Melissa Kite

Melissa Kite writes The Spectator's Real life column.

Real life

2 September 2023 9:00 am

‘I can’t go through this again!’ I groaned, as I lay in bed encased in icepacks, one on my eyes…

Real life

26 August 2023 9:00 am

We were about to exchange contracts when I got a call from the estate agent to tell me that another…

Real life

19 August 2023 9:00 am

‘What a worry the Ulez must be for you both,’ said a friend with a nod to the pick-up truck…

Real life

12 August 2023 9:00 am

‘Come on, let’s get a move on with filling in all the forms and we could have this done and…

Real life

5 August 2023 9:00 am

As I slapped a rude note on a car parked outside my house, I realised that nature was taking its…

Real life

29 July 2023 9:00 am

Having loaded the last sack of working dog food in Surrey into my car, I slammed the trolley back into…

Real life

22 July 2023 9:00 am

As I sat down to dinner in a lovely old country pub my reservation was cancelled by my iPhone, which…

Real life

15 July 2023 9:00 am

‘You certainly gave us a run for our money,’ said the village elder, serving us with what appeared to be…

Real life

8 July 2023 9:00 am

When I received an email from the Co-op telling me they had made a mistake with my car insurance, and…

Real life

1 July 2023 9:00 am

‘Do you want me to put my dog on the lead?’ shouted the woman on her phone, as she came…

Real life

17 June 2023 9:00 am

‘Achoo!’ was the first thing the girl sitting next to me on the plane said as I took my seat…

Real life

10 June 2023 9:00 am

The mouse has been eating his way through the medicine cabinet to the extent that I am really quite frightened…

The BB wants to put my dream farm on a skip

3 June 2023 9:00 am

‘Have you got your passport? Your phone? Your wallet?’ The builder boyfriend patted his pockets and told me not to…

Real life

27 May 2023 9:00 am

A bay mare was standing over a foal curled up sleeping at her feet. Yawning and struggling to keep her…

Real life

20 May 2023 9:00 am

The lady standing on the doorstep did not need to tell me what she thought of my house, because the…

Real life

13 May 2023 9:00 am

If we cram any more doctors into our spare rooms we can put a sign outside advertising NHS accommodation. We…

Real life

6 May 2023 9:00 am

Real life

29 April 2023 9:00 am

After a day’s house-hunting in West Cork, I texted the builder boyfriend to say that we were too late. The…

Real life

22 April 2023 9:00 am

Real life

15 April 2023 9:00 am

‘Mr Mouse’s days of fine dining are over,’ said the builder boyfriend as he put the finishing touches to his…

Real life

8 April 2023 9:00 am

‘What’s Bill W. got to do with it?’ said one of the committee members to the others as they discussed…

Real life

1 April 2023 9:00 am

The pony grabbed the bag of carrots and ran across the field with it in her mouth, tail in the…

Real life

25 March 2023 9:00 am

The lady who walks her dog past my horses every day was obviously eager to tell me something. I have…

Real life

18 March 2023 9:00 am

After they banned horses from the village green and surrounding common land, I set about trying to find out why,…