his piggy bank and counting his coins. He might only have amassed £6.44 so far, but he’s so proud of his savings. However, according to new research, he is likely to be part of the last generation of children to even own a moneybox. Nearly one in three parents now pay pocket money digitally*, straight into their children’s bank accounts. As we become increasingly cashless – something that’s been accelerated by the events of the last year, with more shop closures, online buying and an increase in contactless payments – a growing number of children will never have handled actual cash. So, how do you learn about money without coins to spend at the corner shop? ‘New banking apps aimed at kids…

When Minnie Driver greets me on Zoom from her London home, she has a relaxed smile on her face. Her hair is still wet from the shower, she’s wearing minimal make-up and a simple purple T-shirt with a gold pendant necklace. She’s calm and contented, but as someone who has forged a stellar Hollywood career that’s lasted three decades (and counting), she strikes me as someone whose brain seldom takes a breather – and it turns out I’m right. ‘I have no intention of stopping!’ she exclaims. In her 51 years, she’s starred in films alongside the likes of Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, and carved out a successful music career with three solo albums to her name. But her proudest achievement, she explains,…

Doors are among the most neglected parts of our homes. We open them, walk through them and otherwise take no notice of them. They are simply the means by which we leave one place to get to another. But I’m going to say that, more than wallpaper, sofas or curtains, our choice of doors is one of the key elements of our homes that can make a real difference to how we use the space. Think about it: doors take up a huge amount of space when open – space that could otherwise be used for storage, furniture or just an artfully arranged table with a vase of flowers on it. Can you really spare all that space just for a door? And what if you could free up more room? The…

Acquire a dog and you’ll never be without a friend. You might think that’s stating the obvious. Yet I’m not just referring to the canine companionship you’ll enjoy, but also the new humans you’ll get to know. Parading a pooch, especially a puppy, is a magnet for conversation: people regularly stop to coo and question their age or their breed. One man even told us our cocker spaniel Finlay was the most beautiful dog he’d ever seen. Who are we to argue? When you bump into someone on a walk without a dog, you might acknowledge one another with a breezy “Good morning!” or simply smile and stride on. Having a hound at your heels is far more likely to lead to a longer encounter, as the dogs greet and sniff…

1 Tiptoe through THE BLUEBELLS DID YOU KNOW THAT THE UK IS HOME to half the world’s population of Hyacinthoides non-scripta – which also go by the name of witches’ thimbles and granfer griggles? For one of the best bluebell spectacles, head to Croft Castle in Herefordshire, where thousands of the nodding, bell-shaped flowers bloom beneath the ancient Candelabra Oak; or to Gunby House in Lincolnshire, where they congregate in multitudes around the 14th-century St Peter’s Church. North of the border, Crinan Wood also has hordes of bluebells, as well as 40 species of lichen and 13 types of fern. To find a bluebell wood near you, visit woodlandtrust.org.uk. 2 Meet up at the MAYPOLE GIDDY GIRLS AND BOYS DANCING around a beribboned pole is a tradition rooted in an ancient Pagan fertility…

Jim, your protagonist, sounds most intriguing. What can you tell us about him? Jim was a Yorkshire terrier owned by Sir Henry Cole, the V&A’s founding director, who created the first Christmas card in 1843. The V&A suggested I write about Sir Henry and sent me a copy of the card and some of his sketches as inspiration. One was of his dog, a creature that looked a little like a chimney brush. The story of Jim’s Spectacular Christmas – about this unlikely animal living in a magnificent museum – began to unfold in my mind. If you were to live in a museum, which would it be? I adore the V&A, but it would have to be the Sir John Soane’s Museum [next to Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London]. It’s an incredible…

As a child, Amy Jeffs was “obsessed” with drawing. By the age of ten, she had learned that many artists use the space around objects to define their shape. Often, she found the gap between the branches of a tree more interesting than the actual branches. It was a different way to see the world. That understanding now informs Amy’s work as an artist and a writer, coming to life in her linocut prints and wood engravings of English legends and ancient landscapes. Her work is also inspired by the countryside near her home in Somerset, a place of magic and myths and starling murmurations. Watching Amy peel back the paper from her inked block and seeing the image of a sea monster or spray of oak leaves appear in velvety…

I am walking along a ride in a Scots pine woodland. It’s barely light. It’s so cold that every intake of breath feels as if a blunt-edged knife is prodding at my lungs. Something has just flown overhead, a body borne along on furious and tattered wings. It loomed so large it was as though the sky was blotted out. No mistake: it was a male capercaillie. My guide is wildlife expert Simon Pawsey. Ten minutes after setting off to look for one of Britain’s most elusive and iconic species on one of the last Strathspey refuges for capercaillie, we’ve struck lucky. Then a second caper bursts out of the heather and blaeberry a metre or so from my feet. Another male. The bird swivels low between the trees, heads towards…

It’s early summer and a teal-blue narrowboat is cruising along the Lee Navigation, escaping London for Hertfordshire. The banks on each side brim with cleavers, comfrey and hawthorn blossom. At the helm are Vicky Chown and Kim Walker, the pair behind Handmade Apothecary, a small business running foraging walks, remedy-making workshops and consultations. As medicinal herbalists, they are steeped in the natural world. “My friends say I am always talking about plants,” laughs Vicky, “but they captivate me. I’m always peering into hedgerows trying to identify fruits or flowers.” Vicky and Kim met ten years ago on a degree course in herbal medicine at Westminster University, and set up their venture after graduating. “We trained as ‘brown-bottle’ herbalists, making tinctures with ready-prepared ingredients from suppliers,” Vicky says, “but we wanted to…

Daisies IN THE KITCHEN Nothing tops flowers for putting the ‘“country” into kitchens. An abundance of dainty florals has an enveloping effect, creating the signature cosiness of a country kitchen and softening an otherwise functional space. Here, an early William Morris print celebrates the humble daisy. Choose a botanical illustration on a warming sepia-toned base to achieve a similar vintage feel. Classic enamel kitchen canisters, spindle-back dining chairs and touches of industrial copper complement the effect. But don’t shy away from using colour elsewhere. Pick up the most cheerful tones and match them across furniture and accessories – a clever design treatment that is used so effectively on this cranberry-red kitchen shelf. Roses IN THE LIVING ROOM This sitting room takes its design cues from the country cottage playbook, with vibrant mismatched accessories…

Every time I walk into my utility room, I smile. Firstly, there’s the fact that I actually have a utility room – with its Belfast sink and downstairs loo, hooks for coats and racks for boots and a stack of old towels for drying Finlay the cocker spaniel after a muddy walk. It wasn’t there when I bought the house but, six years in, I hired a builder to convert half the old garage into a bright and cheering new space. Now, when I open the little panelled door that was once the entrance to no more than a tiny, chock-full under-stairs cupboard, it leads to a whole extra room. But the main reason my heart lifts when I walk through the door is that I absolutely adore the wall…

1 Have you always been a walker? No! I grew up in Blackburn and while the West Pennines were close by, I didn’t really explore them. I thought nature was a bit boring as a teenager. The closest I got to ‘the outdoors’ was hanging out with my friends in the park. 2 So how have you ended up heading a hiking group? Two years ago, I was on a train travelling through the Peak District. It was so beautiful – it was New Year and lots of walking groups were getting on and off. I thought, ‘That could be me’ and posted a video of the scenery on Instagram with the caption ‘I’m taking up hiking this year – Black Girls Hike’. A few days later, I decided it was time to…

Don’t call him a “guncle.” For actor Andrew Rannells, the popular portmanteau for “gay” and “uncle” is unwelcome—and infantilizing. “I’m not a tangential character in my nieces’ and nephews’ lives, I’m their uncle,” he ways with a laugh. “And it’s a little cutesy. I’m a 44-year-old man.” Rannells—known for his roles on TV (Girls, Black Monday) and Broadway (The Book of Mormon)—writes about his significant breadth of experience with the 10 children of his four siblings in his new book of humorous essays Uncle of the Year: And Other Debatable Triumphs. “I had this romanticized idea that when my brothers and sisters had kids that I would be the greatest uncle in the world,” he says. “And it didn’t really work out that way.” (He notes he now knows one cannot…

• = caps, goals, clubs and ages (as of 14.05.21) GOALKEEPERS Jasper CILLESSEN Valencia (Spa) Age 32 (22.04.89) If he is fit and remains a regular for his club, the reliable Cillessen will stand between the posts, just as he did at the 2014 World Cup. Tim KRUL Norwich City (Eng) Age 33 (04.03.88) Came off the bench in the final minute of the game to become the hero when penalties decided the World Cup quarter-final against Costa Rica in 2014. Maarten STEKELENBURG Ajax Age 38 (22.09.82) Returned to the Ajax first team after Andre Onana’s doping ban, and earned a surprise international recall three and a half years after his last cap. DEFENDERS Nathan AKE Manchester City (Eng) Age 26 (18.02.95) All-rounder who can play leftback, centre-back or midfield. Son of an Ivorian father but opted for the Oranje. Left home to join Chelsea at 15. Daley BLIND Ajax Age…

Victoria Arlen had just driven back to her West Hartford, Conn., home after hosting ESPN’s SportsCenter on March 17 of last year when her face began to feel odd. “The whole right side started to droop,” Arlen says. “All my internal alarms were going off. I knew something was seriously wrong.” The discomfort soon spread to her legs, and she called a friend who rushed her to the hospital. Told she was having a stroke, she reacted with strange relief: “At least it’s not a relapse,” Arlen, 28, remembers thinking. Sixteen years earlier Arlen had fallen ill with two rare neurological conditions, which caused swelling in her spine and brain and left her trapped inside her own body, unable to move or speak, for four years. Doctors didn’t think she would…

What a difference a year makes. Is anyone else struggling with the fact that you’re just getting used to socializing again with your pants on and now you’re expected to entertain…your in-laws!? Ah, the “holidaze” are here again, and this year, with no Zoom screens to hide behind, it feels more exciting—and more daunting. If the idea of cooking the perfect turkey, decorating the tree, or going out on New Year’s Eve has you filled with anxiety, then have no fear: Mary is here! And if I may be so bold, I’d like to grant you permission to not make everything the best ever this holiday season. I want to tell you that it’s fine for everything to be just, well, fine. If last year taught us anything (aside from the…

Polaroid is following last year’s Now instant camera with a Bluetooth-connected model, fittingly called the Now+ ($149.99). For an extra $50, the Now+ includes features artistic photographers will love, including app-based manual control and a set of creative filters. Polaroid is also back to making interesting film stocks beyond the basic color and black-and-white options, adding some appeal for out-of-the-box photographers working in the instant medium. It remains more of a niche choice for artists and is pricier to buy and feed compared with our Editors’ Choice winner, the Fujifilm Instax SQ1. But if you’re in that niche, be happy to know that the Now+ lives up to the Polaroid name. PROS: Big, square instant photos. Color, black-and-white, and limited-run films. Easy one-button operation. Smartphone app for creative control. Tripod socket.…

JoJo 160 East 64th Street (Tel.: 212-223-5656) JoJo has been a Three Star in our All-Star Eateries since Jean-Georges Vongerichten opened it in 1991. Due to a glitch, it was dropped from the magazine version this year but was promptly reinstated online. Our apologies to chef Steven Boutross, the talented staff and the wonderful management, who every night deliver a magical culinary experience. JoJo’s recent renovation has left it airy, light-filled and comfortable. Start with the delicate peekytoe crab dumplings or the spicy tuna tartare in lettuce cups. Then try two incomparable classics: the crispy-skin organic chicken surrounded by thin fried onion rings and potato skins, or the juicy, peppercorn-crusted beef tenderloin with potato gnocchi and Brussels sprouts. Don’t leave without tasting the delicious carrot cake or the butter scotch pudding with caramel…

When I was growing up, my Pakistani family never particularly celebrated Christmas. After I married, I thought it fairer to spend the holidays with my husband’s English family instead, for whom Christmas appeared more traditional. And so, we fell into a routine; Christmas week with my in-laws, then stopping at my mother’s for New Year. After our children were born, we pretended it wasn’t that hard to make the six-hour round trip to my in-laws’ rural cottage with a newborn and a toddler. We were bone-weary, but everyone expected us. Though it was always a joy to see them, the broken nights were more difficult away from home and it was harder to console our small children. By the time we reached my mother’s house, our sons were usually overtired and…

I married John almost nine years ago, wearing a meringue-like gown that drowned my 5ft 3in frame and a goofy, delirious grin on my usually deadpan face. Our guests gathered in the marquee to hear my dad, who had just received a terminal cancer diagnosis and is sadly no longer with us, make a loving speech. It was heart-wrenching and beautiful, but as he came to the end of it, he said, ‘And dear John,’ pausing for effect, ‘the most patient man in the world.’ The room erupted into laughter, then applause. Somebody whooped. Even now, with more than five years under my belt as a comedy writer, I can only remember one of my jokes getting this response. At the time I laughed along to show how self-aware and in…

There was a tough conversation I needed to have recently – around money (never an easy topic). It meant I had to put Step Up Club’s business needs ahead of my emotional response, and I felt paralysed by the thought of it all. Instead of rushing in, I planned my approach, gave myself quiet space for some rational thinking, and reflected on previous difficult conversations that had led to solid, positive outcomes for all parties. I’m happy to say, the conversation went really well. I thought I’d share how I prepped, so that you don’t need to fear and fumble your way through when you’re faced with what feels like doom on every front. As an entrepreneur with a coaching practice and a mother to three young children, I’m not rich…

After working in an IT job for 10 years, Leila Baker decided she wanted something more. Her best friend suggested becoming a doula, and Leila hasn’t looked back since. ‘Doulas are support systems,’ she says. ‘They provide informational, practical and emotional support through the early stages of parenthood.’ Here, Leila shares the ups and downs of the career she fell in love with. I WORKED AS A NANNY before I had my own children, and volunteered one morning every fortnight as an NHS Breastfeeding Peer Supporter alongside my IT job, so I was familiar with working in a family home and with people who had children. When the idea of becoming a doula popped up, I was so excited and signed on to a course straight away. MY FIRST CLIENT WAS MY…

A new word has entered the English language. So far as I can tell, mentions of the ‘Shoffice’ began to proliferate back in 2020, although I am way behind the curve as I’ve only just come across it. We can guess that ‘Shoffice’ is a hybrid of shed and office. As the world changed, and working from home became the new normal for many, legions of employees found themselves fighting for space at the kitchen table or balancing a laptop on their knees in the bedroom. Desperate to find solace, they looked for an alternative, and those with gardens found it in – the ‘Shoffice’! What could be better than a separate space where a frazzled homeworker could escape the children, dog and piles of washing-up, where work could continue…

BACK FROM THE BRINK… Black poplars Constable captured black poplars in The Hay Wain, but 200 years later, these graceful trees, once a landscape staple, have become Britain’s rarest. Arboreal loners with individuals that produce only male or female flowers, there are now just 7,000 left – and with only 600 of them female, natural pollination is unlikely. At Quarry Bank in Cheshire, the National Trust and Chester Zoo has produced genetic black poplar clones, planting 12 pairs to up the chances of pollination. Plans to add 100 more in the next three years should help put these native icons back in the picture once again. woodlandtrust.org.uk TRY YOUR HAND AT… making natural dyes Turmeric for yellow, red cabbage for purple and beetroot for crimson, nature has all the colours you need to…

IN PRINT Decorate walls with illustrative botanical drawings, a collage of loose book pages (or bookplates) or individual prints. Alternatively, pick a wallpaper from an archival design. These make colourful backdrops with fascinating detail to study. For similar, try Stone & Sage (stoneandsage.co.uk). SMALL POSY Display freshly cut or damaged blooms in the garden: hang them from trees, tie them to the front gate or attach them to wooden stakes lined along a garden path. Place in a glass jar (with hanging loop) decorated with hand-painted flowers using specialist glass paints. Perfect for an outdoors celebration. PRETTY PLATES A single rose with a sprig of gypsophila, wrapped in a hemstitch linen napkin secured with a simple white ribbon, turns a plain white dinner plate into a romantic place setting. If your roses…

Caroline Donald lives in Somerset with her two miniature wire-haired dachshunds, Heidi and Mitzi There is one member of my family who is especially excited about Christmas: my miniature dachshund Mitzi. She can’t wait for the treats. If she wants presents, however, she’ll have to let Father Christmas get down the chimney without scaring him off. Mitzi might only be 20cm tall, but she is convinced she is a guard dog, growling when anyone approaches the house. When the doorbell rings, she’ll unleash the dachshund klaxon, supported by her half-sister Heidi – I’m glad we have tolerant neighbours. But a decade of dachshund ownership has made me appreciate their conviction that they are beasts of stature and they soon warm to newcomers – especially those bearing gifts. Before long, they’ll be…

One autumn evening six years ago, I had some friends round for supper. We were sitting around the table in the upstairs living room having a glass of wine. Rain battered against the windows and the wind howled, but I took little notice of the weather. It had been a difficult few months – I’d lost my previous house after my husband had died – and I was glad to be here. I had just moved in and was looking forward to settling in. Then a friend popped downstairs to get something and found the floor submerged in two and a half feet of water. My new home, a former tractor barn, had no history of flooding and it felt surreal. I had lost my parents as well as my husband…

Everyone has a song that means something to them and for me it is Nightswimming by REM. I hear the lyrics – “the fear of getting caught, of recklessness and water” – and I know what they mean. Swimming at night, whether I’m in the Atlantic, off the coast of Cornwall or at a lido in a city, gives me that same sense of recklessness. It almost turns back the clock, reviving the carefree feeling of being a teenager once again. Reality might hit when I dry off, but the magic comes back as soon as I return to the water. I long for this feeling more than ever. Like many of my friends, I am going through the menopause. On land, we are losing oestrogen, losing our tempers and losing…

Windflowers or wood anemones form a starry carpet beneath trees or shrubs. As well as the usual white varieties, look out for beautiful blue ones, including dainty Anemone nemerosa ‘Royal Blue’, a strong grower. £6.50 for a 9cm pot, Beth Chatto (01206 822007; bethchatto.co.uk). Spring has always meant one thing to me: flowering trees. I am a sucker for a Japanese cherry tree, often lingering to savour the beauty of one bursting into blossom. A new discovery for me last April, growing as a street tree, was Prunus ‘Ukon’. It has an unusual pairing of creamy white blossoms with sun-catching coppery foliage, which is a winning combination. Another cracking variety with bronzed young leaves is Prunus ‘Shirofugen’. This one has two-tone flowers, which open white and gradually turn baby pink. Pippin…

1 What made you leave the city? For years, I worked in fashion, arranging shoots for glossy magazines. I loved it, but work was taking over. I had three young children and longed to spend more time with them. I knew I would have to leave London to make myself stop working so much. So we started looking in Norfolk just over a decade ago, and stumbled across Hill House. 2 Was is it a ‘dream house’ back then? I’ve long been a Jane Austen fan and loved Georgian architecture – and Hill House fitted the bill. When my husband Duncan and I saw it, I knew it had potential but I was desperate to give it a makeover. Inside, it was austere, with this heavy green wallpaper. We’d blown most of our…

Dishwasher double duty It can take forever to wash greasy dust off switch plates, light fixture covers, stovetop drip pans and other household items. Why not just wash them in the dishwasher? This works great with plastic, aluminum and steel, especially for items like grilles with gaps and detailing. Put them on the top rack and send them through a normal cycle. Don’t do this with items that are enameled, painted, plated or made of brass or wood. JEFF ROBINSON Quick-draw measuring tape The clip on my measuring tape used to fray the pockets of my jeans. To prevent more damage, I unscrewed the clip and screwed a pot magnet in its place. I hook the clip onto my pocket. Now it’s easy to grab the tape and put it back when I’m done. BOB…

As I write in an article that will appear in the next (July) issue of Decanter, I’m still learning about the world of wine. My most recent lesson unfolded in northeast Italy – and it gave me a shock. The landscape is stunning, like a miniature version of the Peruvian Andes. In place of bare, snow-shawled mountains, though, are a succession of high ridges and a chaos of hump-backed, wood-topped hills. Little houses and hamlets are grafted as improbably as Inca citadels into the hillsides, while vapoury fillets of mist drift languidly over the valley bottoms. Every scrap of land ungobbled by the greedy forests is vineyard; every row of vines sits on its own grassy terrace. The effect is super-fecund: if you could hear vegetative growth, the scene would be…

THIS BRIGHT AND CHEERY bracelet features some of Edgar Lopez’s classic elements in beautiful tropical colors. TECHNIQUES Circular square stitchCircular and tubular netting PROJECT LEVEL MATERIALS 5 g 24k gold-plated size 15° Japanese seed beads (A)3 g 24k gold-plated size 11° Japanese seed beads (B)3 g 24k gold-plated size 11° Japanese cylinder beads (C)56 jet 2XAB 3mm Swarovski crystal bicones (D)6 jet 2XAB 4mm Swarovski crystal bicones (E)56 yellow opal AB 4mm Swarovski crystal bicones (F)4 emerald 10.5mm (ss47) vintage Swarovski crystal channel chatons (G)3 peridot 10.5mm (ss47) vintage Swarovski crystal channel chatons (H)12 blue jade 6mm faceted stone rounds (J)1 gold 11×7mm magnetic claspCrystal 6 lb FireLine braided beading thread TOOLS ScissorsSize 12 beading needle FINISHED SIZE 71/4" 1) CHATON COMPONENTS. Use circular square stitch and circular netting to create a strip of chaton components: Round 1: Use 4' of…

I’m writing this just before I leave to go to Italy for the first time in three years. I love it there and have missed it. My mother’s family and both of John’s parents’ families hail from there. My husband and I got married there. And three years ago, I achieved my life’s goal of buying a property there, in Tuscany. I don’t say “I bought a house” because although there were two structures, they had no plumbing and no electricity and the only occupants were some small animals we found inside. My husband called it a war zone. “Honey, don’t you want to look at a…house?” he asked. But I fell in love with the fields and the views and I thought for the money we’d pay for a house,…

Apple’s new M1 processor took the laptop world by storm, with many proclaiming it had ended the PC’s whole career. Hyperbole and irrational fanboy flexing aside, Apple’s M1 is indeed a powerful chip. But to get a better feel against its contemporaries we sat down and retested a pile of current Windows 10 laptops to get an idea where the M1 MacBook Air 13 lands in the pecking order of laptops. While we don’t have direct access to an MacBook Pro M1, our sister publication, Macworld does, so we cribbed from its glowing review of the 13-inch MacBook Pro M1. Macworld also graciously ran a couple of additional tests for our analysis. For two other results, we relied on published results from Puget Systems, a bespoke system builder that manufactures workstations and…

With a background in music and electronics, combined with a somewhat entrepreneurial tendency, Howard Alexander Dumble (who later asked to be known as Alexander) had a future in amplifier design that was almost preordained. Growing up in Bakersfield, California, Dumble sold homemade transistor radios to his school friends and built a 200-watt PA system for the local junior baseball team. As an epicentre of progressive rock and electric guitar development, California – particularly Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area – was driven by local bands including Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, The Byrds, Little Feat and Santana. After leaving school, Dumble was introduced to the luthier Semie Moseley in Santa Cruz, who was looking for someone to design an amplifier to complement his Mosrite guitar range. Dumble built 10…

OPENING PHOTOGRAPH:GROOMING, RACELLEIDIGATART DEPARTMENT. RUNWAY PHOTOGRAPH SAND SPORTIVA, OMEGA, ANDNIKE STILL-LIFE PHOTOGRAPHS:COURTESY OF BRANDS. OTHER STILL-LIFE PHOTO GRAPHS:MARTIN BROWN; ROPSTY LIST, STELLAREYAT MARKED WARD INC.…

recipe on page 50 recipe on page 51 recipe on page 51 recipe on page 51 recipe on page 51 “I’VE LOST MORE THAN 100 POUNDS. I SLEEP WELL EVERY NIGHT, AND I WAKE UP ENERGIZED AND READY TO START MY DAY.” PAMELA FOOTMAN BEFORE A WFPB LIFESTYLE In March 2020, I was a size 18 and had a body mass index in the morbidly obese range. As pandemic lockdowns began, I found myself with more free time and decided to dedicate it to improving my health. I watched documentaries on diet and health, including Forks Over Knives; Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; and Super Size Me. I resolved to start on a whole-food, plant-based diet and lose 100 pounds. It wasn’t easy at first. I didn’t realize how addicted my body had been to sugar, and I felt…

Tiny suburban allotment Nature is everything to Nyla Abraham. Her garden (left) is free-spirited, just like her, and it is allowed to grow as nature intended while producing food for the family. It forms an L shape around her cottage, with a formal arrangement of espalier trees and trellises at the front to greet guests as they arrive. Through an arch, the main garden begins with a fine fern shrubbery established around a wall. But it’s beyond the next archway that the real jewel of the garden can be found: the allotment. This productive plot is the main hub of the garden, with various work stations and potting areas around raised beds. A renovated folly is used for growing on, with a new window to let in light. Planting at various…

in previous years, energy bills haven’t been something I’d tended to worry about much in the summer. After all, when you’re spending sunny afternoons reading in the garden or enjoying a barbecue with friends, the days of thick jumpers, woolly socks and central heating seem a million miles away. This year, though, things feel different. Following the 54% energy price cap rise in April (which came hot on the heels of a 12% increase in October 2021), I opened my latest energy bill to find out it had gone up – a lot. Suddenly, it wasn’t just the thought of sunny days out at the seaside and long lunches with friends on restaurant terraces that seemed out of reach; the savings goals I’d previously had now felt unattainable and my monthly…

I spent many years lusting after the village of Kelvedon before I actually moved there. Passing through it on daytrips to the coast, I’d find myself gazing dreamily at the wide high street and its charming mix of medieval, Georgian-fronted and Victorian properties and the broad stretch of willow-growing countryside that surrounded it. At the time, my now-husband Andy and I were living in Braintree, but our yen to move to the countryside was growing. We wanted to realise our River Cottage-inspired dreams and renovate a period property. There was another motivating factor, too. I was working in central London and Braintree is at the end of a branch line with only one train to the capital every hour. One day in spring 2008, after a particularly long, cold wait at…

Don’t miss… THE BOY, THE FOX, THE MOLE AND THE HORSE Gather round the box this Christmas for an animated adaptation of Charlie Mackesy’s bestselling story The Boy, the Fox, the Mole and the Horse. Many of us first encountered Charlie’s exquisite illustrations during the pandemic, their simple messages of hope catching our imagination. Idris Elba stars as the voice of the fox, Tom Hollander the mole and Gabriel Byrne the horse in this heartwarming fable about the search for home. This is the Christmas cheer we all need. On BBC One and iPlayer. MEET THE… Lord OF Misrule Throwing a Christmas party? You might like to employ a Lord of Misrule to oversee festivities. This jolly Christmas character first appeared in the 14th century – in the guise of a farm worker in…

There are nine people for Christmas at Jules Covey’s house, with four staying over. It means people ‘camping’ in each other’s bedrooms, she says, but that just makes it more exciting. “I thought about booking some of them into a B&B, but everyone said they wanted to wake up here on Christmas morning,” Jules says. ‘Here’ is an 1880s four-bedroom house, the oldest in the Berkshire village of Upper Basildon: originally the rabbit-catcher’s cottage for Basildon Park, just up the road, and since extended so that the view from the gate, of mellow brickwork and steeply gabled dormer windows, leads the eye along the pretty tiled roof to the garden beyond. Part of the appeal, when Jules and her husband Ben found it in 2012, was that it needed everything done…

Jules Hogan welcomes the cold as a chance to swaddle herself in her own lambswool knitwear. “The yarns feel so soft and lovely against the body,” she says, pulling her pink merino wrap around her. There’s a nip in the air and a light dusting of snow on the ground. Jules, however, radiates warmth. We’re walking near her home in Tilehurst, Berkshire, with her spaniel, Jaxon, bounding behind us. Jules has been plucking teasels, alder cones and acorns from the ground as she draws inspiration for her lambswool scarves and socks, jumpers and ponchos. Our route takes us back to the studio in her garden, a duck-egg blue outhouse beneath an old oak tree. Along one wall stands a repurposed 1970s knitting machine. It’s a miniature version of those used in…

THE KEY ELEMENTS DISPLAY SIGNAGE AND BRANDING from enamel tins to hand-painted plaques. Eye-catching adverts and branded paper bags can be framed behind glass. For classic shopfronts, follow @the_shopkeepers on Instagram. COLLECT PRACTICAL glass jam or preserve jars to colour-code ribbons and cotton reels, smart shoe boxes for letters and cards, elegant cord - or ribbon-handled carrier bags for spare fabric and rolls of giftwrap. THINK UTILITARIAN Fit simple lighting (bare squirrel-cage lightbulbs or small enamel coolie shades). Keep traditional hardware stores in mind, with lanterns, pans and kitchen utensils hung from butcher’s hooks. LABELS AND SWING TAGS help you keep shop-counter order – brass label-holders on drawers and files, stick-on labels or brown luggage tags on jars of buttons, paperclips and larder ingredients… FLOOR-TO-CEILING SHELVES are ideal for larders and pantries, but are also…

In a small sandstone valley in the Surrey Hills, the village of Chiddingfold offers visitors a charming little surprise: a cluster of ironstone cottages that were built following the unexpected discovery of a small seam of iron here in the 17th century. With its chequerboard stonework, redbrick window detail and red pantiled roof, Cherfold Cottage is one of these. It immediately appealed to Caroline Oleron when she first saw it, despite its run-down state. “I love historic houses and the stories of their past,” she says. “I’m drawn to places that tell a tale of their locality. “ She put in an offer immediately and moved in with her husband and three sons in 2009. It would take 16 months of major building work to bring to life Caroline’s vision for…

There are the lying-on-the-beach, soaking-up-the-sun, reading-a-good-book sort of holidays, and then there are the others, where you actually do something. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been very good at the former. I feel guilty about just sitting around “relaxing”. It seems a bit too much like being lazy. I suspect this is a hangover from my upbringing, where it simply wasn’t acceptable to do nothing. My parents were of an industrious generation: hard work was how you spent your time, with only Sunday as a day of rest. In my father’s case, this meant working at his tailoring business six days a week; in my mother’s, it meant housework – cleaning, washing, cooking, shopping, sewing – and much of it before the aid of household appliances. Consequently,…

CHELSEA’S FIRST ORGANIC SHOW GARDEN – THAT’S QUITE A COUP… As far as we know, it’s never been done before. I’m determined to create a garden without chemical pesticides or fertilisers, using peat-free soil and minimal plastic. Other show gardens have incorporated organic elements but I believe the Yeo Valley Organic Garden is the first attempt at growing everything organically. DOES THAT MAKE IT MORE STRESSFUL? Gardening this way is less predictable but that makes it more exciting. Sarah Mead, the head gardener at Yeo Valley, has made it clear that winning a medal is definitely secondary to creating a garden that’s genuinely organic and promotes that approach. This is my fifth show garden, so I’m familiar with the process, but I’m sure I won’t be feeling relaxed the day before judging! WALK US…