Real life
I am becoming the Basil Fawlty of Airbnb. Almost everything that tormented Basil has tormented me since I started taking…
Chips with everything
Compulsory microchipping of dogs will hurt caring pet owners – but help busybodies
Real life
My adventures in penury land me with two job applications on my screen, one for MI6, one for Sainsbury’s. Do…
Real life
After a year of affordable car insurance, I knew I had to be in for it when my premium came…
Real life
If you are the sort of person who enjoys tinkering with a classic car prone to myriad mechanical problems then…
Real life
Diamonds are for ever. Plumbers take a lifetime. They never finish. No job is too big or small for them…
Real life
‘Racing is 99.9 per cent disappointment,’ said the trainer philosophically, as I sat in the yard sipping coffee, waiting for…
Real life
Darcy trod on a screw. Five little words which, if Darcy was anything other than a thoroughbred horse, might signify…
Real life
The last time I bought a set of tyres in south London I came away not quite knowing whether I…
Real life
My upstairs neighbours are terribly nice, but too naive to be allowed to renovate their flat in peace. The two…
Real life
After the £1,100 quote from the vet in London I drove down the A3 and out the other side of…
Real life
If these speed awareness courses get much more entertaining and informative they might become a dangerous incentive to break the…
Real life
My attempt to have a small cyst removed from the spaniel was always going to be fraught with difficulty. My…
Real life
When in India, I always appal my highly educated tour guides. They despair of me, as they drag me round…
Real life
All disputes are now a clash of rights in which both sides compete to see who has the greatest claim…
Real life
‘Start at the back and try to pass as many horses as you can,’ said the trainer, as we stepped…
Real life
‘Sadly, the world is filled with apathy,’ said my friend, as we looked at our sad little list of conscripts…
My part-time boyfriend and I bonded over the Tooting Honey Toilets
A boyfriend’s for life, not just for Christmas. It’s no good me getting myself a nice cuddly man with whom…
Real life
Go on, they said. Go on a date. Let your friend fix you up with a nice eligible man. Nothing…
The sabs hate us because we’re patriotic, top-rate tax-paying, law-abiding scum
‘You lot are a disgrace! Chasing after defenceless animals on horseback!’ The bearded anti was on his mountain bike on…
Real life
I got on a bus. Well, I wasn’t to know, was I? I just saw a bus stop by the…
Real life
By the time you read this I will have delivered my long-awaited speech to the World Horse Welfare annual conference…
Real life
A letter has arrived summoning me to parents’ evening to discuss Cydney’s progress. Yes, I am aware that Cydney is…
Real life
‘This is a two Voltarol day,’ I thought, as I popped another pill and settled into the bath after Darcy’s…
Forty is a feminist issue
For older women, the battle for equality is far from won
